“What is your soul wearing?” (Author’s Sermon Notes)
Pastor Andrey Shapovalov. “What is your soul wearing?”. Author’s sermon notes, May 24, 2026.
It all began with a question the Holy Spirit asked me: “What is your soul clothed in?”
To me, this question sounded very strange because I had never heard anyone ask it before.
The soul consists of several components: the will, feelings, emotions, and actions. Notice that all of these components are under our direct control.
Think about what we truly control in reality — genuinely control. Because before God, we are accountable only for what has been placed under our authority.
Have you noticed that the Blood of Christ washes and saves the soul of a person, but clothing the soul is entirely our responsibility?
What feelings do you allow to possess you?
What reactions do you permit to take hold of you?
Do you control your emotions, or do your emotions control you?
We become rich inwardly as we learn to forgive, to love, to honor, and to value others. In doing so, we clothe our soul in beautiful garments.
Why does God command in such absolute terms: “LOVE”?
Because love is fully within our power to choose.
So what are we clothing our soul with?
With love, forgiveness, patience, mercy, and humility?
Or with hatred, envy, selfishness, manipulation, bitterness, and revenge?
In First Epistle to the Corinthians 13:1–8, the Apostle Paul the Apostle writes: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal… Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud… Love never fails.”
Our souls come into this world naked, and every one of us has been given the opportunity to clothe our soul.
In Gospel of Matthew 15:17–20, Jesus Christ says that what defiles a person does not come from the outside, but from the heart:
“For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander…”
Whether we realize it or not, our souls will be clothed by us.
The only question is: with what?
And I would go even further — our souls are already clothed.
The question is: what is your soul wearing?
Will you choose the easy path:
Or will you choose the difficult path:
The difficult path enriches you inwardly.
It develops strength, wisdom, endurance, and self-control.
But the easy path eventually condemns a person to inner emptiness, pain, destruction, and spiritual nakedness.
I thank God for those who hate me and curse me, because through them God has given me a real opportunity to love my enemies and clothe my soul in genuine love.
I have been given the opportunity to dress my soul, so I choose to work on the things I truly govern and control:
- my God-given will
- the emotions I allow to remain
- the feelings I choose to entertain
- and the actions that only I can control
May our Heavenly Father bless you.