“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Colossians 3:12
During my working career, I spent three years as Placement Director for a technical school. One of my duties was to prepare students for graduation and job interviews. There were guidelines I used to encourage them to dress for success so they would appear like a serious candidate for the position. As I interact with the employees at most companies today - even at banks which are to be the most trustworthy of organizations – I see employees dressed as if they forgot it was a work day! It’s obvious that many people don’t seem to be aware of the connection between what they wear and how it can affect their attitude and opportunities - and especially the perceptions of others - but it is absolutely a factor in how you face the day and how others perceive you.
If we apply this worldly truth to our Christian walk, scripture clearly teaches followers of Jesus Christ that they are to represent Him. In 2 Corinthians 5:20, Apostle Paul says, “We are ambassadors for Christ.” Imagine for a moment that Jesus actually called you on your phone today and said, “Hey there loved one, I’d like you to go and represent me in the marketplace today.” Would you grab your ripped jeans and stretched out t-shirt and rush out the door? If your heart has been changed by Christ, I can’t believe that would be your response. I know it would not be mine.
My Savior is Jesus Christ and He has asked me in the scriptures to represent Him every day. It is my heart’s desire to do it effectively and with excellence. If He would actually call and ask me that, I would challenge myself to look and to do my absolute best for Him. Why wouldn’t we? He has given us everything. All that we are and all that we have are blessings from Him. James 1:17 states, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
That should be our daily practice, but how about when we go to church? How should Christians best represent their Savior and their righteous position in Him at church? The old saying, “Wear your Sunday best,” should never go out of style. The Church of Jesus Christ is His Body. If we consider how the scriptures describe us in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul tells us we are all parts of one body: a foot, a hand, an eye, an ear. All parts are valuable to the whole body. Each part has its own function. As we represent Him on Sunday mornings, shouldn’t we be the best dressed group of people anywhere? I’m not saying we need to be the most expensively dressed group, because there are ways around that – one being thrift stores. But everyone has a mirror at home to look at themselves before they leave to see if they look worthy of Who they represent – clean, neat and confident.
Modesty is another topic we must address. Modesty is the quality of being humble and decent in behavior and dress. Our culture today has objectified women and girls with immodest trends and they don’t seem to realize it. I created a slogan when I saw too many females immodestly coming to church: “Too much skin, you’re not coming in, we’re here to worship Jesus, not you!” I imagined we would post this on a sign in the entry and right next to the sign there would be a selection of sweaters, jackets, appropriate skirts and pants to add to their ensemble. This never really happened, of course.
But this is a serious topic. One of the biggest reasons is because all men are susceptible to lust because they are visually stimulated. Young girls should be taught this. They should not be allowed to just go with the flow of what everyone else is wearing. I wonder where are their dads when they leave the house? My dad would have never let me go looking like some of them do. It is a shame that these girls are not being taught to dress modestly by their parents. 
There is never a reason for a female to come to church dressed immodestly. 1 Timothy 2:9-10 says, “Women should adorn themselves modestly.” Every daughter of God should be aware of her righteous standing in Christ and dress accordingly.
In Dressing for Faith: What the Bible Teaches about Clothing, writer Adam Phillips gives these three points - Covering, Temptation and Humility. Why cover? If you have a special item, say a classic car, wouldn’t you cover it? Most people would keep it in the garage or under a protective cover to shield it from the sun or other damage. Our bodies are the most important possession we have! We should absolutely protect them.
Temptation, as I noted earlier, is when a woman’s appearance can attract men and tempt them to have thoughts they would otherwise not have. This is all too common. We must do better at helping women and teen girls understand their power. Author Dannah Gresh pinpoints this power in her book, Secret Keeper – The Delicate Power of Modesty. She explains that your modesty not only issues a challenge for one man to romantically earn your virtue, but it also expresses your love for and obedience to God.
Here are a few practical suggestions for Godly women and girls. If you choose to wear skin-tight pants, stretch jeans or stretch pants, pair them with a long top or tunic that completely covers your hips. Never wear any top to church that ex
poses cleavage. Nix the tattered jeans. Remember that Jesus redeemed you and you are representing Him! God’s house is no place for women and girls to be wearing torn, skimpy or revealing clothes.
And lastly, humility, as mentioned earlier, is defined as the quality of being humble and characterized by modesty and a lack of pride or arrogance. Dressing in a way to call attention to yourself is prideful.
Let’s do our best to represent our Savior well, especially when we go to our house of worship. Might it be that God would grant us more success as His Bride if we were to dress the part? Brides always want to look beautiful, and they should.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in Heaven. Matthew 5:16
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