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I just read an entry on Missionary4Him's blog. She was talking about modesty. I totally agree with what she's saying and thought I'd add on it in my own way.
As Missionary4Him pointed out, modesty is not only in the way we dress, but in the way we talk, act, and what we do. But I want to get to the clothing first.
The world today is really into showing skin. As you can see by just walking around the mall, women love to show legs and clevage. A big fashion out today are those teeny skirts, shorts, or skorts. Or how about shirts that go a little low? And sometimes there are those shirts that are pulled up enough, but like putting a little hole right where the clevage shows.
1 Timothy 2:9-10 says "I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God."
Now, while I do not believe we shouldn't be braiding our hair or wearing descent jewelry, I do believe we should take care in what we dress in. And we need to make sure that we're not living for our clothes, but focussing more on our inward appearance. 1 Samuel 16:7 says "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearace, but the Lord looks at the heart."
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." While we should take care of our body and how we present ourselves, we should not be overly obsessed or trying on immodest clothes to make yourself beautiful. Beauty starts on the inside and then makes your outward appearance shine. It's because of your inward beauty that makes your physical body beautiful!
Here's another thought on that verse: God came down and became man. But he did that to die for us. He loves us so much that He went through pain and agony unlike any other man. In fact, there was a history channel presentation on this and one man said that no man would be able to live long enough after that much torture to carry his cross and suffer more to die on the cross. Can you believe that? God loves us so much He died for us. He gave His only Son and died. And He died for us. So, if He died for us and loves us so much, shouldn't we honor Him? And, if we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord, He now lives within us. Do we want to show others His wonderful love and then follow the ways of the world by putting on little clothing?
Dressing immodestly puts a huge pressure on guys as well. From books I've read, every author says that dressing immodestly is putting temptation right in front of a boy's face. Do we want to make them stumble by showing so much skin?
Now, onto the inner beauty. How do you live your life? What words come out of your mouth every day? What movies do watch, what books do you read? What kind of events do you attend? Living a Christian life not only means dressing modestly, but living modestly.
Words are a very powerful thing. They can destroy or build up. They show who you are. What kind of talk are you talking? Cursing is a huge part of society today. I have seen very few movies these past few years (that are over a G rating) that did not have cursing. As I listen to conversations (not purposefully) as I walk around in public, people use fowl language to express themselves. But, do we need such language to express ourselves? I don't think so! These are horrible words people are using, and so casually! Do we want people looking at us, hearing our language, and saying, "Hey, she's" - or he - "is Christian. If they're using that kind of language, it must be right!" Do we want to be putting out the wrong message like that?
A part of having Christ living in us, means we need to try to act like Him and show others around us what He's like. Would Jesus curse? Would he be watching some of these slasher movies that are out today? What we put into our mind, comes out of our mouth or through our actions. Books and movies are huge things of today. Should we be putting romantic novels, violent movies, sex and language into our minds? No! What goes in comes out. And others see us watching those movies, reading those books. As Christians, we set an example for the world. What kind of example do we want to set?
In Christ,
Messenger
A lark threatened with death for singing would still continue to sing.
She cannot renounce her nature. Neither can we Christians.
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