DOES GOD CARE WHAT GIRLS (WOMEN) WEAR?

Does God care what I wear?” It may not be a question most fashion-savvy teenage girls consider when they get dressed in the morning, but it should be, says Sarah Bragg, author of Body. Beauty. Boys.

According to Sarah Bragg, answering this question is the first step in realizing that God does care about the way teen girls and women dress and learning how they can please him in their appearance.

“Fashion is good, It’s not wrong to be in fashion, but it’s wrong to dress in a way that gives a false impression of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

1 Corinthians 3:16, which says one’s body is the “temple” or dwelling place of the Holy Spirit and Romans 12:1-2, which urges Christians “to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.”

According to Matthew 5:27-29, girls should realize they can become a “stumbling block” to men of all ages when they dress immodestly. “You have a lot of power in the way you dress,” Bragg warned. “You have the power to make someone stumble—think about that when you get dressed in the morning. Think about the way you dress. Is there even a hint of immorality?

Girls and young ladies and even some of you older ones need to think about the motivation behind your fashion choices. So many of you are wanting to dress to please guys, not God. “God ultimately wants us to attract one man [for marriage], but dressing immodestly causes arousal in many men and that is against God’s will,” Bragg said.

After understanding what the Bible teaches about modesty, women must then practice modesty. “To be good at something, you have to practice. The same is true when it comes to modesty…. You make a statement by what you wear and people will define you by what you wear. Whether that’s right or wrong, that’s reality,” Bragg said.

God’s definition of beauty is found in such passages as Proverbs 31:30, “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised,” and Peter 3:4, “Instead it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”

Ultimately, when it comes to fashion, a girl’s chief ambition should be to please God. “Today we need to rededicate our lives to be holy, pleasing, and blameless before [God],” Bragg said.

Adapted from article by Amy W. Richardson