“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins."”Mark‬ ‭2:22‬ ‭ESV‬‬

I tend to wear very similar clothes every day. I cannot claim to have much ‘dress sense’. As well as the outer clothing, our hearts and minds have an inner clothing. When you come into a relationship with God through Jesus, the old clothes have to go and you need a new set of clothes for your heart and mind.

Have you been wronged or hurt in some way by someone? It is so easy to gloat when those who have been causing us problems and opposing us mess up and fall. It is rather tempting to enjoy the moment. But this is the wrong response. Watch your heart and resist these thoughts.

‘It takes a lot of “heart work” for us not to be at least a little bit glad to see that person get what is coming to him... We should always remember that “hurting people hurt people”. Those who hurt us are usually hurting within themselves, and their pain may be so strong that they are not even aware they are hurting us.’

Because of all that Christ has done for you and made possible, you need to re-clothe your heart and mind. Right action begins with right thinking. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things’ ‘Strip off’ the old clothes. Put on the new clothes. You are one of God’s chosen people and therefore, you are called to live as such. This means a radical change of your position in the world. You need to be active not passive. Instead of the bad stuff, you are called to clothe yourself with ‘compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience’. 

Christ lives in every Christian, regardless of background. In the world, if someone lets you down, that is often the end of the relationship. But you are to ‘forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you’.Forgiveness is a uniquely Christian virtue. While others may forgive, Christians do have such a solid basis for forgiveness.‘To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.’Love is not just an emotion, it is an action. It is something you ‘put on’. As you put on your physical clothes, so you are to put on love.

This is the beauty of the Christian community – Christ brings about a radical change in your relationships. The way Christians relate is so different from the world and should be so attractive. You must set your heart and mind in the right place. 

God’s peace acts like a referee in your heart – telling you what is in and what is out. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. 

Resolve to continue to read God’s words every day and to meditate on them in your heart and mind. Once you have heard the word of the Lord, you need to pass on the life-changing message unchanged: ‘Let your words change them. Don’t change your words to suit them’.

12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 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. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. - Colossians 3:12-17