Last week I wrote about T-shirt Verses – those comforting verses in the Bible that feel cozy and warm and remind you of God’s great love for you. I absolutely loved reading about your own T-shirt verses in the comments! Since then, another type of verse has come to mind: Blue Jean Verses!
Having a favorite pair of blue jeans is like gold! Once you find the perfect pair, you want to do everything you can to keep them from becoming too big or too small. They flatter your figure, can be dressed up or dressed down and become your default clothing when you’re not quite sure what else to wear.
To me, some Bible verses have the same effect. My favorite blue jean verse is Philippians 1:9-11: “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.”
This is my default verse for all of those “grey” areas of life. Did you catch that phrase I put in bold type? “Discern what is best.” I stopped praying about “right” and “wrong” a long time ago. Chances are, if you look long enough, you can find someone who can logically argue either answer to most questions. Instead, when I’m not sure about something, I pray through this verse in the Bible and ask that God would help me discern what is BEST. Asking what’s best instead of what’s right or wrong has gotten me through a lot of questions such as:
- Should I watch that on TV?
- Is it okay for me to drink alcohol?
- Should I buy this?
- Should I volunteer for that?
- …and the list goes on.
So what makes a Bible verse a blue jean verse? Well, a blue jean verse:
1. is Versatile – Blue jean verses are applicable to a variety of situations in life. They help you at work, at home, at church and on the go. They fit college life, motherhood and retirement alike and they never go out of style.
2. is Flattering – A blue jean verse is one that (when followed) makes you “look good” by making you look more like Christ. It instills a holy righteousness in you that is truly beautiful.
3. is Inspiring – A great blue jean verse inspires action, just like a great pair of blue jeans inspires you to lose weight if they start to get too tight. Whereas a T-shirt verse is comfortable, a blue jean verse is often uncomfortable. It convicts you and challenges you to align your life with God’s Word.
So do you have your own blue jean verse that’s helped you through the years? Again, you’re welcome to borrow mine if you want!
Q:What is your blue jean verse? Share it with us in the comments!
My blue jean verse is Ephesians 4:29. “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” It doesn’t get more convicting than that!
Is that not an awesome verse for women, or what?! 🙂
I actually have 2! 1Thess 5:17-18 “pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God I Christ Jesus for you.”. Because sometimes we can get to complaining or being discontented when we should be thankful in EVERYTHING! It both convicts when we aren’t thankful but encourage and convicts to be thankful. The other is Phil 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy–meditate on these things.”
Julie, I love those verses too! Awesome blue jean wisdom!!
This could be my jean verse. We should all adopt that policy. Men (and Women) should always pray. There is always something or someone to pray for. God loves hearing from us. God is………….in the small stuff, too!
My T-shirt verse – 40th Chapter of Isaiah
—Amuzgo de Guerrero (AMU)— Amuzgo de Guerrero —العربية (AR)—The Message (MSG)
My blue jean verse, I believe, fits all the criteria! It has been so meaningful to me!
Romans 12
Place Your Life Before God
1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and
walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
This verse has really spoken to me in the past year. It has applied in all kinds of situations…definitely versatile! If you live your life like this, focused on God, then it is very flattering! It is inspiring as well–hopefully I will respond to what God calls me to do and not be drug down to our culture’s immaturity!
Kathryn, that’s a great passage! I love how The Message says, “don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking…” That is so true!
Thanks for sharing your missives using blue jeans as a symbol for scripture. Does color or design depict a specific book and/or testament?