Be Thou an Example of the Believers

Paul talks about modesty in 1 Timothy 2:9-10 he says that we should wear modest apparel, be modest and sober in our daily lives, and not go out of our ways to spend hours doing our hair or spending tons of money on clothing, makeup and jewelry.

Even though Paul is talking to women in this verse, Doctrine and Covenants 61:18 tells us that what God says to one he is really saying to all. Men should be modest as well, in both dress and character. Being boisterous or showy is not modest.

Three reasons that our bodies could be considered sacred:

Our bodies are created in the image of God’s own body. He created us and blessed us. (Moses 6:9)

When we are blessed with the Holy Ghost we have a comforter. If we do anything contrary to what we should be doing that Holy Ghost withdraws from us leaving us vulnerable. (Alma 41:2)

Alma 41:3 says that we need to be restored back to our proper order, our souls will be restored to our bodies which implies that our bodies will be considered sacred in our next lives.

In understanding that our bodies are sacred we should be more careful to treat them like our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ would. I imagine they would be very modest in their attire. Their focus would be more on people than what they looked like.

When we dress immodestly it can lead to other evils that would take away from our righteousness and our Godliness. (Alma 1:32)

To apply these principles in my life I will need to make sure that I look nice but that I don’t put too much focus on fitting in with society or keeping up with the trends. I should put my focus into other more important areas.

Some evidences that Paul mentioned in 1 Timothy 4:1-5 show that some were already practicing false doctrines and that an apostasy was already starting to occur. Here are a few:

Speaking lies
Hypocrisy
Spiritual blindness
Forbidding marriage
Being commanded to abstain from meat

Paul counseled Timothy to stand strong as a young man even though some may question wisdom from a youth. He said that their examples would shine through if they were strong in charity, spirit, faith, and purity, which would lead others to conversion. Taking this counsel into our own lives today can help us to be good missionaries, especially young men and women who are called to serve missions.

In Timothy 6:7-11 Paul taught that we were brought into the world with nothing and that we can take nothing out, here he is referring to money and physical possessions. He also counsels that we should not love money or covet after it. The love of money is the root of all evil when it takes us away from our faith or when we covet after others things. We should instead follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and meekness.

In 1 Timothy 6:17-19 and Jacob 2:18-19 we are given some guidelines that when followed can help us not focus too much on money or material wealth:
Trust first in God,
Be rich in good works,
Share our riches with others,
Communicate well with others,
Set aside money and food for the future,
Search for the kingdom of God before searching for wealth (in other words follow the commandments and strive to be Christ-like), and
After becoming Christ-like if we seek for riches we should “seek them for the intent to do good – to clothes the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted.”