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Dress
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gave Me no drink: ...naked, and ye clothed Me not: sick, and in
prison, and ye visited Me not”?
Matthew 25:42, 43
.
But our clothing, while modest and simple, should be of good
quality, of becoming colors, and suited for service. It should be
chosen for durability rather than display. It should provide warmth
and proper protection. The wise woman described in the Proverbs
“is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household
are clothed with double garments.”
Proverbs 31:21
, margin.
Our dress should be cleanly. Uncleanliness in dress is unhealth-
ful, and thus defiling to the body and to the soul. “Ye are the temple
of God....If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy.”
1 Corinthians 3:16, 17
.
In all respects the dress should be healthful. “Above all things,”
God desires us to “be in health”—health of body and of soul. And
we are to be workers together with Him for the health of both soul
and body. Both are promoted by healthful dress.
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It should have the grace, the beauty, the appropriateness of natu-
ral simplicity. Christ has warned us against the pride of life, but not
against its grace and natural beauty. He pointed to the flowers of the
field, to the lily unfolding in its purity, and said, “Even Solomon in
all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”
Matthew 6:29
. Thus
by the things of nature Christ illustrates the beauty that heaven val-
ues, the modest grace, the simplicity, the purity, the appropriateness,
that would make our attire pleasing to Him.
The most beautiful dress He bids us wear upon the soul. No
outward adorning can compare in value or loveliness with that “meek
and quiet spirit” which in His sight is “of great price.”
1 Peter 3:4
.
To those who make the Saviour’s principles their guide, how
precious His words of promise:
“Why are ye anxious concerning raiment? ... If God doth so
clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into
the oven, shall He not much more clothe you? ... Be not therefore
anxious, saying, ... Wherewithal shall we be clothed? ... For your
heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But
seek ye first His kingdom, and His righteousness; and all these things
shall be added unto you.”
Matthew 6:28-33
, R.V.
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on
Thee: because he trusteth in Thee.”
Isaiah 26:3
.