Saturday, December 31, 2016

THE MODEST CHRISTIAN LADY AND DRESSING (2 OF 2)

ARE YOU DRESSING FOR CHRIST OR THE WORLD?

c. A modest lady will not reveal her underwear.  In a time now past, it was an open shame to reveal your underwear but now, it is common.  If the garment is tight so that it reveals the outline of your underwear (or that there is no underwear at all), then it is also drawing the guy’s attention away from the lady’s countenance and to her undergarments.   Additionally, if the garment opens in a way that reveals the undergarment, it is inappropriate.  For example: sleeveless garments (or garments with very short sleeves, three-quarter sleeves, etc.) allow a guy to see into the blouse revealing the lady’s undergarments or chest.  Another modern trend is to actually show off the underwear.  Many women are wearing low-waist skirts/trousers.  As a result, they are revealing their underwear.  In a similar way, women are revealing their underwear on top -almost to the point of showing off their underwear.  Lace peaking out of the top of a shirt draws curiosity and attention to that point.  Once again drawing attention where it doesn’t belong.  A Christian lady should be pointing people to her Saviour, not to her body.

d. A modest lady will not draw attention to her jewelry.  The verse on modesty (1Tim. 2:9) also mentions gold, pearls and costly array.  A Christian lady should not be “flashy” with her jewelry and clothes.  People around her should not look at her and admire or even covet her expensive clothes and jewelry.  When people look at a Christian lady they should first see her sweet spirit and testimony. Our clothes and jewelry should never over power, or stand in the way of people seeing Christ in us.  This is not to say that all jewelry is wrong, but it should be kept in balance as an accent, and not a focal point.

e. A Modest lady will not adorn herself with overbearing makeup.  God gives each lady a natural beauty from within.  That beauty can be accented with mild, natural makeup.  However, when the makeup becomes a focal point, it has already become too much.  Unlike nakedness, there is no hard and fast rule we can point to here. However, the Bible does give us an example to look at.  Jezebel was a queen who has the reputation of being the wickedest of women.  She was a murderer, a prostitute and, overall, an enemy of God.  How did she adorn herself?  Among other things, she “painted her face” (2 Kings 9:30).  We do not know what she looked like, but I think it is safe to assume that her makeup was distracting, so much that it was noteworthy. In today’s culture, makeup has drifted toward a dark tone.  Many young women use very dark makeup, especially around the eyes.  Dark makeup has always been associated with Satanism.  Many of the young women today may not consider their association when wearing the black or dark colours, but the association is there.  Also, when she paints dark colours around her eyes, she is drawing attention to her eyes.  A woman’s eyes can be very enticing.  If the woman is sly, she can use them to entice a man into her snare.  

e. A modest lady will not wear unnatural hair colouring or gaudy hair styles.  In 1 Peter 3 and 1 Timothy 2 the Bible refers to hair styles.  The references here point to braiding and folding hair in an excessive way.  They were styling their hair so that the hair became a focal point instead of God living within them.  Today, we see many different bold and attractive hair styles.  Styling your hair is not necessarily wrong.  It is only when the hair style becomes overwhelming or when the hair style draws someone’s attention away from your countenance. Hair colours that do not naturally occur are immodest.  The sole purpose of such a colour is to draw attention to the person and not to Christ.  Likewise, colouring styles are immodest.  You will never see a modest Christian lady wearing un-natural colours or stripes in her hair!

Romans 12:2kjv says: “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God”.
2Cor.6:17kjv says: “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,”
James 1:27kjv say: “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world”.

Conclusion
In everything she does, a modest Christian lady will be separated from the world. As the world’s standards change, the Christian’s standard should not. Our appearance should set us apart from the world.  People should visibly see a difference in Christians.  The ungodly fashion industry, and Hollywood stars should not be our examples of how we should look.  Quite frankly, most of the dressings of the film and music stars are a good measure of what we should NOT look like. These dressings have even corrupted most of our gospel stars. Separation does not mean drab. But at the same time the Christian should look distinctly different. The Christian should not be constantly trying to keep up with every crazy fad that comes along, especially if it is extreme and draws attention to the body and not the Spirit of God. Amen!


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