Summertime can be a dangerous time in regard to immodest dress. Do you dress to impress others, especially the opposite gender? Do you consider yourself beautiful physically? What about inside—are you beautiful there as well? Does your dress really add to that inward beauty or send false messages about who you really are?
Think about precious gems and metals:
Where do you find diamonds? Deep down in the ground, covered and protected.
Where do you find pearls? Deep down at the bottom of the ocean, covered up and protected in a beautiful shell.
Where do you find gold? Way down in the mine, covered over with layers of rock and to get them, you have to work hard and dig deep down to get them.
Everything that God made valuable in this world is well covered and hard to see, find, or get. Consider who created you and who knew you before you were in your mother’s womb? God! Doesn’t He see you as precious?
That same God instructs us to dress modestly. That is especially true during this time of year being summer when we are outside for activities. We see this in 1 Peter 3:3-4 (ESV)—“Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear—but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.”
If you are trying to dress to get attention of the opposite gender, remember what is written in Proverbs 11:22 (ESV)—”Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman without discretion.” So instead of trying to impress the opposite gender we need to focus on God.
Remember in the account of the Israelites picking Saul to be their new king based on his outer beauty? After Saul failed, GOD chose David because he knew his heart and it pleased Him more. For us to attain inner beauty we need to focus on the Fruit of the Spirit: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23, ESV). When you mingle this summer, ask are you focused on your outer beauty or your inner beauty?
