PARENTHOOD
a divine stewardship

Peter was saying that it is wrong for women to plait their hair in the manner he described. The phrase plaiting of hair in the original text means to fashion the hair in many styles. Throughout history, many styles have been designed to plait the hair. Putting on of gold means to wear jewelry. Christians cannot do this. Clothing with garments may refer to colorful and stylish dresses. Peter's emphasis is that sisters should not adorn themselves with the plaiting of hair and the putting on of gold and costly garments. Instead, they should adorn themselves with a meek and quiet spirit.

Sometimes a woman dresses herself fancily yet has a temper like a lion. You cannot help but feel that her person is incompatible with what she wears. She would be better off not wearing fancy dresses at all. It is unfitting for a fancily dressed woman to shout in rage. If a woman is meek and submissive, she has put on good apparel already. A woman who serves God should not pay too much attention to her clothing. As Christians we should not place too much emphasis on clothing.

b. Proper Clothing with Modesty and Sobriety

Let us look at 1 Timothy 2:9-11: "Similarly, that women adorn themselves in proper clothing with modesty and sobriety, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, what befits women professing godly reverence, by good works. Let a woman learn in quietness in all subjection."

One of God's basic requirements for the sister is modesty. It is good to feel modest and to be conscious of shame. This is a natural protection for the sisters. Sisters who are conscious of shame and who are modest are protected naturally. Do not wear dresses which are contrary to your sense of shame. You must exercise sobriety. Do not wear immodest clothes. Immodesty is contrary to sobriety. Always wear "proper clothing." Every sister knows what is proper in her particular community. We should always wear clothes which are considered proper by those around us. A Christian should not wear clothes which provide an opportunity for heathens to say, "Do Christians wear such things too?" Our standard must never be lower than that of the heathens'. We must learn to have modesty and sobriety and must know what constitutes "proper clothing."

Verse 9 continues: "Not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly clothing." This particularly refers to the curling of hair. Peter was referring to the many fashions that women apply to their hair. Curling the hair means making many curls like clusters of vines. Women were already concerned with fashion two thousand years ago. Today many think that it is fashionable to curl their hair into clusters. Actually, this is something very ancient; it was being done two thousand years ago. Costly clothing is spoken of here as well. Some dresses have the same value but are priced differently. We should not wear the costly ones or spend extra money on them.

Sisters must take care of propriety in their clothing. We have no intention, nor did Paul or Peter, to ask a sister to be careless, loose, or unconcerned about her attire. Neither should we set our mind on fancy dresses and costly clothing. Sisters should wear proper clothing; they should learn to manage their wardrobe properly. They should set their wardrobe in proper order, using ordinary material at reasonable cost. No sister should be unconcerned about the way she attires herself.

Some sisters spend too much time on their clothing. They pay too much attention to fancy clothes and costly dresses. Other sisters do not care for the tidiness and the cleanliness of their attire; they are very careless about their clothing. This shows that they are sloppy. A woman's dress is a true reflection of her character. If one does not pay attention to personal grooming and cleanliness, such a person is loose, sloppy, and careless. Our clothing must be proper, neat, and clean. It must be simple, but clean.

5. The Seal of the Holy Spirit upon One's Clothing

Leviticus 8:30 says that, according to the command of God, "Moses took some of the anointing oil ... and sprinkled it on Aaron, on his garments, on his sons and on the garments of his sons with him; and he sanctified Aaron, his garments, and his sons and the garments of his sons with him." Thus, our clothing must be sealed with the mark of holiness. There should be the seal of the Holy Spirit, the seal of the anointing oil, on our clothing. When one is anointed, his garment is also anointed, and both are sanctified together.

In Numbers 15:38 God also commanded the Israelites to make tassels on the corners of their garments and put a cord of blue upon the tassel of each corner. Blue is the color of heaven. This serves to remind men of the heavenly things. A believer's clothing must have a heavenly taste to it. It must not express the world. Do not follow the world in its freedom and fancy. We should have the expression of heaven in our clothing. Our clothing, as well as ourselves, should be fully sanctified.

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