Modesty—Glorifies God

So we know that God calls for us to be modest, but why?  I would say that the main reason for modesty, and really all things that we do, is to bring glory to God. 

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.  (1 Corinthians 10:31)

That is why we were created, and we usually fail miserably at it.  Our own desires war against us.  Satan and his gang are out to discredit and destroy anything that would bring glory to God.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.  (Ephesians 6:12)

We don’t have a chance, right?

Wrong!  When we depend on God and set our sights on him and his kingdom, we have to power to overcome all of that.  The same goes with modesty.  And that also means that you’ll come up against a big battle.  Be ready, because our main reason for being modest in both dress and inward is because we want to bring glory to God.

 

I think why people have latched on to modesty is because it portrays what is really in our hearts.  And that then comes to the outside, in the clothes that we wear, the conversations that we have, and the defenses that we create when confronted.

And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”  (Mark 7:20-23)

That is why it is so important that we dress ourselves first with inner qualities.  The Bible refers over and over again of dressing our inner selves:

She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong.  (Proverbs 31:17)

Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.  (Proverbs 31:25)

Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman without discretion.  (Proverbs 11:22)

Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  (1 Peter 5:5b)

Put on the whole armor of God…  Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  (Ephesians 6:11-17)

Strength.  Dignity.  Discretion.  Humility.  Truth.  Righteousness.  Peace.  Faith.  Salvation.  The Bible (memorization).

We are first and foremost to be worried about our inner dressing, our inner modesty.  Because with that will come the outward appearance.  We will dress with our Savior in mind.  We will dress with others in mind.  We will dress, not to impress others, but to impress our Lord.  It will all look a little differently from one person to another, because we were all created unique, but we will dress for the right reasons.

We should also, though, keep in mind how we dress because remember, everything we do glorifies God.  How we dress is part of our testimony.

I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.  (1 Corinthians 9:27)

Even a child makes himself known by his acts, by whether his conduct is pure and upright.  (Proverbs 20:11)

To the outside world, everything we do and say is judged.  And that judgment falls right to the core of “this is what a Christian does.”  That’s why we must care about how we dress and how we act.  If God tells us that a Christian is modest in both inward and outward appearance, and the world judges us as immodest, then that directly affects our testimony.  That is not to say that wrong judgment is to dictate our lives, but it does show that the world is looking.

With all that being said, we should be careful to not dress modestly or come up with all these legalistic rules to appear more holy.

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven."  (Matthew 6:1)

This really comes down to a heart issue.  You should act and dress modestly because you want to please the Lord, not so that others look and say “Wow.  Isn’t that person a super-Christian!”  Then again, pride is not modest.

Join me tomorrow for part two of Modest—Glorifies God.

 

through His grace alone!

Sarah