Jeanie's Tea Time

Posts Tagged ‘righteousness’

We have an obligation because of our freedom in Christ to honour the Lord Jesus and our brothers in the LORD by our dress and by our behavior. For many years I was totally unaware of how my dress and behavior affected others. I was indifferent to the fact that I was, by the clothing I was wearing, causing a brother to stumble. It would be many years into my Christian walk before I realized I had an obligation to the LORD to avoid the appearance of evil, that I had a responsibility to protect the gift that I am to my husband and the duty to my brothers in the LORD to not be a stumbling block. Evil, you say? Yes… if I disregard my behavior and am careless about the message of the cross, I see this as evil. How frequently and easily we apply this to “drinking” and how acceptable it is for a Christian to not “drink” so as not to cause a brother to stumble, but how seldom this is applied to the area of modest dress. I believe the LORD has called me to minister to women and to share the ‘hard things’ and I am willing to be scoffed at for the sake of the LORD. I am aware that whenever this subject comes up, there will be accusation of legalism or of “bondage.” I am perfectly comfortable hearing these allegations because I probably at one time rejected these truths or thought the same thing until I began to understand the difference between legalism and obedience. When a woman is in the bonds of legalism, she depends on behaviors or thoughts and the performing of these duties as necessary to keeping or obtaining salvation. So then, fundamentally, legalism becomes a religion unto itself. So where does obedience to the Word differ from legalism in behavior and thought? In the last several years I have thought on this question perhaps thousands of times… wondering what in this world should a woman wear, how should a woman behave, where should a woman spend her time, how should a woman go about loving her husband and how should she live pleasing the LORD? So… here goes: It matters what a Christian woman looks like. It matters what she wears and doesn’t wear. She is a representative of the LORD.

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