Is It Wrong to Wear Fashionable Clothes and Jewelry?

The Bible's Answers to Man's Questions

Key Verses:  1 Peter 3:3 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; 4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

Song of Solomon 1:10 Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold.

Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

I think the short answer to this question is that is nothing inherently wrong with wearing jewelry or fine clothes, just as there's nothing inherently wrong with having a lot of money.  Two of the three references above mention jewelry in a favorable light, one even comparing the splendor of wedding jewels to the splendor of the garment of salvation.  The question, I believe, goes more to motive.  If the reason for wearing jewelry and fine clothes is to seek the approval and compliments of others, as part of portraying an image that doesn't match the inward reality, then wearing them is wrong.  A woman, or a man, with the inward beauty that comes from the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit shouldn't need jewelry or clothes to call attention to themselves.  We shouldn't call attention to ourselves anyway, as believers, but to the God we serve.  If people look at us and see only a beautiful woman, or a handsome man, where is our witness?

It comes down to a matter of pride versus humility.  Anything we do or say that brings attention to us, to our abilities or talents or appearance, comes out of pride.  Humility doesn't mean false humility, making ourselves out as less than we are.  It means, instead, to view ourselves, and let others view us, through God's eyes.  We are of enough worth that Christ died for us, yet apart from him we are nothing..  As joint-heirs with Christ, we are children of the King of all the Universe, but our standing doesn't come from anything we've done apart from our choosing to accept the free gift of salvation.  We have no right to boast, Paul wrote, save in Christ, not in any works we have done (Ephesians 2:8-9).  Pride is the mother of sin, the sin that led to Lucifer's fall (Isaiah 14:12 ff).

None of this should be interpreted to mean we should not honor God by our appearance when we enter his house.  One of the more disturbing trends in "modern" churches is the habit of coming to worship services in casual dress.  If we make no distinction in how we dress when coming together as the body of Christ versus how we dress every day, we are saying, in effect, that we attribute no more importance to worship than to working on the lawn or walking in the park.  Christ deserves our best, the best of our finances, the best of our time, the best of our talents, and the best of our clothing.  Dressing to impress other church goers is one thing, but dressing in our finest to honor God can be an act of worship and praise as much as singing hymns and giving an offering.

A woman should strive to please her husband, and a husband his wife, first of all out of a pure heart dedicated to the Lord.  Beyond that, there is nothing wrong with looking one's best for a spouse, or for a potential mate, but that should be secondary.  We are physical beings, and our appearance does have an effect on how others perceive us.  We should never, though, seek to win the favor and approval of others based first of all on how we look on the outside.  The Lord judges us by what is on the inside (1 Samuel 16:7), not the outward appearance, and that should be our first concern.

Site designed and maintained by Gary W Cavendish, Webmaster. Copyright © 2006-2008 by Gary W Cavendish.  All rights to original content reserved.