God wants “women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments; but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness” (1 Timothy 2:9-10 NASB).

Why does God care about the way we dress? Simple. Our clothing, or lack thereof, affects other people, sometimes profoundly. God wants to make sure our clothing affects people for good, not evil.

In 1 Timothy 2:9-10, God gives us three keys to dressing for spiritual success.

Modesty Is The First Key To Dressing For Spiritual Success (1 Timothy 2:9). Dressing “modestly” means “dressing or behaving so as to avoid impropriety or indecency, esp. to avoid attracting sexual attention.”

The original Greek word is aidos. It means to dress with a “sense of shame,” i.e. with a keen awareness of and sensitivity to the importance of dressing with propriety or decency.

Some people dress improperly because they have no shame. Christians should be too ashamed to ever dress improperly.

A young woman once wore short shorts to an airport. She ran into a preacher she knew and was immediately ashamed of her clothing. If she had dressed with modesty, a sense of shame, she wouldn't have bought the short shorts much less have worn them in public.

Modesty or aidos "implies an innate moral repugnance to the performance of dishonorable acts…Aidos… is self-motivated and implies reverence for the good as good, not merely as that to which honor and reputation are attached… Thus aidos … would always restrain a good man from an unworthy act… “In 1 Timothy 2:9, aidos refers to that ‘shamefastness’ or modesty that shrinks from exceeding the limits of womanly reserve, as well as from the dishonor that would justly attach to do so” (Trench).

Why is modesty, a sense of shame, key to adorning ourselves with proper clothing? Because pleasing God must be our highest priority if we're going to overcome such powerful influences as the fashion industry, our peers, or own personal preferences, etc.

Unfortunately, modesty doesn't govern how most people dress. In the early seventies, faithful preachers taught long and hard against miniskirts with little apparent effect. Yet, what happened when Paris decided that miniskirts were out and long skirts were in? Overnight, many "Christians" started adorning themselves with proper clothing. Clearly, pleasing God wasn't their primary concern.

What really governs the way we dress?

Discreetness Is The Second Key To Dressing For Spiritual Success (1 Timothy 2:9). Dressing “discreetly” means being “careful, judicious, circumspect” in our choice of clothing.
“Careful” means “done with or showing thought or attention.” “Judicious” means “having, showing or done with good judgment or sense.” “Circumspect” means “to be watchful in all directions and with regard to all possible consequences.”
The original Greek word is sophrosune. It means to dress with “good sense” … literally soundness of mind… sanity” (Lenski). “Inherent in this…word is the use of “good judgment' in the matter of dress” (Fee). Why is discreetness, thought or attention, good judgment or sense, watchfulness in all directions, key to adorning ourselves with proper clothing? Because dressing for spiritual success requires us to think and think well.
We can’t just “throw something on” and hope to dress properly. We must know what the Bible says about proper and improper clothing. We must wisely apply these principles. We can’t be naive about the way our clothing, or lack there, affects other people. We must make sure our clothing will be modest in all situations. If we’re not sure something is proper, we must err on the side of caution. No matter how much we want to wear something, we can’t make excuses for improper clothing.
Do we really think about what we wear?

Putting Far More Emphasis On Inward Than Outward Beauty Is The Third Key To Dressing For Spiritual Success (1 Timothy 2:9-10).

Our text, 1 Timothy 2:9-10, is a “not, but” passage similar to John 6:27, “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life.” In this passage, Jesus isn't forbidding us to work for food that feeds our bodies as required in 2 Thessalonians 3:10. Rather, Jesus is commanding us to work much harder for food that feeds our souls.

Similarly, 1 Timothy 2:9-10 and 1 Peter 3:3-4 don't forbid styling hair, wearing jewelry, or putting on expensive clothes. Rather, they teach us to put far more emphasis on good works than things like hair, jewelry, and apparel.

God is not anti-fashion or anti-attractiveness. The excellent wife whose price was far above jewels wore clothing of fine linen and purple (Proverbs 31:10, 22). She rightly cared about her outward appearance, but she cared far more about her inward appearance (Proverbs 31:10-31).

Why is putting far more emphasis on inward than outward beauty key to adorning ourselves with proper clothing? Because dressing for spiritual success requires more than modesty and discreetness. It also requires us to keep clothes, even modest and discreet clothes, in their proper place. If we focus on adorning our body to the neglect of more important matters, we are still far from properly dressed.

Are we really more concerned about the way we look inwardly or outwardly.

~via What Is True?; Little Rock, Arkansas and Market Street Messenger, Athens, Alabama.