9 And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes. 10 For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do.
This is one of those teachings that is so counter cultural that we struggle with it deeply. It offends us and we immediately go on the defensive.
Modesty is one of the most abused words in the Christian dialect and is usually only spoken about girls showing to much skin. Modesty goes much deeper than simply that.
Modesty and humility go hand and hand. Humility is evaluating ourselves properly, with sober judgment (Rom 12:3). Modesty is behavior that flows out of remembering our true place of service, and does not conceitedly boast about the self, but boasts in God (2 Cor 10:17) (Phil 2:3-4) Modesty, or the lack thereof, reveals where we’ve placed our identity.
Rich women in the ancient world arrogantly declared their high status, their value, their identity with expensive clothing and jewelry. How do we go about boasting in ourselves today?
We live in an identity-addicted society. We strive to put our tastes and our stuff on display so that everyone knows who we are. We’re told to accentuate our best features, get what we want out of life, stand up for and express ourselves. Social media is often the megaphone we use to herald our personal identity and covertly brag about our smarts, body, sexuality, culture, politics, sports, relationships, family, insecurities, experiences, and possessions.
People who are growing in there faith to become more like Jesus instead love to fade into the background, serving the needs of others, asking Jesus to take center stage. We’ve been freed to have a truly modest life, which will make the world wonder why we’re not fighting for our social status and incidental preferences. Maybe we can be so freed from human approval and praise that they begin to inquire, “Who are you?”
And we can respond, “I am not my own, for I was bought with a price. I belong to God”(1 Cor 6:19-20); (Romans 14:8)
Living modestly is to intentionally take the focus off of ourselves and shift people’s attention to God. “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!” (Psalm 115:1)