As simple and basic as it may seem, clothing plays a significant role in our lives. Aside from the physical function of bodily protection and comfort, clothing also has spiritual influences on a person’s life. Your spiritual clothing often reflects your level and life in the spirit realm. The concept, however, goes beyond being a reflection of our spiritual state and form in the spirit realm.
Spiritual clothing entails clothes, garments, and accessories worn or used to express one’s spiritual affiliations, values, or spiritual beliefs. Also, spiritual clothing covers attires designed and worn to reflect a person’s spiritual practice or belief. It is often regarded as a physical manifestation of an individual’s inner spiritual state.
Amazingly, the importance of spiritual clothing cannot be undermined as it is emphasized in various world cultures, religions, and traditions. For some cultures and religions, it is a simple way to indicate separation from the natural world and an affinity with divinity or the supernatural, making it an essential part of spiritual practice.
The View of Spiritual Clothing in Some Religions
In most religions, spiritual practice and worship are often regarded as incomplete without spiritual clothing, especially for leaders and people of authority. For the Buddhist monks, their robes paint a picture of uniformity and intentionality to the world. These robes cover them from neck to ankle, thus erasing any form of self-identification, so they are easily attuned to their spiritual senses. Ordinary Buddhists may also wear certain colors or patterns to show a chosen spiritual path that they intend to walk in.
Hindus, on the other hand, associate devotion to a particular deity with certain cloth colors and choices. In Muslim cultures, women cover their heads with hijabs or head coverings as a sign of moderation and devotion to God. It is done to openly declare their utmost desire to abide by the tenets and principles of Islam.
What is Spiritual Clothing?
Spiritual clothing goes beyond the clothes that indicate our spiritual state of mind or beliefs. Biblically, it is symbolic and holds significance in the life of people. Upon the creation of man, there was no mention of clothing in the Bible. The first record, however, occurred when Adam and Eve ate the fruit and discovered that they were naked. The Bible records that they sewed fig leaves and made aprons for themselves. Later on, in Genesis 3:21, right after the fall of man, God fashioned clothes for man from animal skins to cover his nakedness. Not only did the clothes cover man physically, but it was also a symbol of the shame and problems that man attracted to himself due to disobedience.
As people continued to multiply on the earth, God slowly began re-establishing a connection with mankind. In this rekindled connection, we see another relevance of spiritual clothing.
In the Old Testament and with the Israelites, God blessed all the tribes but separated for Himself the Levites, who were ordained priests by God. As a result, God mandated them to wear special garments in the temple, especially when they performed their priestly duties in the Holy of Holies. Their clothes were decorated with gold and some other precious stones, and so separated them from other Israelites and also signified their dedication and commitment to God. Every time they wore these clothes, they publicly declared their love for God and religious responsibility. This way, it was also very easy to tell them apart from all other tribes in Israel.
Also, in other places in the Old Testament, like Genesis 35:2 and Exodus 19:10-14, cleanliness, as regards spiritual clothing, is emphasized when the people had dealings with God. Each time God wanted to visit the people, He always instructed them to clean and wash their garments as a sign of their purity. However, the significance of spiritual clothing takes a different turn in the New Testament.
Spiritual Clothing in The New Testament
The Old Testament is often regarded as a shadow of the New Testament, and with the coming of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, spiritual clothing takes a more personal symbolism.
Paul explained this new stance in Colossians 3:12&13 thus:
” Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.“
From these verses, we can tell that Paul’s focus was not on the physical aspect or function of clothing. Rather, his concern was our attitudes and character, which we should exhibit and flaunt in our daily lives. Thus, spiritual clothing here is symbolic of the character of Christ that qualifies us as His disciples.
In a similar vein, Peter, in his writings, explained that our good characters and qualities are the clothing to be adorned with as long as Christ is concerned and not just our physical appearance.
In Peter 5:5, Peter stated that: ” Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.“
This means that rather than just adorning ourselves as saints alone, we should also possess qualities that reveal our devotion, love, and dedication to God.
Finally, spiritual garments in the New Testament are a sign of right standing with God. In Galatians 3:27, Paul testified of this by explaining that as many that have been baptized in Christ have put on His nature. To put on here means to be clothed thus further establishing the place of clothing in the spirit realm. The Apostle John in Revelations 3:4-5 wrote to the church in Sardis thus:
” Yet you still have a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.“
According to this passage, the few that were found worthy of heaven were those whose garments had not been soiled, thus emphasizing the state of a person’s garment and spiritual clothes. If your relationship with God is intact and you are on right standing with God, your clothes in the spirit realm will be an indication of this. In other words, your clothing in the spirit realm is a reflection and a testimony of your love, dedication, and devotion to God.
Final Thoughts
A simple way to know someone’s spiritual beliefs and devotion is through their spiritual clothing. Identifying with spiritual clothes also separates individuals from the secular aspect of this world, allowing them to align with the divine and supernatural world. However, the Old Testament and New Testament give us different but similar views on the significance of spiritual clothing.
In the Old Testament, Adam and Eve wore these clothes as a symbol of shame due to their fall, and the priests of Israel wore such clothing to separate them from the rest of the people. In the New Testament, however, these clothes transcended merely physical attires to qualities and traits that would beautify our lives in this world. It was also a representation of one’s standing with God where clean and unsoiled garments signified purity while stained garments stood for filth.
