The Color Purple: Embracing Royalty, Riches, and Resilience in Christian Life

 

The Color Purple

    Are you a purple person? Do you wear the color purple? Do you know what the color purple means? How many of you have seen the movie The Color Purple, the musical The Color Purple, or both? Whether it's the old or new movie, The Color Purple is one of my favorite stories. The lies, the music, the characters, the story, and, of course, the purple flowers captivated me. For a long time, I wondered how it got the name The Color Purple. Eventually, I realized the flowers inspired it. Today, I invite you to dig deep into the meaning of purple. We see the color purple in the story of Jesus on the cross. They stripped Him naked, took all His clothes, and put a purple robe on Him, along with a crown of thorns on His head so that they could mock Him. They used purple to ridicule Him, laughing at Him and calling Him "King of the Jews." It wasn’t meant in reverence, honor, celebration, or praise. It was mockery and persecution. Yet Jesus endured it all to teach us how to be "purple people" to wear the color purple and truly understand its significance.

    Purple symbolizes royalty. As believers, we are a royal priesthood, a chosen generation, and a peculiar people. God has brought us out of darkness into His marvelous light to show His praises. When you wear purple, it represents royalty. It means you recognize that you are God’s beloved offspring. You understand that you are made in the image and likeness of God. To wear purple is to declare, "I am an heir of God and a joint heir with Christ Jesus." It means you know who you are. You are not a worm. You are not the scum beneath someone’s shoe. You are not an old wretch. You are a purple person, which means you are royalty. Purple also represents riches. Historically, purple dye was expensive and reserved for the wealthy. Only those with great resources could afford it. As a purple person, you are called to recognize your entitlement to riches, not just material wealth like houses, cars, jewelry, or fine clothes, but also riches in love, peace, and joy. Purple signifies abundance, not lack. There is no limitation, no poverty, no scarcity in the life of a purple person.

    When you let go of ideas of not being enough or not having enough, you embrace the riches God has given you. God has given you the power to create wealth, and you use that power to manifest prosperity in your life, world, and affairs. Purple is a combination of two primary colors: red and blue. Red symbolizes your life's blood, sweat, and tears, while blue represents priesthood and the benefits of your suffering. Together, they create the depth of purple. The Bible speaks of Lydia, a seller of purple in the Book of Acts. She was wealthy because purple dye required a lengthy and labor-intensive process to create. Purple’s depth reminds us that it’s not just about suffering. The Bible says that if we suffer with Him, we will also reign with Him. Purple symbolizes that we’ve received both the lesson and the blessing. To be a purple person is to embrace the struggles you’ve experienced and the character you’ve developed. It’s about recognizing that life is not just sunshine all the time; it’s sunshine and rain. It’s the good, the bad, and the ugly. It’s the lessons and the blessings. A purple person embraces all of life the suffering and the reigning, the challenges and the prosperity, the sickness and the healing. A purple person is a combination person, one with depth.

 So, I ask you: Are you a purple person? Do you wear the color purple? Do you know what the color purple truly means?