Consider the Lilies - My Obsession with Clothing and the Approval of Man

As far back as I can remember, I’ve always loved clothes.

As far back as I can remember, I’ve always loved clothes. I remember my kindergarten years. There was this very fluffy and ruffled lavender dress I wore for picture Consider the lilies day and every chance I could.

Sometimes, my imaginary friends were personified as outfits on hangers. The outfit painted the picture as to who they were and what they were like.

I remember being about 12 and discovering ‘girly clothes.” You know, stores like Deb, 3.7.9., Rave and ” The 7 Dollar Store.” My first real outfit was this striped tee and brown faux corduroy vest that, looking back, looked like it was pulled straight off a “That 70s Show” set. But I loved it and wore it every chance I could!

We didn’t have much money growing up, so in high school, I discovered the clearance rack! I could go into a store with $10 and come out with a few things. My friends would always comment on how I always had something new on and I was always proud to say that it cost me like a dollar or two, maybe four or five.

This obsession with clothing continued into college and in my career. It was like a fashion show when I came to work. I discovered heels, more stores and had a little more money to spend. I would literally choose clothes over food sometimes. Yikes!

I remember one morning I was running late for work and I basically had a panic attack because I couldn’t find anything amazing to wear. It was not that I didn’t have anything suitable or that it wasn’t clean or that it didn’t fit. NOPE! It just wouldn’t elicit that WOW factor as I walked into the office. It wasn’t new, it had been seen before. smh I ended up being about an hour late for work that day!

Looking back, I see a few things God was showing me about myself.

1. I cared WAYYY too much about what people thought.

2. I was prideful.

3. I was insecure.

4. I was materialistic (even though it cost me very little). I had an obsession with clothing and shopping.

5. Clothing was my idol/my god.

Now don’t get me wrong, I still love clothes and a good deal and I like to look nice, but I realize a few things:

Clothes do not make me. Now that I have more than enough, I find that the clothes do not satisfy me. It’s a thrill to find something nice on sale, but that feeling doesn’t last. I can’t live on that temporary satisfaction, I’ll just need another hit soon and the hubs put me on a budget! 😀
But GOD! God TRULY satisfies! Christ Jesus is the only One worthy of being this consumed by.
The approval of man is fleeting and controlling. I’d rather have the approval of God because it lasts.

Nowadays, you might see me dressed to the nines OR looking like I’m going to go paint a rusty gate somewhere! LOL But I’m okay either way.

I know who I am and I know my worth and it doesn’t come from man or what I wear. It comes in my identity as a Child of God!

28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ Matthew 6:28-31 English Standard Version (ESV)