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Submitted By:
Bro. Israel Wilson
Based on biblical
references, the problem is not modesty, beautifully or even
elegantly adorning one’s self, the problem is when one would go the
extra mile or simply place too much emphasis in their physical
appearance. Note carefully, the operative words used are “emphasis”
and “physical”.
Believe it or not, the
spiritual being does have an appearance and most definitely can and
should be adorned- most beautifully adorned too.
In 1st Peter
3:3-4, Peter addressed the wives, who became entangled with the
affairs of this world, due to the fact that they were married, they
probably wanted to look real beautiful for their husbands.
“Rightfully so,” one would say.
But Peter wrote, “whose
adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair,
and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; (v4) But let it
be the hidden man of the heart”.
The relative phrase in this
passage of scripture is whose adorning let it not be that outward
adorning or in other words, don’t let your enhancing be outwardly
emphasized.
Paul beautifully expounded
on it in his epistle to Timothy in 1st Timothy 2:9-10.
Paul wrote, “In like manner also, that the women adorn themselves
in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with
braided hair, or gold, or pearls, costly array; (v10) But (which
becometh of women professing Godliness) with good works”.
So as not to misconstrue
this passage of scripture, let us look at some of these words from a
definitive point of view. Firstly, let’s dissect “modesty”.
“Modesty” from the Oxford dictionary’s view simply means ‘the
quality of being modest.’ So being that modesty is the quality
of being modest, let’s look at the meaning of modest. According to
the Oxford dictionary modest when contextualized or used in this
context means “relatively moderate, limited or small”,
(especially of clothes) decent. So now, let’s check out
moderate, this means, “average in amount, intensity or degree”.
“NOT EXTREME’. That’s what I was looking for, “not
extreme.”
So Paul, in
His epistle to Timothy, was simply stating that women should not be
“extreme” in their outward adornment but be sober, and Peter states
that the effort or the extreme emphasis should be placed in adorning
the hidden man of the heart.
Isaiah 3: 16-23 states,
“Moreover the Lord saith, because the daughters of Zion are haughty,
and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and
mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet: (17)
Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the heads of
the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover their secret
parts. (18) In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their
tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their
round tires like the moon, (19) The chains, and the bracelets, and
the mufflers, (24) and it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet
smell there shall be stink; and instead of well set hair baldness;
and burning instead of beauty.
So here, Isaiah gives us a
beautiful example of extreme emphasis being placed on the outward
appearance, so much so that it reached the point of idolization.
Isaiah writes in verse seventeen (17), “and the Lord will
discover their secret parts.” therefore the children of Zion -
as they were so affectionately called by the Lord – hid their true
characteristics behind their jewellery and their pharmaceutical
beauty, so the Lord through his prophet said he will discover their
secret parts or in other word he will reveal their true identity
which they’ve hid behind all their ornamentations. It is necessary
for one to realize that the problem arises when an individual shifts
focus from preparing his spiritual being to meet the bride groom
which is spiritual. Remember, that all the things we’re looking
forward to, is spiritual, well, all the eternal things, that is;
this is why Paul stated in Galatians “that whatsoever a man
soweth that shall he also reap, for if a man sow to his flesh he
shall of the flesh reap corruption but if a man sow to his spirit he
shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting”. (Gal.6:7-8).
Notice keenly what will
happen if a man sows to his flesh, and what will happen if he sows
to his spirit. ‘Emphasis’ placed on the flesh only reaps temporary
benefits but the spirit is eternal. So, ask yourself this one
question, WHERE IS MY EMPHASIS BEING PLACED?
Please note carefully that
the operative word throughout these writings is emphasis, and a
comparison made between the spiritual which is eternal and the
physical, which is temporary. Therefore the problem is not in a
person appropriation of modesty, the problem is when one loses the
main focus and allows their visions to be distorted by self
centeredness, pride and rebellion.
Isaiah in his writing
expressed the obvious anger of the Lord against ‘worldliness’ of the
Lord’s chosen people. Their extreme adorning obviously had a great
impact on their attitude and behaviour not only toward themselves
but most importantly toward God- they became proud. Isaiah said the
daughters of Zion are haughty, don’t we see a lot of that these
days. All the characteristics that Isaiah ascribed to the Israelites
are nothing close to being ‘Christ like’.
“Walking and mincing as
they go”, the prophet said. They
became so self-centered; they went about cutting up each other,
figuratively speaking of course, walking and swinging their hips
with quick affecting steps. They went about committing cruel and
violent actions deliberately, and they were unprovoked in doing
this, according to the oxford dictionary, that’s what wanton means.
They became proud to the
point of idolization; they began to esteem themselves higher than
God himself. It seems as if they worshiped the creature rather than
the creator. Your dress code does affect your personality.
So, to sum it all up, Paul
stated in his writings to the Colossians, in Colossians 3: 12 &14
Which reads thus, “Put on
therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies,
kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; (14) and
above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness".
The dress codes presented in
Paul’s writings are that of a spiritual adornment worn only by
royalty, Princes and Princesses, Heirs to the throne of grace, a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, elect of God.
This adornment has to be protected. Therefore Paul recommended an
armor in his epistle to the Ephesians, this is also spiritually
suggestive. The armor - spiritual clothing which must be kept in
fine order at all times and if damaged, it must be replaced with
another suit of armor urgently. WHERE IS YOUR EMPHASIS BEING PLACED?
Let us also remember that
these matters are basic matters, these are simple issues which one
will battle while trying to attain the second dimension in God.
These are simply first dimension matters. A wise man once said,
“WISDOM IS KNOWING WHAT TO FIGHT FOR.” The sooner we start seeing
these issues as basic and start focusing on the warfare that is
being fought against us by the devil, his demons and their
subordinates is the sooner we’ll start seeing the power of God being
manifested in our lives, instead, we’re busy mincing each other to
pieces. WHERE IS YOUR EMPHASIS BEING PLACED? |
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