Last week was not a good week. When I got to work on Monday, I felt fine.  But by two o’clock, my head throbbed, my body ached, and my stomach sounded like a bowling ally. I counted the minutes until I could go home, and all I could think of was this:

This is my all-time favorite T-shirt. It got it when I was in college 14 years ago, and it has stuck with me through at least 8 different addresses. This shirt can comfort me like no other shirt can. It’s soft, it’s familiar, and somehow just putting it on makes me feel better.

I had a lot of time to think last week as I cuddled up with my shirt for hours on end, and I realized that there are some verses in the Bible that are as comfortable to me as my favorite T-shirt. The one that sticks out the most is Jeremiah 29:11-13 – “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

For me, Jer. 29:11-13 is my favorite “T-shirt verse.” Sure there are many days when I want to study Revelation, explore Exodus, or get lost in the Gospels. But sometimes, when I’m feeling frustrated, burnt out, uncertain or just plain tired, I just want to run to Jer. 29:11-13 and wrap myself up in it just like my old T-shirt.

There are certain criteria a T-shirt must meet in order to become a favorite, and they are very similar to the criteria that a Bible verse must meet in order to become a T-shirt verse. So how can you tell if your favorite Bible verse is a T-shirt verse?  Well, try this on for size.

A T-shirt verse:

1. is comfortable – T-shirt verses are the ones that make you feel better any time you read them. They remind you, without fail, that God is still listening and that He hasn’t forgotten about you. They give you hope, and any time you rest in these verses, you feel like God is hugging you with His words.
2. is familiar – With a T-shirt verse, you not only recognize it when you read it, you know it intimately. You know things like how it sounds from the pulpit verses how it sounds from your best friend, how it looks in your Bible verses how it looks in calligraphy, or how it sounds inside your head verses how it sounds when belted out from the choir loft.
3. is nostalgic – No doubt you remember the first time you “put on” your T-shirt verse. You remember how it made you feel and what it inspired inside of you.  When you think of your T-shirt verse, you also remember a thousand different memories as well. Memories of hard times, fun times, challenging times, or sentimental times.  A walk down memory lane with your T-shirt verse is like reading a journal about your own relationship with God.
4. ages well – As the years go by, your T-shirt verse gets better and better. It becomes more comfortable, more familiar, more sentimental, and more meaningful every time you read it. It’s the kind of verse that can follow you from a baby dedication, to a graduation, to a wedding to a eulogy. Time does not fade a T-shirt verse.

So, do you have your own T-shirt verse? If not, you’re welcome to borrow mine!

Q: What is your T-shirt verse? Share it with us in the comments!