Clothing

Genesis 3

“And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” (2:25)

 “And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” (3:10)

    In this chapter, and in the last verse of the previous chapter, we see the main reason for clothing.  Did you ever wonder why you wear what you wear?   Clothing is basically to cover our shame (nakedness).   In verse 7 of chapter 3, we see that they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves, because they were naked.  They did not know what it meant to be naked before this, and had no shame because of their innocence.   Even after the Lord confronted them, they needed to cover their shame, and He provided the skin of the animal, the innocent one, to cover their shame.  We see in this a picture of the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary.  He too died to cover our shame, and in Him we are made whole again, and obtain eternal life.   The point I would like to make is that our clothing need not be ostentatious, but simple, as long as it covers us.  Anything more than covering our nakedness is pride.  Do we need to be adorned with the nicest apparel?  Do we need diamond-studded outfits to cover our shame?  Of course not.  Something much more simple will do.  Of course women need to dress modestly, as in Titus 2:9, but even this seems to be speaking of avoiding the showy, attention drawing, and pride building clothing that we often like to wear.  It is linked to “gold or pearls, or costly array”, and speaks of dressing “humbly” as much as decently.   To “feel good about ourselves” is the worlds’ desire, and ought not to be our desire when it comes to dressing.  This thinking is based on pride, which is the bane of all good men and women in every generation.   Back to our verses: the shame did not come until the knowledge came.  They were not ashamed until after “their eyes were opened” and they became “as gods, knowing good and evil” (3:5). 

     It is the knowledge then that brought the fear.  The knowledge of what?  Of good and evil: of the ability to discern between the two.   This remains the crux of the matter.  When we seek out the flashy, sexy, or showy type apparel, we are merely feeding our ego.  This may be hard to swallow, but it is true, nonetheless.  We like to offer excuses at to why we dress the way we do, we even try to make it “spiritual”, but the bottom line is pride.  For our own satisfaction we want to “look nice”, when we ought to be concerned with covering ourselves.  I must be fair, and say that we dress for warmth too, but that is not all the time, and even that should fit the guidelines of “modesty” and humility.  Did not our Savior dress “humbly”  He deserved spectacular a robe of purple, but wore a simple robe of white.   Folks, be sure your pride shows in the way you dress, and in your appearance in this world; yes, others can see it, even if you will not.  It’s for men and women alike.

(Note:  The word “modest” in Titus 2:9 means both in a moral aspect, and in a humble aspect.  Here is the Dictionary definition of “modest: “

1. Properly, restrained by a sense of propriety; hence, not forward or bold; not presumptuous or arrogant; not boastful; as a modest youth; a modest man.

2. Not bold or forward; as a modest maid. The word may be thus used without reference to chastity.

3. Not loose; not lewd.