As stated in the previous entry, we will not wrestle with female attire specifically just yet. First, we will examine the spiritual manner in which all Christians should be clothed.

How are Christians to be clothed?
The Bible tells us that we should be clothed in righteousness.
This righteousness comes by the power of the Holy Spirit.

In Luke 24:49, Jesus tells the disciples: “And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

In Acts 1:4-5, Jesus’ words again: “And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

The Holy Spirit empowers and equips believers to live a righteous, God-pleasing life. The Holy Spirit clothes us in righteousness, filling and developing within us 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. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:22-24)

While walking in the Spirit requires a synergistic cooperation on the part of the believer, the Holy Spirit gradually sanctifies us, changes us from one degree of glory to the next, and guides us to strive to live a life worthy of our Savior.

Consider the account of Legion and the pigs from Mark 5, which demonstrates the power of Jesus to heal sinful, lost man. After Jesus drove out the unclean spirits, people from the region of the Gerasenes observed the once demon-possessed man subsequently clothed and in his right mind. Quixote’s pastor spoke about this healing in a sermon once, referring to “clothed and his right mind” repeatedly. How lost we are—out of our minds and naked—without Jesus! Yet Jesus clothes us with righteousness and corrects our thoughts and actions.

A portion of the account of Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16: 19-26) provides us with a morsel about beauty to chew and digest:

“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.'”

While Jesus did not tell the story in order to teach us how to dress ourselves physically, I find it interesting that the rich man who in his earthly life did not know Jesus’ righteousness, clothed himself in purple and fine linen. Juxtapose that with this account in Mark 15:16-20 of the abuse Jesus endured prior to his crucifixion:

“And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.”

Ponder for a minute the similarity between the rich man’s luxurious clothing and the soldiers mocking Jesus while dressing Him in purple, a symbol of royalty. A truth stands out. Jesus had no need of purple robes and fine attire, no need to dress himself in the current style of a royal leader. His holiness adorned Him everywhere He travelled, even when He prayed alone. He naturally clothed himself in righteousness for He could dress no other way. Remember this thought if you read the next entry concerning the concept of righteous beauty…

How else are Christians to be clothed? The Bible tells us that we should be clothed in humility. Obedience that results from gratitude and reverence produces humility within us.

“Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5)

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” (James 4:10)

“I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,
and I find knowledge and discretion.
The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.” (Proverbs 8:12-13)

“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.” (Proverbs 11:2)

“Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.” (1 Peter 3:8)

Jesus modeled humility throughout His life. We read Jesus’ words about humility as he answers the disciples’ question in Matthew 18:1-4:

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

He also fulfilled prophecy which included a humble state, the Messiah arriving on a donkey:

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zechariah 9:9)

We humble ourselves with the Holy Spirit’s assistance out of gratitude for Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross:

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-11)

Even though humility does not come naturally for us due to our pride, we should strive to become more and more like Jesus in this respect.

The practice of clothing ourselves in righteousness and humility finds its personal origin on the inside (thank you, Holy Spirit) and manifests itself on the outside. The demonstration of righteousness and humility in our daily lives illustrates what should be the Christian’s ultimate goal: to love God and others as better than ourselves. We love because God—righteous, humble Jesus—first loved us.

Proverbs 31:30
Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.