We have all been told to dress modestly. I hear it all the time. We need to dress modestly. But how often are we actually told what it is? That is what I will be explaining to you in this article.
Modesty is dressing, acting, and speaking in a way that doesn't bring glory to you, but to God. Let me tell you what I mean. In 1 Timothy 2:9 it says, "Likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire," This is where we see that we shouldn't bring glory to ourselves. Now, this isn't saying that it's wrong to look pretty. Back in the time of the ancient Romans and such when this was written, rich people had a LOT of servants. Like, a LOT. So what would they do all day if they didn't have to actually do anything? What they would do is they'd get all dolled up, then walk around the city trying to attract attention to themselves. They would decorate their hair, and put all their finest jewels, and sometimes things like fine china in their hair to show off how much they had. Now, in common days, this seems silly. No one does that now, right? Have you ever gone to the store, or gone online and seen something like, "Look at _______'s new daring outfit!" or, "Look at _____'s new bold look!" in an article or magazine cover? Women of the world will try to dress so inappropriately, just to draw attention to themselves. This is exactly what this verse is saying NOT to do.
Now, if we shouldn't bring attention to ourselves, then who SHOULD we draw attention to?! Well, if you read on in 1 Timothy 2:10 it says, "but with what is proper for women who profess godliness- with good works." We need to dress in a way that is proper for women who profess godliness. What this is saying is people need to see God when they see how we dress, how we speak, and how we act. Modesty isn't about you. Modesty is about people seeing God in you. If you go to a beach and you see a thousand women wearing little bikinis and I told you that one of them was a Christian and told you to try figuring out which one it was just by looking, how easy do you think that'd be? I don't know about you but I might have some difficulty finding her. As Christians, we need to be set apart from the world. Not part of it.
