Session 3

Do you make people point or point people to Jesus?

From 1 Timothy: An 11-Day Devotional

In the last book of The Hunger Games trilogy, leaders give Katniss, the main character, a sexy makeover for a video shoot. They run into a problem when her glamorous image takes away from the point of the video, which was to find common ground with the people, and to rally them to fight for their beliefs.

Too often, we have the same problem when it comes to modesty in the church: If how we dress gets in the way of pointing people to Jesus, we need to revamp our closets.

In 1 Timothy 2:10, Paul writes that Christians should dress in an appropriate way for those "who profess to worship God." We don't have to walk around wearing Christian T-shirts or full-length dresses, but we should recognize the difference between dressing to attract and dressing attractively. The first puts the focus on our bodies, where the second shows we are caring for our bodies which God has “bought at a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

As with all of God’s commands, God made the command for modesty to benefit us. When we take seriously the call to adorn ourselves with “good deeds,” we train our hearts to be more focused on what Jesus wants for us and less focused on how we look. As a result our identity becomes more about who we are in Christ, not how we dress.

God has so much more in store for us than our outward appearances. What we see in the mirror can never add to or take away from the value and worth He has already given us.

Reflect:

  • What’s the difference between dressing to attract or dressing attractively?
  • Does the way you dress allow people to be convinced or distracted when you try to point them to Jesus?
  • What is one step you can take this week to focus on clothing yourself with “good deeds,” as Paul instructs in 1 Timothy 2:10?

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