The Faith of the Modest Person
In like manner, that women adorn
themselves in modest apparel,
with shamefastness and sobriety;
not with braided hair, and gold
or pearls or costly raiment;
but (which becometh women professing
godliness) through good works.
1 Timothy 2:9-10
It takes a lot of faith to be a modest person. This may seem
like a strange statement for someone to make, but modesty whether in
our attitude or our apparel is against what popular opinion says one
should do to be successful in life. The general rule is that you
must fight your way to the top of the ladder or be left behind. Nobody
wants to be left behind. This type of attitude appears to leaves one
who wishes to follow God’s plan for conducting their lives in this world
destined for failure. Therefore it takes a great faith to trust that
God will care for us when we go against what is successful to our mortal
minds and to seek first the Kingdom of God and let God supply the rest.
(Matthew 6:24-34)
What is modesty? Modesty is defined by The American Heritage
Dictionary as, “Quiet or humble in appearance; observing conventional
properties in speech, behavior, or dress.” Modesty is often referred
to when speaking of the way a person is dressed. Our apparel does
not make us modest. However, it should be an adjective used to describe
our clothing whether we are male or female. Modesty is not about lines
drawn on the body so we can insure that our shorts or skirts come down
far enough; or a line on our chest, back and arms to decide if the dress,
or shirts that we are wearing covers enough of the body. We are not
to see how close we can get to the line without crossing it. The
underlying factor of modesty is to not draw attention to oneself. By
definition modesty is being quite and humble in speech, behavior or
dress. A modest person will not want to stand out in a crowd by
drawing attention to themselves by the way they act or by the apparel
(or lack thereof) they decide to wear. This same society that tells
us if we are not willing to do what ever it might take to make it to
the top of the corporate ladder is the same society that will tell you
that the word “humble” would mean weak. This is not true! Think of our
ultimate example, Jesus was a meek and humble man while living on earth.
However, was Jesus weak when He faced a mob that wanted Him? (Read
Matthew 23, Luke 4:29-30, John 8:59, and John 11:8)
The importance and power of modesty is also defined in I Peter 3:2-4.
This passage talks of a wife who can win her husband to the Lord by
her chaste behavior. Notice what the Bible says in verses 3-4, “Whose
adorning let it not be the outward adorning of braiding the hair,
and of wearing jewels of gold, or of putting on apparel; but let it
be the hidden man of the heart, in the incorruptible apparel of a meek
and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.” This
passage shows the attitude that is to be present in a Christian woman
or any Christian for that matter. Today we do have a problem with
men and women putting on the best and most expensive clothes so that
they may be popular, look wealthy, look stylish, etc… Are these
qualities that a Christian should be trying to show the world?
Should a Christian care whether the clothes they are wearing came
from the Gap or Wal-Mart? Materialism is a large problem in this
country everybody must have the latest and the best of everything
or they feel left behind. A Christian should be the one doing
everything in their power to teach that this world and all of
its material possessions are not important. There is only one
thing that is important as the writer of Ecclesiastes states in
chapter 12, verse 13, “This is the end of the matter; all hath been
heard: fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole
duty of man.”
The other extreme is men and women wearing clothes that are
too tight or too small. A very common opinion in our country is that
people teaching against shorts, short skirts, tank tops, tight
clothing, etc… are just old fashion and out of date. All I know is that
clothing the body is something that originated with God, not man. Do
you remember when Adam and Eve had sinned by eating of the fruit of “
the tree of knowledge”? What did they do when they realized that they
were naked? They made coverings for themselves. Notice the Bible says it
was a covering (Genesis 3:7). Then what did God do in verse 21? God
made them tunics of skin and clothed them! God wanted Adam and Eve
clothed not covered. It is plainly stated in 1Timothy 2:9 and
1 Peter 3 that modest apparel should be worn. It is a fact that
immodest dress and immodest behavior leads to even more sins such
as lust, fornication, and adultery. After this it tears the home
apart and destroys relationships. All because society says, everyone
has a right to wear or say whatever they want and no one should even
try to stop them.
Jesus blesses the meek person in Matthew 5:5. Jesus never
blessed the proud people who did things to draw attention to themselves
to look religious. On the contrary, Jesus called them hypocrites. In
the 23rd chapter of Matthew, Jesus describes this type of person as
a dish that is beautiful and clean on the outside, but the inside of
the dish is still very dirty. The person never took the time or
cared to wash the inside. If we will take the time to mold and
shape our hearts we are considered blessed by Jesus. (Matthew 5:1-12)
However, if we are wearing turtle neck sweaters, long sleeve shirts,
with pants or skirts to our ankles and our actions are never out of
line, but it is only for a show then we are that hypocrite that is
spoke of very harshly in Matthew 23. Let’s strive to first wash the
inside (our hearts) and strive to make our attitude a modest one. Then,
the clothes that we wear will become longer and will cover more of
the body so that we draw attention to our Godly behavior in a perverse
world, instead of our bodily features or figure.
