**Since the days of Adam and Eve, when they took a bite of that forbidden fruit, and God made coverings made of fur to hide their nakedness, people have been wearing clothes, at least in public.

Through thousands of years and across a thousand cultures, there have been different styles and choices for clothing. Yet, as with most activities of the human race, like food and language, we have invested meaning within clothing. **Taken from Christianity.Com

What does clothing symbolize?
It reflects:

1. cultural,
2. social, and
3. personal identity, values, and beliefs.

It can be a tool for self-expression, political and social activism, and a way to distinguish oneself from others. Fashion can also be used to communicate status, membership in a group, or to conform to certain norms.

**We say more through what we do than what we say. John 3:16 doesn’t say, “For God so loved the world he said he loved us.” Rather “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believed in him should not perish”. The action declared the depth of love God has for us just as the saying goes, action speaks louder than voice. **Taken from Christianity.Com

So, it is when we talk about dressing, we are speaking of first impressions created by our outward appearance. We may in self-justification say the outside might not be the best representation of our inward character and true indeed that God is more concerned with the heart; yet we know at least 70% of communication is nonverbal, so it’s wise for us to consider what our dress says about us to others.

Have you ever thought about what your dressing is communicating, both as male and female believers! Who are you seeking to please? Blessing Omoregie in her book Obeying God wrote “Men pleasers are rarely friends of God. This desire becomes a difficult place to stay when it crosses paths with the established and obvious will of God.” God’s will for His redeemed is not to please men, rather as captured in part by Paul’s writing to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 4:4 (MSG); 2 Corinthians 5:17; Colossians 3:9b-10 is to put on Christ.

Like Blessing Omoregie wrote in Obeying God of the Samaritan woman at the well side “When Jesus confronted her with God’s intention for the true worshippers and confirmed to her He was the Messiah her heart had been looking for, the one she wished would someday come to teach them all things; she left her pot, her past, her perceptions about life and her limitations—she went to town. Where did she keep her past? She buried it in the identity of the One who has called her.” 

So ought it to be with every believer even in the minute detail of dressing. Let your dressing reflect your new identity in Christ. Let your dressing communicate Christ whether at home, at work and most particularly in church. We speak not about drabness, rather we speak of moderation, purity and a sober sense of responsibility implicit in Peter’s admonition in 1 Peter 3:2-5 and Paul in Romans 14:21c to not do “anything whereby thy brother stumbleth.”

Selah

Pastor Afolabi Oladele