DAUGHTERS OF ZION...........Dress to please the Lord, not self or man!

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Pleasing God In Personal Appearance

Introduction:

Purity is the watchword in everything we do to please God or represent Him on earth.  Our master Jesus was pure and holy in all things.  We are to follow His example if we ever want to please God. If the heart is pure, it will reflect in action, dress and the choices we make.  

I commonly say to people, that when you see a woman and her dressing, you can tell the spirit inside of her.  You can indeed discern the spirit controlling a woman from her dressing and behaviour.

The modern Christian woman, single and bubbling is always confused about what to wear and how to present herself to reflect her faith in Christ and her youth.  Her confusion is the best way to balance what the bible say about how a woman should dress and the realities of her age and times.

She wants to dress well and look trendy and marriage ready.  You are born again and spirit-filled, yet you don't want to look like SU, if you understand the meaning of SU.

Develop your Inner man

This write-up is addressing how a woman should dress in order to dress to please God. The issues are simple.  The issue is how to focus on key issues of decent dressing and not necessarily the dressing that will please your friends and get men attracted to you and complimenting you.  FOR LADIES WHO ARE READY FOR MARRIAGE, I counsel you to work on your inner man.  

Develop virtuous characters, humility and submissive spirit, remember that your inner person is your greatest asset for marriage, the gentle and loving spirit, diligence and hardworking person that when a reasonable man discovers, he would never let go of you.

When you develop such characters, you have separated yourself from the pack and as a reward, you will have to choose from among the men that will discover the Treasure that you are.  Stop dressing to please yourself and your friends and to belong to their class.  Stop dressing to seduce men, develop your characters and skills and you will be the one choosing from suitors.

How to balance the Game
But, to help young believers, please God in their dressing, I have the following statements to make:

1. As a women, you have the right to look good and feel good about yourselves. But that liberty can be satisfied in Christ. You can diligently make or buy clothes that do not expose your skin and misrepresent who you truely are.  Because you are treated according to your dressing, you can always select clothes that are modest and pleasing to God if you commit yourself to it.  You are responsible for your appearance and if you consciously seek the help of the Holy Spirit, your dressing will modest.

2. Focus On Inner Beauty - This simply means that your dressing should reflect the spirit inside of you. Your dressing reflects that gentle and God-fearing spirit inside of you, as opposed to spirit of Lust and worldliness.  This is reflected in 1 Peter 3:4 "Let your adornment be the inner self with the lasting beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit."

3. Dress Modestly - How modest is modest? How much of your arms and legs should be seen?  Modesty is about what is edifying.  I have seen women wear a long skirt that came down almost to the ground, but it is so tightly fitting that even the shape of their underwear can be seen.  Is that modest, though it is a long skirt? NO!

Timothy 2:8-10 says "Women should dress modestly and decently in suitable clothing, not with their hair braided, or with gold, pearls, or expensive clothes, but with good works."

4. Boost your confidence - There are many times when you ask a Christian lady why she dresses the way she dressed to church or work, and she will just say "I just wanted to feel happy and good"  What I guess she means is that she wanted to be trendy and look like other ladies.  That is not bad.  Dressing reflects who you are and your mood, and when you are happy with yourself and feel confident about how you look, that instantly boosts your self-worth. 

New creatures in Christ

Are you a Christian sister? If so, this message is for you. It is not directed at your friend or colleague, but you. No one has the spirit of God controlling her and is skimpily dressed NO!  If the sisters should be holy and keep their heart pure and there will be no need to tell them how to dress to please God.  

Your appearance is important as a daughter of Zion.  If you belong to Christ, you are no longer the old person, you used to be.  Your dressing will certainly reflect your new status.  There is no way you can receive Christ and continue to dress like an unbeliever. The Word of God says that you are a new person inside.

But I have to write on the topic because everyone is not at the same level of spiritual growth.  Many are babes in the Lord and are thinking you get anything good by dressing like a harlot, at least to look like the world, but NO.  We know nothing good comes from the devil, seductive dresses will only attract wolves, serpent and scorpions that will do you no good at all.  

Wrong dressing attracts wrong people, men filled with lust who are looking for the body of a woman to satisfy themselves and move on. They are not real men and not children of God.

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Cor. 5:17). God has “rescued believers from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Col. 1:13). 

Just as our words reveal our heart, so our appearance reveals our inner person (1 Peter 3:3-4). God says that people look on the outward appearance but God looks on the heart (1 Sam. 16:7). God wants to have a pure heart and to dress in an acceptable way.  It pleases him for us to have a heart that is earnestly in love with Him, but the people does not see your heart, they see our physical appearance, so our dressing and appearance should be that of a child of God, a regenerated person.

You must lay aside the old man
Does pleasing God in your appearances look like an odd subject to discuss? Do you think that God accepts anything we may wear as long as our heart is right toward God? If so, you are missing the point.  Pure heart is important, just as physical appearance is expected to mirror your heart and the power controlling you.

The call to lay aside the old self, which has been corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, is expected to be a reminder that you cannot dress and talk the way you were used to before you gave your heart to Jesus.  You are expected to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which is created in the likeness of God, in righteousness and holiness. (Eph. 4:22-24). 

We are to lay aside the old self of sin and put on the new self of righteousness (1 Peter 2:24). God wants you to begin an entirely new way of living! He gives you the Holy Spirit so that you will have the strength to live for Him and obey Him. God expects a holistic transformation from our thinking to how we look as follows:

1. A new way of thinking (Rom. 12:2)

2. A new way of speaking (Eph. 4:29)

3. A new way of relating to people (Luke 6:31)

4. A new way of reading (Phil. 4:8)

5. A new way of eating (1 Cor. 10:31)

6. A new way of spending your time (Eph. 5:15-16)

7. A new way of using your money (2 Cor. 8:3-5; 9:6-7)

8. A new way of looking at life (2 Cor. 4:16-18)

The Lord wants to change your appearance. In one respect, God actually wants you to take the initiative in doing the changing–but He will give you the strength and ability to do this to please Him. 

Those in the world around you will not be able to understand this perspective since they are controlled by their own personal desires and the patterns of society around them. 

The genuine Christian will be interested in the will of God contained in Scripture. How does God want you to be transformed in appearance? The discussion pertains mainly to the women, but the principles will likewise apply to men.

Adjusting to please God:

Our goal should be to please God in everything we do (2 Cor. 5:9). This will including our dressing.  We should seek to please the Lord rather than ourselves (2 Cor. 5:15). Peter writes that the woman’s adornment “must not be external” but she is to be concerned about “the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God” (1 Peter 3:3-4). 

You must dress discreetly.

You must choose your clothes wisely and in harmony with Scriptural directives. Women are to “adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly” (1 Tim. 2:9a).  This means that you should not wear form-fitting, sexy, and transparent clothes. You should not expose your body to others, for clothes are meant to conceal rather than reveal. Would you say that shorts, short dresses, sleeveless blouses, swim suits, low-cut necklines, and the like are designed to reveal or to conceal the woman’’s body?

Clothing is meant to cover our bodies in a plain and simple way. It is not meant to create envy in another sister. Nor are clothes meant to arouse lust in the heart of the opposite sex. Jesus warned, “Everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matt. 5:27-28). 

He said it is better to tear one’s eye out than to sin in this way and be sent to hell. Love others to such an extent that you do not stimulate either envy or lust in others! If you cause others to sin by your appearance, then you grievously sin yourself (Luke 17:1-2).

Wear clothes that clearly identify your own sex.

God created “male and female” (Genesis 1:27) and He wants men and women to appear as men and women! God said in His Law: “A woman shall not wear man’s clothing, nor shall a man put on a woman’s clothing” (Deut. 22:5). Even under Christ, God wants a clear gender distinction. Traditionally, in the western world, this has meant that “men wear the pants” and appear in a masculine manner. 

In our world today, worldly men appear feminine by wearing earrings and other jewellery. God says that it is an “abomination” to appear as the opposite sex (Deut. 22:5). Although the unisex influence of the last two generations has served to blur the male-female distinctions, Christians should determine to wear clothes that clearly pertain to their own gender and witness to God’s will in a corrupt world.

What hair style are you wearing?

The Bible says: “Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonour to him, but if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her? For her hair is given to her for a covering” (1 Cor. 11:14-15). Paul also says that “it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off” (v. 6). Quite plainly, men should have short hair and women should have long hair. 

Men should look like men and women should look like women. It is disgraceful for men and women to look like the opposite sex! A woman may ask, “How long is long?” Consider the examples of Mary of Bethany (John 12:3) and the woman in the Pharisees’ house (Luke 7:37-38,44). Both of these women had hair long enough to wipe the feet of Jesus! Sisters, determine to look like women and allow your hair to grow long. Brothers, look like men and regularly cut your hair.

Be careful of influencing others with your clothing.

Clothes today make a “statement” to others. Most of the pictures and messages on shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, and caps give messages that are questionable in the least and negative at the most. Many have to do with sports, rock and country music, beer, sexual immorality, and other negative themes. Even advertisements may convey the wrong message. Watch the inscription you wear and the message it is conveying.

In Conclusion:

Sisters should avoid any practice in appearance that is worldly, unholy, undisciplined, and unlike Christ.  Both brothers and sisters should not be conformed to the world according to (Rom. 12:1), but purpose to live in absolute holiness (Heb. 12:14). Practice strict self-control and walk like Jesus did -  1 John 2:6. 

Sisters, please cover your body properly and keep yourself pure and holy.  If the heart is not pure, the body cannot be clean and holy.  Daughters of Zion must learn to carry their bodies in honour, Jesus is coming back soon!

FIRE...