Finding Freedom in Christlike Adornments

When I was young, my parents, as most parents do, gave us some guidelines for how they expected their children to dress. This was almost unnecessary while we were young, but as I grew old enough to begin choosing or buying clothing for myself, I found myself more and more dissatisfied with the boundaries my parents had laid down.

You see, at the church we were attending at the time, my parents were (or so it seemed to me) the only ones who had guidelines as strict as ours concerning clothes. The other children my age seemed to dress in the latest fashion, according to whatever was in style. They embraced wholeheartedly the trends my parents disallowed. --Trends which were, in hindsight, not only grossly immodest but also quite ridiculous.

But the concerns over modesty and propriety did not matter to me. All I wanted was to look like —to be like— everyone else.

It finally got to the point where every day brought a fresh argument about some article of clothing I wanted to wear, and with every argument my heart grew harder and more bitter towards my parents for the restrictions they were attempting to enforce.

But then, something changed.

It wasn't that the guidelines changed, or that my longing to fit in went away overnight. What changed was that I began to spend time around a dear lady whose dress characterized modesty and propriety and whose heart was so obviously content and secure in who she was in Christ that she didn't even think to care if her clothing was different from what others wore.

And that was the real issue. As I learned more and more about who I was before God, and about finding my identity in Christ, I began not only to understand the restrictions my parents placed upon me, but also to appreciate and embrace them. And as I embraced them, I grew to find great freedom in being guided, not by the changeable and insatiable demands of society, but by the principles of God's Word and the truths of who I am in Christ.

You see, I had spent so many years chasing after the prize of being like "everyone else", that I had missed what God was wanting to teach me through the very guidelines I had thought were holding me back. There is a great freedom in wholesomeness and femininity -a freedom that comes of resting in the approval of my Heavenly Father.

Now, instead of trying to conform to an ever-changing standard in search of approval I could never fully gain, I rest in the unconditional, abundant, and satisfying love of God, and seek instead to have my external appearance reflect the inward adorning of a meek and quiet heart. (Ephesians 3:3-4)

And that’s what it’s all about: the heart. But the external is a reflection of the internal. In that way, how I dress is just as important as how I act or speak or even think. I’m not perfect, but my goal is to dress in a way that reflects Christlikeness, not a heart craving the empty accolades or attention of the world. I don’t need any of the world’s praise or love or approval, because I am secure in Christ’s love for me, and a hungry world should look at me and instantly recognize a soul satisfied with the abundance of God.