Halloween: The Costumes We Wear
Today, as neighborhoods fill with costumes and candy, it’s worth pausing to think about what it all represents. Halloween has become a day of masks and a night when people dress up to be something they’re not, if only for a few hours. Some dress as heroes, others as monsters or whimsical characters, but at its core, Halloween is about outward transformation.
For most, it’s harmless fun. Yet beneath the laughter lies a deeper truth: humanity has been wearing masks long before October 31 ever existed. From the beginning, people have tried to cover, hide, and reinvent themselves in countless ways.
Yet God looks differently. He sees past the mask, the costume, and the outer show. He peers into the heart. When others judge by what they see, God judges by what He sees within. So while costumes are temporary and external, what God values is internal and eternal.
“But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” — 1 Samuel 16:7
We wear costumes for fun, for fear, for fantasy. However, a costume does not change your character. A man dressed as a king is still a man. A woman dressed as an angel remains flesh and blood. Outward garments or masks cannot change the inward heart.
In 1 Samuel 16:7, the Lord told Samuel not to choose a son of Jesse based on appearance because God sees beyond the surface. The same principle applies today: the mask doesn’t matter but the motive and soul do.
Why do people love costumes? Perhaps to escape identity, to hide, to pretend, or to amuse. Sometimes we hide bits of ourselves we’re ashamed of. Other times we play out fantasies we cannot live.
However, God already knows every hidden fear, every guilt, every dream. He knows your secret thoughts, even those you hide behind humor or makeup. Jeremiah 17:10 says:
“I the LORD search the heart, and try the reins, to give every man according to his ways”
No disguise fools Him. He isn’t impressed by the mask, He’s interested in what lies behind it.
When Adam and Eve sinned, God slew an animal and covered them with coats of skin (Genesis 3:21), that covering became a symbol of guilt exchanged for grace and of the innocent dying for the guilty. Ever since, humanity has been trying to clothe itself with self-made garments: titles, good works, charm, and outward religion. However, none of these can truly atone for sin. Only Christ can. He was slain on the cross so we might be clothed in His righteousness. What Adam lost in Eden, Christ restored at Calvary. Now, every believer stands not in their own merit, but wrapped in the grace of God.
We think if we look righteous, maybe we’ll be righteous. However no amount of self-made covering can hide sin from an all-seeing God. Isaiah 64:6 says: “All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” The costumes of self-righteousness don’t impress the Lord, instead they only reveal how much we still need grace.
Many still try to approach God wearing masks of holiness saying the right words, keeping the right image, and pretending everything is fine. God cannot bless the version of you that isn’t real. He wants truth “in the inward parts” (Psalm 51:6).
The good news is, we don’t need to dress ourselves up before God because, as previously mentioned, Christ already clothes believers in His righteousness. His blood is the only covering that truly fits us, delivers us, justifies us, saves us, and makes us right before God.
Costumes fade. Makeup washes off. Masks crack. God is not impressed by the costume of religion or the appearance of perfection. He’s searching for a heart that’s real, repentant, and surrendered.
This Halloween, and every day after, remember: God doesn’t see your costume; He sees your character. He doesn’t look for a polished version of you, but a pure heart before Him. So take off the mask and let His grace clothe you in what no costume ever could: His righteousness.
If you do not know the Lord and trust in Him, take the opportunity this Halloween. Turn from sin and believe the Gospel. Believe that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3–4).
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”
Acts 16:31