Modesty
Summary
A virtue combining purity of sentiment with restraint in behavior, inclined to abhor impropriety and avoid conduct deserving censure.
☩Definition
Modesty consists in purity of sentiment and manners, inclining us to abhor the least appearance of vice and indecency, and to fear doing anything which will justly incur censure. The Greek word kosmios signifies 'neat' or 'well-arranged,' suggesting simple elegance rather than ostentation.
☩In Dress
Paul instructs '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). External adornment should reflect internal character—simplicity, restraint, and focus on spiritual rather than material display.
☩Biblical Examples
Saul demonstrated modesty when chosen as king, saying: 'Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin?' (1 Samuel 9:21). Queen Vashti showed modesty by refusing to display herself before the king's drunken guests (Esther 1:11-12). Elihu waited to speak until his elders had finished (Job 32:4-7).
☩True and False Modesty
Excess of modesty becomes bashfulness or diffidence, while its absence produces impertinence or impudence. There is also false modesty: yielding to companions' follies through fear of offending them, or being ashamed to speak of religion and be seen in devotional exercises. True modesty neither shrinks from righteous action nor seeks inappropriate attention.
Related Verses5 mentions
See Also
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Modesty," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. VI (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.Charles Buck, "Modesty," in A Theological Dictionary (Charles Buck (London), 1802).