Carly Hathaway is an experienced educator who has taught both kindergarten and first grade students. In addition to her professional role, she is a proud wife and mama to two young children, Willow and Barrett. Carly resides in Virginia Beach where she actively serves on the worship team and co-leads a Bible study for young moms at her local church. She is the author of Teach Like a Mama, a blog where she shares her passion for integrating the heart of teaching with the everyday joys and challenges of motherhood.
My daughter loves to pick out her outfit for the day! The sparkly the better! A dress – ohh yes! Anything that can pair well with a hat, bow, or “clippy” (as we like to call hair clips) even better!
For our littles ones, the simple act of choosing what clothes to wear each day promotes independence and teaches responsibility. How much more can we benefit from clothing ourselves in righteousness and teaching our children to do the same? As a believer in Christ, He has called us to put aside our old self and embrace the new creation.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV
As a new creation in Christ, we get a whole new wardrobe mama! Forget the baggy sweatpants, oversized t-shirts, and messy mom bun with the hat (though I’m sure, mama, you pull that look off quite well). Instead, we’ve been given robes and garments that reflect God’s righteousness and grace.
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Isaiah 61:10, ESV
This is a beauty that is far from fleeting and brings glory to the One who defines and encapsulates the very essence of beauty. Along with our garments and robes, we must also “put on” the traits that reflect our Creator. The “New Self Summer Line” includes some very tasteful and flattering attributes that will make you want to walk down the runway.
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
Colossians 3:12-15, ESV
You can bet our children will take notice of these traits. Start each day by not only getting physically dressed, but by reminding yourself and your little one to “put on” thankfulness, forgiveness, kindness, humility, patience, and love. Don’t let a day pass that you forget these accessories of righteousness.
When we choose to follow Christ, accept His love in our lives, and live in our calling, our self-worth is no longer defined by anyone or anything else other than Him. Ephesians 4:24 reminds us that because of Christ’s work on the cross, we are made new and created in the likeness of our God. Not society, ourselves, or other moms can change this fact or stop us from living a life that is holy and pleasing to Him. So, get out there, mama—ready yourself for the day and put on your godly garments! (And maybe that favorite top hanging in your closet.)
