Sunday 26 May 2013

Does God Care About What I WEAR?



Does God care about what you wear? In this dispensation, it seems our dressing is becoming MUCH MORE revealing. It could be argued that individuals that wear indecent clothing, such as; extremely body hugging clothes, clothes showing one's cleavage, sagging trousers, micro mini skirts, etc are insecure in themselves.

A young person shared the below:

"As a teen, holiness was irrelevant to me. I had a desire to please God, but I didn’t think dressing immodestly was a big deal. Obviously, it was to my parents, but they just seemed to be stuck back in the dark ages anyway.

It took me several years to grow into an understanding of the 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “great exchange” that took place when I asked Jesus to rescue me from my sins:
“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” 
When we embrace the truth that Jesus wore our sinful robe to the cross so we could wear His righteous robe, we make the “great exchange” and become a daughter of the King of kings! From then on everything we do, say, and wear should reflect who our Father is". 

One of my male friends, who is a Lawyer by Profession and a Born Again Christian wrote the below article from a male's perspective in respects to Christian dressing. 


The world today has evolved with diverse fashion styles which suite different occasions. Traditionally appearance defines an individual and reflects the sort of association such individual keeps. 

World religions seem to have particular dress codes which identify them and persons around them can say where another belongs to. Christianity though classified as a religion by some has being stated to rather be a lifestyle or a way of life governed by the scriptures.

Being a Christian disconnects one from the ways and patterns of the world as a whole and connects one to the kingdom of God. Scriptures draw the divide between light and darkness. God is light and darkness does not thrive then. The language of the kingdom is holiness which affects the appearance of the Christian in the society as a whole.

Individuals can’t call themselves Christians and appear in like manner as the world which is common to see today. The dress code of the kingdom of God is moderation and in moderation must be such as would not cause a fellow brother or sister to sin. Cleavage exposures or sensitive parts exposure can be classified as indecency as when others see such it brings negative thoughts to mind. More so the unbelievers or non- Christians delight in bodily exposure and use such as seductive mechanisms. Christianity teaches that one is called out from the world and called into the kingdom of God. 

Times call for clear line of distinction between who belong to the kingdom and who belongs to the world. It is appalling to find ‘Christians’ appearing as prostitutes or gangsters or pimps in the society and even carry same into the church thereby desecrating the alter. God is holy and from all indicators in the scriptures does not accept anything not holy. 

2 Corinthians 6.17 implores all followers of Christ to be separate from the world which includes dressing or appearance. Romans 13.14 implores Christians to put on the Lord Jesus Christ as a garment (dress) making no provision whatsoever for the flesh to fulfil its lust. If Christ be a garment we put on as believers then the nature of Christ need be manifest for our lives are living epistles which men read so when men see us that call ourselves Christians what are they able to read from us? Is it the worldly pattern or the Christ pattern?


Arguments may abound on issues of dressing today but the truth remains that there is a dressing that glorifies God either worn by the male or female gender. Either of the genders have their dressing and none ought put on what pertains to the other (Exodus 22.5) for such stand as abomination to God. The Christian must pay attention to the spirit of God on issues relating to dressing for the fact that everybody dresses in a particular manner does not make it right or acceptable to God.

The above is just informative but I would trust it has thrown certain light on the topic and one that would set your heart on thinking mode.


-   Oluwatosin Olatoye

About the writer: Tosin is a trained Lawyer. He is single and lives in Warri, Nigeria.  Tosin has a passion for God and everything to do with living right for God.  Since I have known Tosin, every conversation that we have always revolves around building our faith in Christ.  

Thank you so much Tosin.

Do you think God cares about your appearance? Or do you feel it’s about the inward appearance only?

You can be modest in your dressing and still look glamorous! Dare to be different, and look good for Christ.

Include your voice.  Share your views below.

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7 comments:

  1. uhmm. Very sensitive and relevant topic for most ladies. I think as christians our dressing is very important! It is also linked to our relationship with God- A fact that seems to be lacking nowadays. The deeper your relationship you God is, the more you know and have the fear of God and all these things e.g. modesty follow.

    However, dressing can be a subjective thing as well. Like to some people skirts that are not 3/4 or sleeveless is not christian-like. So when do we draw the line. I think a balance needs to be reached!. In these cases, I just think as long as you know God will be happy with what you are wearing, then these people can be ignored. Its not like they are wrong but sometimes people have personal convictions! which they try to impose on to others.

    anyway, christian ladies should dress appropriately and not just neglect the issue. It is very important. Both to us, to others looking up to us and for our fellow christian brothers :)

    Another angle i look at this from is.... Only a poor man would dress to reveal (like a very close friend of mine will say)-be mindful like poor in this sentence refers to both materialistic and knowledge aspects. You dont see royalties dressing and showing their bodies take the royal family for example. An if we are a royal priesthood (1pet 2:9), we are expected to act in certain ways. Our appearance is important and signifies elegance, attracts respects and so on and so forth.
    Finally, You can look very good and still cover up!

    Funke, another important aspect (opposite end) is also how to look good as well. Some men/women may need help in that area. Being a christian shouldnt mean you should not look nice :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. uhmm. Very sensitive and relevant topic for most ladies. I think as christians our dressing is very important! It is also linked to our relationship with God- A fact that seems to be lacking nowadays. The deeper your relationship you God is, the more you know and have the fear of God and all these things e.g. modesty follow.

    However, dressing can be a subjective thing as well. Like to some people skirts that are not 3/4 or sleeveless is not christian-like. So when do we draw the line. I think a balance needs to be reached!. In these cases, I just think as long as you know God will be happy with what you are wearing, then these people can be ignored. Its not like they are wrong but sometimes people have personal convictions! which they try to impose on to others.

    anyway, christian ladies should dress appropriately and not just neglect the issue. It is very important. Both to us, to others looking up to us and for our fellow christian brothers :)

    Another angle i look at this from is.... Only a poor man would dress to reveal (like a very close friend of mine will say)-be mindful like poor in this sentence refers to both materialistic and knowledge aspects. You dont see royalties dressing and showing their bodies take the royal family for example. An if we are a royal priesthood (1pet 2:9), we are expected to act in certain ways. Our appearance is important and signifies elegance, attracts respects and so on and so forth.
    Finally, You can look very good and still cover up!

    Funke, another important aspect (opposite end) is also how to look good as well. Some men/women may need help in that area. Being a christian shouldnt mean you should not look nice :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for your comment Ruth. I always look forward to you and Bernado's comment. You made a valid point: "The deeper our relationship with God, the more we know and have the fear of God and all these things e.g. modesty follow".

      Modesty follows when we enhance our relationship with God. He tells us what is acceptable to wear and what we are not to wear. We are then led by Him in terms of our choice of clothing.

      You are right about people imposing personal convictions on others, this can be linked to the use of earrings, not wearing trousers, wearing a skirt that reaches the ankle, amongst others. All I know is that, regardless of personal convictions, God is very unlikely to lead someone to dress 'barely naked'.

      How to look good as Christians, I recently attended a single's conference, where the focus was about dressing and taking care of oneself.

      The lady that chaired the session is single, she discussed wearing fitted clothes, not extremely lose clothes that are out of shape neither should we wear body hugging, there are ladies that do not shave their armpits or legs, ladies not moisturising their body properly, guys wearing one boxer for the whole of the week, amongst others.

      I believe we need to have forum where discussions about appropriate dressing in a Christian way can be discussed. Most people are aware of what not to wear, however, they are not aware of what to wear that can be glamorously modest.
      Ruth, you will be very good at leading such forum, you have great fashion sense that depicts modesty.

      Another comments of yours that I like:

      "Our appearance is important and signifies elegance, attracts respects and so on and so forth".

      Only a poor man would dress to reveal (like a very close friend of mine will say)-be mindful like poor in this sentence refers to both materialistic and knowledge aspects.

      You don't see royalties dressing and showing their bodies take the royal family for example. An if we are a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9), we are expected to act in certain ways.

      Delete
  3. Just a thought, when God made coats in Genesis 3:21: "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them." I'm sure it was literally a coat, covering the entire body, just about their size; neither sagging nor over sized. From my perspective as a guy, if a girl's dress exposes the parts of her body that should be covered, then I'd say that she ain't gold cos you don't find gold left out in the public, do you?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Twale. So, it makes the individual to appear cheap not precious. So, for you as a Christian guy, is it the exposing that is wrong? Not the body hugging?
      Thank you for quoting the above scripture.

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  4. I saw this on one of the blogs on your blog roll and thought to share it.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVMZoZoKT-o&feature=player_embedded

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. You can't believe I saw the video on the blog, but I didn't hae time to watch it. I remember the discussion on the blog was about Christian women wearing bikini.
      I have finally watched the video. It's really powerful. It's a shame that ladies that dress in a provocative way are not aware of the lustful impact on men.

      Delete