What to wear?

As girls that desire God's best, we should pay attention to what people see when they look at us. Do people see a flashy chick who is trying to draw attention to herself through her clothes, or do we reflect Christ and draw others to Him?

One of my favorite verses regarding "clothing" is found in Proverbs 31:25-26: "Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness." Go grab your Bible and let's look at Proverbs 31. I'll wait..... OK, the woman described in Proverbs 31 is like the ultimate woman. She works very hard to care for her family and all in her household (v. 15, 21), she is a shrewd business woman (v. 16), she is very strong physically (v. 17), she cares about those in need (v. 20), and she dresses well (v. 22). Wow! I don't know about you, but that is a lot for me to live up to. But the Bible isn't finished yet, in the verses I quoted above, she is clothed in strength and honor. How do you see this woman? I see her as someone of high moral character. She has a strength of character that people recognize this just by looking at her. Whenever she says something, it is wise and kind. (She must think a lot before she speaks... great lesson for all of us!)

So back to the question in my title: What to wear? We need to be attired with strength, honor, wisdom, and kindness. When we go out of our home, and people look at us, shouldn't they see a young lady of great moral strength and character that speaks with wisdom and kindness and truly desires God's will for her life? -and not someone who desires to look like the models in the latest magazine as much her parents will let her?

What Guidlines?

So how do we know what is modest and what isn't? I will get into some more specifics later, but for now the question is, where is our standard coming from? I see a lot of different standards of modesty, and even in churches there is a wide range of ideas of what is modest. So what do we compare ourselves to, or should we? What about "if ____ wears it, then it must be o.k." or "I am more modest than ____ so I must be modest." Is this your standard?

Here is my challenge: read what God's word has to say! Hmmm... profound right? :) We can't use this world as a standard, obviously!! And frankly, we shouldn't use even our Christian friends. God wants to deal with each of us individually. (and by the way, God gave you to your parents for a reason! He hand picked you for them. Talk to them about what is modest and what isn't.)

Basically, don't allow yourself to get all caught up in what is "cool." (anyway, what is cool this week, won't be the next, so why waste money?) My method is to stick with some basic stuff that doesn't go out of style each season, make these things your bigger investments. Then spend just a little on accents that will help you look up to date. NEWS FLASH: being modest doesn't mean dressing weird, or way out of style. It means reflecting Christ in the way you dress!

The Heart

So to summarize, the important thing to remember about modesty is that it starts in the heart. To be truly modest, you should ask God to help you to desire a heart that wants to be modest. So we should focus on having modest desires. How? Well, when we give our desires to God, He will mold them into desires that follow His heart. It means giving up self, or selfish desires, and allow God to lead us. This is a very simple definition of entire sanctification - giving up selfishness and allowing God control of your life.

Maybe you know someone or have seen someone who wears the "right" clothes, but for some reason just doesn't seem to be a modest person? Maybe her actions or words speak of immodesty. Perhaps this person doesn't desire modesty from the heart, but is just dressing a certain way because it is required. Do you think that this person has truly given God her all? Here is a shocker, just because a person wears a certain type of clothing doesn't make them a Christian! The same for what church they go to, books they read, music they listen to... the list goes on! What really matters is what is in the heart!!

Definitions

So what do those words mean? Sobriety refers simply to soberness of mind or temperance, or as we would term it, self control - one of the fruits of the Spirit. Shamefacedness is the Greek work aidos which means a sense of shame or honor, modesty, bashfulness, reverence, regard for others, respect. Think about each of the words in the definition for a minute.

• "sense of shame or honor" God wants us to act with honor, to be honorable, or to have a sense of what is honorable.

• "Modesty" can be defined not only as a way of dressing, but also not being proud or vain. One of the things that God hates, according to Proverbs six, is a proud look.

• "Bashfulness" Someone who is bashful, isn't trying to draw attention to themselves. As Christians, shouldn't our goal be to draw attention to God and not to ourselves?

• "Reverence" We are to have respect for the things of God and what He tells us through His Word

• "Regard for others" This one should be obvious. As a person who desires to honor God, shouldn't we show His love to others and be considerate of others?

• "Respect" This word goes along with reverence and regard for others. We should have respect for God and other people. I can also add having respect for God's creation and being good stewards of the world He has created for us.
  

This is the description of a godly woman given in 1 Timothy. It is a lot to live up to. We can only become this person with God's help.

Modesty 101

What is up with all the talk about modesty? Does God really care what we wear? The next several posts will be taken from my study on modesty and will be an attempt to explain the importance of modesty.
Most of you would probably agree that you like clothes, right? I know I do, and I enjoy putting together different outfits, finding things on sale, like a cute new pair of shoes, and even sewing a few of my own designs sometimes. But is modesty, like beauty, only skin deep? I don't believe so. I am of the opinion that God cares more than just the appearance of modesty. Like the Bible says in 1 Samuel 16:7 "for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart."
One of the key passages about modesty is 1 Timothy 2:9-10 which says, "9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; 10 But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works." Well, there are a couple of million dollar words: shamefacedness and sobriety. What do they mean? Just keep reading! :)