By Briana Bass – Christian Romance and Romantasy Author

High school dress codes are the worst, especially for girls. Tank tops have to be at least two fingers wide. Shorts have to be longer than how far your finger tips reach. If you raise your hand and even a millimeter of stomach shows, you’re sent to the principal’s office.

Really stresses the importance of education, doesn’t it?

Dress codes aren’t limited to schools. Churches have them, too. Maybe not explicitly laid out in the bylaws, but there are rules women are expected to follow nonetheless. While these rules may vary they are all built upon one underlying principle: modesty.

What’s Modesty Got To Do With It?

Pop quiz! What verse in the Bible states the exact length a woman’s skirt should be?

Answer: none of them. You won’t find it anywhere in the Bible, because that’s not what Biblical modesty is about.

Jesus is not concerned about covering your shoulders, elbows, or knees. He’s concerned about your heart. Your heart is a garden and He is the gardener. He wants you to have a fertile heart where the fruits of the Spirit can grow.

Do you know the fruits of the Spirit? That list is the best, and most practical, example of Biblical modesty.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23 (KJV)

Modesty begins and ends in the heart, not the body. Jesus wants you to come dressed as you are. He wants a relationship with you. He loves you, and the clothes you wear are never going to change that.

Dress for Success, Not the Church

One of the most famous passages about modest dress comes from 1 Timothy 2:9:

“In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;” (KJV)

This verse is often used without the cultural and historical context. Many Christians take it at face value, when in reality, Paul (who wrote the letter to Timothy) is responding to how secular women dressed at the time, especially women who proscribed to Roman polytheism. Some Roman religious practices included women worshiping Roman gods with their bodies, and the clothing and jewelry they wore advertised them as those followers.

The modern church largely ignores this context. This creates a lot of confusion and shame for girls and women. They are taught a legalistic and patriarchal definition of modesty in place of the Biblical definition.

Don’t worry about what you’re wearing. If other people want to be judgmental, that’s their problem (and they really should talk to God about judging people!).

The Heart of the Matter

Focus on your heart instead of your clothes. Review the fruits of the Spirit list and check off which ones you may need to work on. Pray about them and ask God to give you a modest character.

Remember, Jesus doesn’t have a ruler to measure how short your shorts are. He does measure the goodness of your heart.