In war, soldiers dress in a particular way which fits them for battle. From head to toe, each piece of clothing is designed with war in mind. Camouflages, bulletproof vests and helmets are some common items worn by soldiers in war. We are in a spiritual war; our dressing is also supposed to be spiritual. However, our physical dressing matters in this war. There is a particular way which a child of God must be dressed
In the beginning
After Adam and Eve had sinned by eating the fruit from the forbidden tree, they knew that they were naked. To cover their nakedness, they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings (Genesis 3:7). The first thing that a human being invented after sin was something to wear. The idea to get dressed was good but the material which they used was poor, surely how can you cover your body with leaves of all the things? Mankind’s design of dressing was not that decent from the beginning. Then came God, He was not satisfied with the tailoring efforts of the couple. In place of those leaves, God made for them tunics (coats) of skin and clothed them (Genesis 3:21). That was much better. Clothes became the first thing that God made for humans after they had sinned. No matter having sinned, God was concerned with the dressing of His creation. Even today when the world is full of sin, God is still concerned with how His creation dresses.
On their own, Adam and Eve couldn’t dress properly, fig leaves were their choice but not God’s. Even us today, on our own we can't dress well, we need the guidance of God. From fig leaves to coats of animal skin, that can be summarised in one word: DECENCY. The Lord God clothed our parents after they had sinned yet we work so hard to undress ourselves today and go out into the public naked. We pay so much just to uncover ourselves, do the maths and you will see that it costs more money to buy revealing clothes, “the fig leaves type”, and it’s cheaper to buy clothes which properly cover our bodies.
Know Who you are
Before you get dressed you must know who you are, you must know your identity, this will help you in making the right choice on what to wear. We are in a war, soldiers and civilians don't dress the same, the moment you know that you are a soldier, your dressing will show.
“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light;” 1 Peter 2:9
As a child of God, you are royalty. Take time to consider those of the royal family of this world, they don’t just dress anyhow but they dress nobly, what more us children of the Most High God? Surely our standards must be higher. We are a royal priesthood, the priests in the Bible had their dressing prescribed by the Lord God Himself. If we read the whole chapter of Exodus 28, God gives details of what the priests were to wear, but I want to emphasize verse 2 which says “And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.”
These priestly garments were to serve two purposes, for glory and beauty. Let our dressing also be guided accordingly. Unfortunately, nowadays many just dress for beauty and ignore the glory part. Inasmuch as we want to look good let us put first the glory of God. The way we dress is supposed to glorify God rather than bringing people to question our religion.
“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31
Everything we do is supposed to glorify God (not to glorify ourselves), our dressing should glorify God. So, the next time you choose something to wear before you consider how good you might look in it, ask yourself whether it will cause God to be glorified by you wearing it.
Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
Indeed, our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and as such the way we present them in how we dress must show that these are temples. Let there be a clear distinction between a temple of God and any other building in general.
Mistaken Identity
Imagine you need help as you have just been robbed at gunpoint. As you move away from the crime scene you meet a police officer (you know he is a cop by the way he is dressed). You feel so relieved and quickly tell him what has just happened to you in the expectation that he will chase after the criminals or use his radio to raise a B.O.L.O (Be on the lookout for). To your surprise he says no he can’t help you because he is not a policeman, he is just a civilian putting on a cop’s uniform. How much disappointed will you be? When you thought you had found help but it turns out to be a case of mistaken identity simply because of dressing. In most jurisdictions, it is a criminal offence to wear the uniform of an officer of the law when you are not one.
As a child of God, don’t cause confusion by wearing that which causes people to mistake your identity. My sister, don’t wear dressing which will cause kerb crawlers to mistake you for a prostitute. My brother, don't dress in a way which will cause the cops to mistake you for some hooligans who just mugged an old lady. The world is mistaking our identity because of how we dress.
Judah saw her daughter-in-law Tamar and mistook her for a prostitute and even went on to hire her for her ‘services’. How on earth did this man fail to identify that this woman was her daughter- in-law? It was because of her dressing. The Bible says when he saw her, he thought she was a harlot because she had covered her face (Genesis 38:15). The harlots of that time or location had a particular way of covering their faces which made them to be identified as harlots. Even today there is a particular way of dressing which causes one to be identified with lewdness and immorality.
Proverbs 7:10 talks about a woman with the attire of a harlot, meaning there is a certain type of dressing for harlots. Unfortunately, it is now difficult to separate the dressing of harlots and the dressing of the children of God, because the latter seems to be copying the former. Professing Christians are now wearing that which is used to identify people of the world who do not fear The Lord.
You are not a strip dancer, so stop dressing like one.
Abstain from every form of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22)
There are also deceivers from the world, who are creeping into the church, wearing decent clothes and appear to be sincere believers. Yet they aim to lure followers of Christ and take them away. Be warned also, not everyone who dresses like a Christian is one. Some are just wolves in sheep clothing. Like Jacob, they dress in Esau’s clothes to pretend to be Esau and take any blessing which accrues to the identity of Esau (Genesis 27:15-16)
Demon inspired Fashion
In Genesis, we read of how God dressed mankind, but remember we are in a war of good and evil. God is on the good side, and Satan is the originator of evil. The devil always tries to fight what God made, he causes people to lose their sense of morality and shamefacedness and pushes them to expose their bodies especially their delicate parts.
On Luke 8:27 we read of a man who had a legion of demons who wore no clothes. Demon possession led him to nakedness. To make matters worse, he didn't live in a house but in the graveyard. If he was to be naked in his house there wasn't going to be a problem, but the fact that he went out into a public place stark naked, there is a problem. If you want to be naked and dress in all sorts of indecency, do it in your home where no one sees you or in the sight of your husband or wife. Don't expose your private property to the public.
So, there we had a demon-possessed man who walked around naked. (by the way, the issue of dressing is not only to do with women but even men also, this is a man recorded in the Bible who went around naked). This man met Jesus and was delivered from the demons which had tormented him for a long time. After being delivered by Jesus we read of this man on Luke 8:35 that he was now sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind.
The demons were cast out, so was the nakedness, he was now clothed. As long as some people are demon-possessed, they will continue in their nakedness, no amount of lessons will make them see that what they are doing is wrong, it will only take deliverance in the name of Jesus for the demons to go for them to now appreciate that they have to dress properly. This man was now sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, those that seat at the feet of Jesus will see their need to be properly clothed. The man was also in his right mind, those that are in their right mind will cover their nakedness.
Deliverance from the influence of demons by Jesus left this man clothed. True deliverance from the control of Satan by Jesus will leave a person in proper dress code fitting for a child of God. As Peter was delivered from prison by God's Angel, before he could leave his prison cell the angel said to him "Put on your garment and follow me." (Acts 12:8). The angel couldn’t allow Peter to go out into the public without his garment, the angel of the Lord was not to have a naked person following behind him.
If we profess that we are children of God, The Holy Spirit resides in us and we are not controlled by devils, then let our dressing testify to that,
Be considerate of others
No man is an island, we don't live in vacuums, we live in different societies with people. As such, let us be considerate about others.
Let each of you look out not only for his own interests but also for the interests of others. Philippians 2:4
When you dress, don’t be selfish but think about others. Yes, you feel comfortable in that body-hugging dress, you feel comfortable in exposing your cleavage but be considerate of the weaker brethren. Jesus said on Matthew 5:28; whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Isn't your dressing causing men to look lustfully at you? Of course, some men will look lustfully at you even if you dress decently but, in that case, you have no sin. But if you wilfully dress in a way which causes them to drool at you, then you have become a temptation.
"It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.” Luke 17:1-2
Offences will always come, people will always look lustfully at the opposite sex (even at the same sex), but woe unto him who brings these temptations. Woe unto those who dress in a way which causes others to be tempted.
The Lord’s prayer has the line “deliver us from evil and lead us not into temptations”, are we not ourselves being evil to others and leading them into temptation by how we dress? Don't lead others into temptation by an improper dressing.
The outside is a reflection of the inside
Many will argue that their dressing doesn’t matter as long as their hearts are right with God and they go on to justify that the Lord looks at the heart, not at the outward appearance. The Lord indeed looks at the heart. However, you must know that your outward appearance is a reflection of the heart. If your heart is right with the Lord then your dressing must show.
For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. (Matthew 12:34-35).
When a person speaks, we can see what is in the heart. The outside (the voice we hear) is a reflection of the inside (the heart which is the source of these words). Where there is a good treasure in the heart, the outside will show and vice versa when there is an evil treasure in the heart the outside will also show. If there is a good treasure in your heart the outside appearance will show, but if the heart is filled with the mentality of a night club stripper or belly dancer, this will be revealed in the outward dressing.
Don’t just follow your heart but follow the biddings of the word of God because the heart is deceitful above all things
Let th