My mind started to wander during a mandatory store meeting at David’s Bridal.  I started to think about how tired I was and how I was going to go to bed early that night.  To say the least, I was not thinking about work until the management team started to pass around pictures.  They discussed what was appropriate to wear at work now that spring is here.  As the management team continued to talk, a question came to my mind: If the corporate world is concerned about dressing appropriately, how much more should I, as Christian woman, be concerned about dressing godly?

1 Timothy 2:9 states, “Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments, but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness” (NASU).  Paul states that a woman is to dress in proper clothing.  Clothing that is modest and discreet is proper.  He also writes that Christian women should make a claim to godliness by doing good works and not by how they look.  The Greek word to describe “modesty” is defined as a sense of shame or bashfulness and the Greek word to describe “discreetly” means to be sober and have self-control. Peter confirms Paul’s teaching, saying, “Your adornment must not be merely external —braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be? ?the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God” (1 Peter 3:3-4).  Therefore, as a Christian woman, I am to dress with a sense of shame, bashfulness, sobriety, and self-control, claiming godliness by doing good works.

It can be hard at times to know what is appropriate and pleasing to God and not to become complacent since women are portrayed to look a certain way every where I go, from driving by billboards to looking through magazines. A woman of the world may dress to impress and bring attention to herself by having the wrong intentions. Nevertheless, as a Christian woman, I am to dress so that I am pleasing to God.  I am to dress differently from the women of the world.  My heart and my intentions reflect in what I wear.  I have to ask myself, “Why I am wearing what I am wearing and am I making a claim to godliness by what I am wearing?” I have to remind myself daily to dress the way God
wants me to dress and not how I or any one else desire.

Wayne Jackson, founder of the Christian Chronicle states, “Modern immodesty has not liberated women; rather, it has enslaved them to lifestyles that have only degraded them, and marred the glorious image their Creator intended them to enjoy.”  As a Christian, I am liberated from the bondage of trying to look a certain way if I am willing to apply what God says and not live by the standards of the world, but by His Word.

References
Jackson, W. (1997-2010). The value of modesty. Christian Courier. Retrieved March 21,2010, from http://www.christiancourier.com/articles/65-the-value-of-modesty

By Kerstin Allison
Kerstin and her husband, Britton, are graduates of The Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver. They now live in Oklahoma City, OK and worship with the church that meets at North MacArthur. Currently they are going to school and once they are finished, they hope to do international mission work.