# With What Should We Be Adorned?
Sister to Sister
Language: en
Author: by Leora Schmucker
Harlan, IN
Original issue: The Heartbeat of the Remnant, Fall 2022, Number 3
Source pages: 20–22
Read article:
Original PDF: Fall\-2022\-Remnant\.pdf
[The Heartbeat of the Remnant, Fall 2022]()
Greetings of love in Jesus’ name\! We have a great God who is worthy of all our praise, all our love, and our whole life\!
We live in a time where there are many distractions\. The prince of this world is truly out to destroy people’s lives at whatever cost\. We have amusement parks, video arcades, theaters, internet, Facebook, fashion malls, and whatever else you can think of—it’s out there\. But God would have our hearts stirred to not be entangled with these distractions, but rather to work for Him and His Kingdom\. If we are entangled with the affairs of this life, we will have no time left for our Lord\. We cannot serve two masters\. There seem to be some things trying to steal the time of our dear sisters \(young and old alike\)\. Let us be aware of these things so that we can be free from them and then be free to serve the Lord with our whole hearts\.
The one thing we should be aware of is called adornment and the other is foolishness or looseness\. To me it is so amazing how God works\. He tells us in His Word **what not to** adorn ourselves with, but He also tells us **what to** adorn ourselves with\. He tells us what fruit should be coming from our lives, and what fruit should not be coming from our lives\. For every evil way that there is, God also shows us the right way\. I know many of us would not go to fashion malls to buy our clothes, but I fear that many of us are still looking for clothes that accent the body rather than glorify our Lord\. Jesus said: *Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God –Matthew 5:8\.*
*Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price\. For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement –1 Peter 3:3\-6\.*
Adorn: to deck or beautify; set off; to embellish by anything external or adventitious; to display the beauty or excellence of\.
Remember, God wants us to adorn ourselves with things that will bring glory to Him\. Depending on the type of clothing that I choose to wear, the focus of others is drawn to my clothing first, instead of my countenance\. When this happens then I am getting all the glory because the focus is on my apparel\. But if somebody sees me and they can see the clear countenance on my face and they can tell that I’ve been with Jesus, then they will give God all the glory that He deserves, and **we will be displaying the beauty or excellence of God’s spirit** in our lives\.
Now let’s take a look at some more of the words found in our Scripture text and consider their meaning:
Plaiting: folding, doubling, braiding\.
Apparel: clothing; external habiliments or decorations\.
Ornament: That which embellishes; or something which, added to another thing, renders it most beautiful to the eye\.
How beautiful it is to our Lord when we become born again, have a broken spirit, and become meek and quiet\. Can people see the fruits of God’s spirit in our lives—as ornaments? Truly that is an ornament of great price\. Remember we can add external ornaments to our lives that bring sadness to our Father\. Let us not make Him ashamed to call us His sons and daughters\.
Meek: mild of temper; soft; gentle; not easily provoked or irritated; yielding, given to forbearance under injuries\.
Are we irritated if somebody has something to share with us that will help us in our walk with the Lord? Remember our Lord wants the fruit of meekness adorning our converted lives\.
Quiet: still; being in a state of rest; not moving; peaceable; not turbulent; not giving offence; not exciting controversy, disorder, or trouble; mild; meek; contented\.
With every new style that comes in among us are we quick to change for no reason other than adding something to our bodies that only brings glory to us? Are we content with the biblical standard of God for our lives? Are we firm and grounded in what we believe? Do we know why we believe in what we believe?
Subjection: the act of subduing; the act of vanquishing and bringing under the dominion of another\.
Are we under the dominion of our Lord in **every** aspect of our lives?
Afraid: impressed with fear or apprehension\.
Amazement: astonishment; confusion or perplexity from a sudden impression of fear, surprise, or wonder\.
We are daughters of Sarah as long as we do well, and are not impressed with fear or any confusion or perplexity\. God is not the author of confusion—*The law of the LORD is **perfect,** converting the soul… –Psalm 19:7\.* Remember: *The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom* \[not confusion\]*… –Proverbs 9:10*\.
Entangleth: to twist or interweave in such a manner as not to be easily separated; to perplex or distract, as with cares\.
Are we allowing our lives to be interwoven with the fashions and foolishness of this world?
*No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier\. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness\. Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart –2 Timothy 2:4\-22\.*
Shun: to avoid; to keep clear of; not to fall on or come in contact with; not to mix or associate with\.
Are we shunning the practices of this world? More specifically, are we shunning loose and empty talk?
Profane: irreverent to anything sacred; polluted; not pure\.
Vain: empty; worthless; having no substance, value, or importance\.
What we fill ourselves with will come out\. If we are filling ourselves with God’s holy Word, then that will be flowing out of our lives\. However, if we are filling ourselves with vain things then that shall come out as well\.
Babblings: foolish talk\.
Is our talk centered on the Bible, or is it centered on the new things that we have bought such as a new garment or a vehicle, or maybe it’s on all the people we have met on Facebook?
Flee: to run with rapidity, as from danger; to hasten from danger; or expected evil\.
If we are with a group of people whose talk is foolish, do we stay for fear of losing friends or do we walk \(or run\) away from the expected or dangerous evil? The more we interweave our lives with the ways of the world, the harder it is to untangle ourselves\.
Lusts: longing desire; eagerness to possess or enjoy; carnal appetite; unlawful desire of carnal pleasure\.
God will give us the true desires of our heart\. We may say that we desire pure things, but if our heart is yearning for unlawful things, we shall yield to those things\. Our lives consist not only in what we say, but more importantly what we live\. Also, take courage, the inward desires of our heart can be forever changed through the spiritual operation or “new birth”\.
Righteousness: the active and passive obedience of Christ, by which the law of God is fulfilled\.
If we are to follow righteousness, then that means we should follow the active and passive obedience that Christ shows us by his example\.
Faith: the object of belief; a doctrine or system of doctrines believed\.
What is the reality of our faith? Do we really believe God and what He tells us through His written Word? It was because Abraham believed God that he was able to “offer up” his only son Isaac through whom Abraham’s descendants would be counted\. *–see Hebrews 11:17 and Genesis 22:13\.* If God tells us in His Word to shun ungodliness because it will lead to more ungodliness, then we need to believe God and flee those things, and we must not allow ourselves to think that just a little bit of fun will not matter\.
Charity: love; benevolence; goodwill; that disposition of the heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow men, and to do them good; it includes supreme love to God our Maker and universal good will to men\.
Do we have the Love of God dwelling within and flowing out of our lives like a spring of running water?
Peace: heavenly rest; harmony; freedom from disturbance or agitation\.
We are to follow the example of our dear Savior Jesus Christ whose whole life was in perfect harmony with God the Father\. Christ was not disturbed or disrupted by the ways of this world, but He was at rest doing His Father’s will\. Are we?
Pure: clear; free from moral defilement; without spot; holy; incorrupt\.
We are to follow or have these fruits adorned in our lives and also practicing these with those who are practicing the same things in their own lives\. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump\.
*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; But \(which becometh women professing godliness\) with good works –1 Timothy 2:9\-10\.*
Shamefacedness: bashfulness; excess of modesty\.
We should be adorned with shamefacedness and not giddiness or sensuality\.
Sobriety: habitual soberness; seriousness; gravity without sadness or melancholy\.
Even if we are sober we don’t need to be sad but we can have the joy of the Lord adorning our lives\. There should be a light in our eyes because Jesus is the light of our lives\. Truly if God’s spirit is dwelling within us we have so much to be thankful for\. It should be evident in every aspect of our lives\.
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*For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world –Titus 2:11\-12\.*
*I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels –Isaiah 61:10\.*
The ornaments of modesty, shamefacedness, sobriety, faith, charity, peace, righteousness, meekness, and quietness are truly jewels of great price\. These jewels are so valuable that it is worth surrendering our whole lives to the God of Heaven, our Maker, and our Redeemer, so that we may have them adorning our lives\. But likewise, if we are surrendered to the god of this world we will have the ornaments of pride, envy, hate, jealousy, and so forth\. Which ones are the more beautiful?
*And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband\. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God\. –Revelation 21:2\-3\.*
Are we preparing to meet Jesus? Is God dwelling in us? Is He our God and are we His people?
Remember time is swiftly passing by\. We can be here today and gone tomorrow\. Do we want to be with Jesus throughout all eternity, or do we want to be with the devil and his angels? The choices we make for our lives today will affect where we spend eternity\.
*Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap –Galatians 6:7\.* Don’t be misled\. That verse is also for the believer, not just for the unconverted\. Each one of us can ask ourselves what we are sowing\. Concerning adornment, are we sowing the thought that outward beauty is very important or are we sowing the thought that inward beauty is the most precious thing to have and obtain? For clarification, I am not talking about being dirty and unkempt\. God is a God of order and cleanliness, but He is not a God of ribbons, bows, frills, lace, and expensive, attractive clothing\. Remember that most people who create new clothing fashions focus on designing garments so that they will be appealing and attractive to the eye\. That is what makes people buy them\.
Again, when people look at us do they glorify our fleshly body or are they praising God for the work that He is doing in our lives? Also, concerning foolishness and looseness, if we are grounded in the word of God, we will not have time for vain babblings and pleasure\-seeking idleness\. Let us be busy doing the work of our Lord, such as helping our neighbor who could use an extra hand, or sharing our testimony with people that we meet\.
*And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell –Matthew 10:28\.* As we live in these last times, the message that is all around us is that as long as you believe in a God, you will be okay\. That is a false message\. Jesus tells us there is only one way\. *Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him* –*John 14:6\-7\.* Praise the Lord that God has given us an example to follow\.