Text- Proverbs 7:10 “And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart”
Today, many Christians believe that God is not concerned about what we wear; He’s only concerned about what we are. They say that your attire does not matter; it is your heart that does… A lot of philosophical statements have been built around the subject of dressing and fashion in general.
From out text, we see how the woman was described in the Bible; she was described first, by what she was putting on, before anything was said about the state of her heart. I like how the Christian Standard Bible puts it, “A woman came to meet him dressed like a prostitute, having a hidden agenda” Well, that means you could be dressed like a prostitute, and not have any ulterior motive!
Genesis 3:21 – “And the LORD God made clothes out of animal skins for Adam and his wife, and he clothed them.” Making of cloths originated from God, and as such we must trace our way back to Him, and to His original intent on the subject of dressing.
Today, my goal is not to tell you what to wear, and what not to wear. My goal is to explain to you the purpose of dressing, and then leave you to make personal evaluations of your dressing and fashion sense. You know, when the purpose of a thing is unknown, abuse is inevitable! The purpose of dressing is in three folds:
1. To cover your nakedness
As we see in Genesis 3:21, after the fall of man, God took away the fig leaves that Adam and Eve made for themselves and made clothes for them instead. If God wanted them to be naked, He would not make clothes for them.
It is sad to say that too many clothes nowadays parade nakedness, and this is highly celebrated! Whenever you expose or accentuate parts of your body that should be covered, you are violating God’s purpose for dressing.
2. For dignity and beauty
God said to Moses in Exodus 28:40, “Make tunics, sashes, and caps for Aaron's sons, to provide them with dignity and beauty”. You see, that from God’s perspective, dignity takes precedence over beauty when it comes to dressing! Unfortunately, the order has been reversed; we see a lot of people downplay or even completely eradicate dignity from their dressing.
When you dress attractively, you are beautiful and you are admired; but when you dress responsibly, you are dignified, and you are respected. While it’s undeniable that we all want to look good and admired, we must learn to prioritize respect honor and dignity above admiration, beauty and splendor. Learn to adapt the current fashion trends to your kingdom taste and not vice versa.
3. For Identity
Like we see in our text, the woman was identified by her dressing. The same way, your dressing is the label that draws a conclusion about your person. Without having any close interaction with Moses, Reuel’s daughters called him an Egyptian; this was probably because of the kind of dressing he was putting on! When you have finished dressing up, ask yourself, “What do I look like?”
PRAYERS
1. Lord, I choose to honor you with my dressing. I choose to dress in a way that rightly represents who I profess to be as a Christian.
2. I make a commitment today, to always adapt the current fashion trends to my kingdom taste. I will not compromise on godly standards because of what’s in vogue.
3. In my dressing and fashion sense, I decide form today to always prioritize respect honor and dignity above admiration, beauty and splendor.
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