Woman's Apparel

Allow your wonderful and perfect Father to speak to you right now.

---

Now that you have allowed your loving Jesus to speak these true words to your heart, believe them. As women God has an overwhelming soft spot in His hearts for our gentleness. Be encouraged that women play such a massive role in showing Christ’s love for others. Your soft persona around everyone will be noticed, your smile towards the stranger that no one talks to is felt and appreciated, your invitation to a gathering of believers to someone in need will have great impact. Understanding that being a woman has a huge job description, allows you to begin to take your “job” more seriously. There are a few main points a woman must grasp on as truth in her life for her to begin her official duties. These truths from God will allow you to feel more at peace about many things which will aid in helping and loving others:

“I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; 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, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works.” 1 Timothy 2:8-10

Let’s break down what our Father is instructing us to do. I wanted to include the entire passage so we could see that God first instructs men not to be angry. Now for us ladies is the next part! God knew that women were going to be bombarded with images of what “beauty” is and get confused about what God says beauty actually is. That is why He is saying this to us, dress in “respectable apparel, with modesty”, He understands that because of the worlds standard of women we would need reminding of the Truth. Do not misread this passage, God wants us to love people and allow them to get close to us. Knowing this, we must not think we have to wear an outfit from the 1800’s. But God IS DEFINITELY instructing women to cover themselves, and not be an enabler for people to look at them and lust after them because of their clothes!

“Every day when I get dressed, I look at myself through the eyes of an unsaved man. I think to myself: Is this too low, are my pants too tight, would this cause him to lust? Then I look at myself through the eyes of God. This is where I ask more questions, specifically about my character: Am I brave enough to look different from most women, do I feel confident in who I am to get attention by my behavior and not my appearance, do I love God with all my heart and do I truly only want to impress Him?” -Samantha

The last set of questions are the hardest. Any woman can pick out a “modest outfit” but then to consider if the outfit introduces God before your adorable figure… Please note that I am not suggesting we should not wear bright colors, that has nothing to do with it. (I wore hot pink last night!) If we as women love God and want to show others His love for them as well, we do these things for God’s glory and hopefully other people who may possibly benefit ETERNALLY! Adding on to the character questions I ask about myself, the end of verse 10 says: “but with what is proper for women who profess godliness”. (This is not being self-righteous unless you feel smug and better than other people for dressing modestly.) This has everything to do with who you are in God. I would say this verse is talking to different women in different situations. One woman who is struggling with self image and feels the need to get men’s attention throughout the day by wearing something too tight. Maybe you are dressed modestly, but there is something the world has called beautiful about yourself so you go out of your way to show it off. God does not want this. He wants our full attention on Him, always. Isn’t is fair: He has His full attention on us always… Why are we not returning the favor?
I will continue to discuss how as strong and beautiful women in Christ, we must treat others and ourselves to show Christ in this dark world. Continue to be encouraged in Christ.
In His Love Always,
The Hopeful Woman In Christ