A Humble-Modest Heart

“Women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire.” (1 Timothy 2:9)

What kind of clothes proceed from a humble, modest heart?

“Adorning ourselves with ‘respectable apparel’ doesn’t mean we need to raid our grandmother’s closet. Paul is instructing women to stay away from clothing and accessories that are extravagant, showy, revealing, or sexually enticing. He is encouraging restraint and moderation in dress for the purpose of purity.” –Nicole Whitacre

As we learned last week out of 1 Peter 3:3-4- God tells us that it’s our inward beauty that is more important than our clothing and appearance. Paul is definitely not saying it’s wrong to look nice! He is saying that women need to make sure our outer beauty reflects that God is in our hearts. Elizabeth George says, “A woman cannot claim to fear God and yet disregard what God says about her behavior, appearance, and her ministry.”

We are not to distract others from worshipping God. As C.J. Mahaney has observed “He (Paul) wants the Savior, not seductive style clothing to be the focus of the Church gathering—and indeed the focus of all life. So the real issue wasn’t really braided hair or gold, or pearls, of costly attire. The issue was—and is—clothing that associates with worldly and ungodly values. Clothes that say: ‘look at me’ and ‘I’m with the world.’”

Paul is not prohibiting woman from enhancing their appearance—In fact there are places in scripture where godly woman wore fine clothing and jewelry. For example, the Proverbs 31 woman dressed in colorful and high quality clothing. (Proverbs 31:22)

This might all still be a little new to you. Let me encourage you to ask God to open the eyes of your heart to see where you’ve been failing to glorify God in your wardrobes and ask yourself the question:

What conclusions can I draw and what changes can I make regarding my appearance?

For further study:
-Chapter five from the book “Worldliness” by C.J. Mahaney- “God, My Heart, and Clothes”