Why Women Should Be Modest in their Appearance

"Women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes. For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by their good things they do. Women should learn quietly and submissively. I do not let women teach men or have authority over them. let them listen quietly. for God made Adam first and afterward he made Eve. And, it was Adam who was deceived by Satan. The woman was deceived and sin was the result. but women will be saved through childbearing, assuming they continue to live in faith, love, holiness and modesty." 1 Timothy 2: 9-15

Many women and those who consider themselves to be Christian do not like to read the above. They think and or feel that it is wrong, it is some kind of slavery, it was not the word of God, but it was man who says such things and took and takes advantage of women.

What image of a woman appears in your mind when you see them with expensive clothes and shiny jewelry? You may think that they hold their self image high, even above others as it appears that they want to be recognized for their appearance. You might think that they have authority in their places of work and even over their husbands. You may think that they sleep around in order to climb the career ladder.
And, maybe they are not 'dolled up' but frumpy or mannish. You will also have an image of them. You may think that they have no self esteem and are careless about their appearance because they don't respect their body as God's creation. Or you might think that they are a feminist and see themselves as equal to men or a 'man' like any other man.

It is interesting to me as a sociologist to observe that women judge women more than men do. Studies show that women look at other women (even in the nude) more than men do. Why is that? Are we trying to one up each other? Are we testing each other to see who was/is closer to that original sinner 'Eve' ?  When we look at other women are we thinking... 'Yes, she is the one that brought us all down... thinking our nature had been ruined by the vanity of - that one! If only we can one up her, so that she is not the one who represents us anymore... or was Eve second guessing who she was essentially who we are/our identity in Christ that woman was second best and in that thinking, she caused us to fall into that thinking?'

As a Christian, I respect the Bible/the Word of God. I know that God is telling women to be modest for an important reason. It is not because he thinks less of us but because he thinks more of us. He knows our nature which is to be nurturing/caring/soft/gentle/calm and graceful all that which is attractive to Satan and other fallen angels. God wants to protect us. What harm to us is there in dressing modestly? None. What harm will come to us for dressing modestly? None. In this culture of defilement, we need to teach our daughters to dress modestly. Why? So, that they value their nature as God does. And, in this fallen world, we need to be models to other women in order that we are not in competition with one another for God's love, or to 'get back at Eve' either by dressing up or down.
In our gentleness and submission, there is strength. Many women do not realize this. Hence, we find them seeking another nature - a mannish nature. Women should recognize their God given nature and dress to reflect that nature.