Dress Code

The Bible does not provide us with a list of specific garments we should wear or avoid; nor does it tell us exactly what our clothes should look like. There is no “holiness uniform.” Designs, fabrics, and conventions of dress changed even during biblical times. What was typical in Abraham’s context would have been out of place in Paul’s.

Instead of detailing specifics, God gives us values upon which we can and should make decisions about our lives, including what we wear: humility, decency, propriety, simplicity, and integrity. These principles are all through Scripture, but we see them connected to dress in 1 Timothy 2:9-10 and 1 Peter 3:3-4. Here God tells us that our central focus should not be on external, superficial features, but on developing a beautiful character. We are not to rely on adornments to make us beautiful, lest we end up with a closet filled with beautiful clothes, but an ugly life (Prov. 11:22).

Jesus said, “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ . . . But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matt. 6:28-31, 33, NIV)

When we focus on God, everything else will fall into place.