My Daily Pause

With the weather consistently warm now (at least in my area,) it is once again time to think about how to dress modestly.

There is a woman in a popular TV show that has a tattoo covering her entire chest. When she has that thing exposed, she looks like a trashy woman. When she wears a T-shirt with a crew neck, she looks pretty and natural. What would the Lord prefer?

In 1 Timothy 2:9-10, Paul directs a woman to dress in a way that enhances her inner beauty and her good works. (Modesty, self-control, etc.) Peter said she should depend on her gentle and quiet spirit to show off her beauty.(1 Peter 3:3-4)

Is it any less sinful for men to walk around uncovered? Of course not. One example is when Jesus returned to visit the disciples, Peter was out of his outer garment and working. When he realized Jesus was close, he put the outer garment back on and swam to him. Notice how the Bible describes him as naked! (John 21:7)

As followers of Jesus, our first duty is to bring good credit to his name. Peter’s example might just be the benchmark for modesty we’re looking for – Would you run up to meet Jesus in what you have on?

Bonus

For a great blog on modesty aimed at young ladies, Check out Marvelously Modest.

Daily Bible reading for May 26

Psalm 145
Numbers 31
Obadiah 15-21
1 Timothy 2

I am traveling right now so will not get the usual article posted until later.

But please take a look at a new project I am involved with in the meantime:

Dallas Area Churches of Christ

It’s in the very beginning stages but please bookmark it for great stuff to come!

Daily Bible reading for May 9

Psalm 129
Numbers 9:15-10:10
Isaiah 46-47
Colossians 1:21-2:5

No sin is too big for the blood of Christ to cleanse.

That’s what Paul was trying to tell the Corinthians. (2 Corinthians 2:5-11) They had one in their group that had committed a pretty ugly sin (see 1 Corinthians 5 for the background.) A sin that even the pagans looked down on.

The church properly handled it according to Paul’s instruction (1 Corinthians 5:13) and he eventually repented – but then Paul had to tell them to “reaffirm their love.” (2 Corinthians 2:8) They weren’t going to forgive him as a church!

Truth be told, his sin probably wasn’t any greater than some of the things the others had done.

It’s good that Christ died for us so we can have forgiveness, so it’s very unbecoming to a church, or to Christians, to withhold forgiveness from a penitent Christian needing and asking for it.

No sin is too big for the blood of Christ to cleanse!

Daily bible reading for April 10

God give Moses instructions for the priests and the offerings. Isaiah pronounces woe to the wicked.

Psalm 100
Leviticus 6:8-7:38
Isaiah 5
2 Corinthians 1:12-2:11

Those of us who read and study the Scripture have a duty to pass it on to others. (2 Timothy 2:2, 2 Timothy 2:15, 2 Timothy 4:2, Philippians 4:9, etc.) Our spiritual maturity will continue to increase as we study and teach – along with our confidence.

Apollos was a man who was very confident and willing to teach, but he was getting something wrong. A fine couple approaches him and teaches him “the way of God more accurately”. (Acts 18: 24-28) He goes on, even more capable of refuting the Jews’ false teaching.

This lesson can be taken two ways:

1. Always be willing to reexamine what you “know” to be true against the Scriptures when someone approaches you.
2. Always be willing to help others that are teaching an error.

²⁴ Those who hate you may try to fool you with their words,
but in their minds they are planning evil.
²⁵ People’s words may be kind, but don’t believe them,
because their minds are full of evil thoughts.
²⁶ Lies can hide hate,
but the evil will be plain to everyone. – Proverbs 26:24-26 NCV

Instead of focusing on the obvious warning of who to avoid, let us look inward. To be godly and loving – the opposite of what this passage describes – we should…

• …follow through on our promises
• …tell the whole truth
• …avoid setting others up to fail

Allowing these basics to erode will lead us dangerously close to the two faced nature the proverb writer describes.