Modesty; why bother? A blog for Women
MODESTY, WHY BOTHER?
Of late, I was thinking about how inconvenient it can be to dress modestly. I mean, it's 10x harder to find modest clothes than the everyday fashions at Goodwill or at any other store, & in the summer, modest clothes can be just plain hot, sweaty & annoying!
But during today's supper conversation, I was reminded of the impact & importance my wardrobe has. But this time, not just its the impact on other brothers in Christ, but how it will one day affect my SISTERS in Christ, too!!!
MODESTY, WHY BOTHER?
Of late, I was thinking about how inconvenient it can be to dress modestly. I mean, it's 10x harder to find modest clothes than the everyday fashions at Goodwill or at any other store, & in the summer, modest clothes can be just plain hot, sweaty & annoying!
But during today's supper conversation, I was reminded of the impact & importance my wardrobe has. But this time, not just its the impact on other brothers in Christ, but how it will one day affect my SISTERS in Christ, too!!!
Q. Why should we dress modestly?
A. Because God tells us to.
But there is so much more to that answer.
I'm going to give a couple of my thoughts on 2 of the reasons why God tells us to dress modestly.
When Isaac married Rebekah, that day was full of 1sts.
"And Isaac took Rebekah into his tent and she became his wife..." (Genesis 24:67) That was the 1st time he (1) saw a girl's nakedness (or near-nakedness); it was the 1st time he (2) undressed with a girl; & it was the 1st time he (3) had physical union with a girl. I don't mean to sound crude; I mean to speak of how beautiful this was, beautiful because God designed it to be that way. God designed a man's eyes to be pleased with his wife's body alone (NOT any other woman's body), & that is a GOOD thing!
So now I'm getting to my point: When we ladies publicly dress without modesty, we are not only giving our bodies as tools for Satan to use in our brother's minds, we are taking one of those "1st's" from our sister's future wedding day & their marriage.
About men in lust: After marriage, his lust will grow so that he is no longer pleased with his wife's body - if he wants he can just go to Walmart & let his eyes (wrongly) be pleased by other strange womens' bodies! Though lust is avoidable, it comes naturally; sin is very natural, we are all born into sin.
"Everyone does it"-- but that doesn't make it right.
Ladies, for our brothers who are trying to walk in purity, if we dress immodestly, we are only hindering them!!! Yes, he can choose where his mind goes & what his mind does with what he sees, but he cannot help seeing the immodestly dressed woman in front of him in line at the supermarket. He can quickly look away & choose not to continue to give her his eyes, but the picture of that woman is still very real in his mind. And after/if he marries you, and as your body ages, will YOU continue to be his definition of beauty, or will his definition of beauty be a constantly changing definition that is relegated to the most beautiful girl he has seen in the public square?
Two last things:
1) Modesty is an issue of the heart, & what's on the outside is a reflection of what's on the inside.
2) Modesty is not about hiding your beauty, it's about revealing your dignity! When I say modesty, I don't mean ugly, baggy, frumpy or unprofessional, I mean beautifully covered with taste, covering, so as to remain "above reproach" (1 Tim. 3:2, Titus 1:7)--(blameless, unrebukeable).
If you've read this far, I thank you from the bottom of my heart!!!
Sisters, I beg you: The next time you grab some clothes to put on before leaving your house, ask God what He thinks about your clothing choices, & dress as if you were dressing for the throne of Christ.
~Rachel Burkey
Whatever It Takes!
Rev. 12:11
