Often we hear this bible verse bandied about when talking about how we dress & look.
1 Sam 16:7 “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
So that means we can dress & look however we like, right? Afterall, God is only interested in our heart & not our fashion sense.
Ahh! Dare I tread on dangerous ground & say here that while God looks at our heart, sinful, fleshy man looks at our appearance & judge us accordingly? Does this verse give me liberty to ignore man’s judgement coz afterall, we live for the Lord alone & not for man’s approval? Yes & no.
Yes, we do not have to & should not live for man’s approval. But how we dress/groom ourselves reflects the Lord that we serve. If I go about dressed sloppily or immodestly, how are we the light of the world? Yes, I am taking up the issue modesty today.
Today’s fashion seems to suggest that in order to look hip & with it, one must show off as much of your body as possible, dressing like the harlots of old. How often have you seen men & especially women dressed more & more inappropriately these days? Even in church!
Tight, skin revealing, short apparel seem to be the order of the day when you go downtown. The message we get from the fashion media is this – you are a prude & a bore if you cover up but fashion forward if you show more skin, especially your cleavage!
I am not going to list what I think is modest & what is not, whether one should only wear dresses/skirts & not the more shape revealing pants. But I will say this –
Ladies, you have to ask yourself : “What is the message you are sending out when you dress in a particular way?”
Is it to attract male attention? Is it to show off your great, hard-earned sculpted body? Or to show the world that you are still sexy & hot after becoming a mother?
Then ask yourself – “Do I need to do that?” What is my identity in Christ? A sexy, hot thing? Or a child of God? Daughter of the Most High King?
The Bible says that our bodies are temples of God. Are we showing God respect by exhibiting our bodies for all & sundry to see? I have seen women dressed in such tight, thin & see-through clothing that they might as well be naked! Every outline & curve or the body is seen clearly. And those with skirts so short that I can see their undergarments! And of course there’s the ever popular come-look-at-my- cleavage plunging tops. Btw this applies to both young & older ladies alike!
As Christians, we should be reflecting the glory of God. People should be attracted to us because we shine as lights of the world. Not because certain parts of our anatomy are hanging out! What message is our clothing sending out?
In times of old, people could immediately tell if one was married or in mourning or worked in a certain “trade”. Sadly, today, many look like they work in the world’s oldest profession.
Then there is the other issue of being a stumbling block. This verse comes to mind :
Matt18:7 “Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!”
We know that men are more visual than women. So how we dress affects them. Yes, men are responsible for what they look at & what they think but can you blame them for oogling when the “goods” are laid out right infront of them? And when they are constantly bombarded with these “goods” – at work, in church, supermarkets, parks….Are we a stumbling block to another person’s walk?
What really saddens me most is when I see Christian women dressing immodestly. They look just like the unsaved! Being fashionable & thought of as hip seems to be more important than being an ambassador of God.
One more point come to mind. As married women, are we being disrespectful to our dhs when we dress in a way that attract other men’s attention? Why do we want other men to desire & lust after us?
I must confess that I did not start out dressing modestly, even after I was saved. And like many, fell into the trap of needing to look svelte & sexy just to prove that motherhood has not made me a frump.
But slowly, the Spirit of the Lord convicted me. Asking me why did I need to impress the world? And so I started to consciously look for clothing that were modest. It was hard. Espcially if you are a nursing mother! But it can be done.
Yes, the Lord looks at our heart but man can’t & so we should dress in a modest & appropriate way as the King’s daughter! It is not easy to find nice looking modest clothes in the stores nowadays but that really shouldn’t be our excuse to either dress sloppily or immodestly.
May this challenge you to think about your outfit for the day & especially before you leave your house to go to Church.