Jocelyn is doing another Feelin’ Feminine Challenge - What’s Your Story? This challenge is to tell your story about how you came to believe in modesty. I am joining and hope you do too.

For as long as I can remember I’ve been wearing skirts or dresses. Why? Because my parents decided it would be the best thing for us ladies in our family. Only when we were real tiny, like 1-6 we were allowed to wear pants. I accepted this until I was like 13. I still wore skirts but deep down in my heart I was very rebellious against skirts or dresses. I wanted to be like the world and wear pants and tight tops. I finally got my mom to buy me some jeans which were definitely immodest and then I bought some shirts that were immodest also.  When I saw a girl dressed immodestly, it made me feel like I needed to dress that way to be beautiful. And in turn when I wore something immodest, I caused other girls around me to feel like they needed to dress that way, too. Plus, I was causing guys to sin by looking at me lustfully, which isn’t the way God wants guys to look at girls. He wants guys to appreciate female beauty, but not in a dishonoring way. Soon after realizing these things, I knew I had to change. I didn’t want to be part of the circle that caused other girls to dress immodest, and I didn’t want to cause guys to fall into lust!

I started by reading Bible verses that would help me focus on inner beauty. I posted 1 Peter 3:3-4 on my closet wall: “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.”

I went through my closet, but it wasn’t easy. I got rid of anything that looked immodest. There were a few shirts I loved, but they were just a little too tight. Sometimes I ended up in tears as I was getting rid of clothes. I realized my appearance was way too important to me, and I had stopped focusing on my inward beauty.

After redoing my wardrobe, I decided to work on my inward beauty. I would write down the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) in my journal every night and rate myself on them. Using a scale from one to 10, I would rate how well I lived each one that day and make note of which ones I needed to pray about and work on improving.

By focusing more on God and inward beauty, my view of outward beauty dramatically changed. But every now and then, I still get caught up in it. Girls are girls, and we’ll always want to be beautiful. But it’s how we view beauty that really makes us beautiful.

My clothes are still fashionable (well, sometimes!), and I still don’t like to leave the house without brushing my hair. But the difference is, I don’t focus on it. I don’t spend hours in front of the mirror trying to look like celebrities. My beauty comes from within my character and the condition of my heart.

So I’ve decided to be part of this circle instead: the circle that motivates and encourages other girls to respect themselves and the guys around them by not flaunting their bodies in revealing clothing. Do you? Which circle do you want to be part of? The one that makes a difference and turns hearts toward true beauty or the one that makes girls feel insecure and guys fall into lust? I want to be part of the circle of true beauty the kind of beauty that lasts for eternity.

From a guy’s perspective:
"Hey, girls! I hope you'll hear me out for a second. Do you have any idea how VERY important it is to Christian guys that you dress modestly?

As guys even though we're Christians we have the desire to see as much of a girl as we can, but that's the problem! We're Christians, and we're desperately striving to hold ourselves to a higher standard. Most girls in our culture are incredibly immodest, and unfortunately many Christian girls just join right in.

When you wear low-cut tops or short shorts, we interpret that as your not caring to help us become all God wants of us spiritually. Do you really think it's easy for us to concentrate on purity at a youth event when the girls are wearing tops that show their stomach when they raise their hands during worship?

Girls, you have the power to help us become all God wants us to be. Please consider doing so!"

So What’s Your Story? To view the original “rules” about this challenge, please read them HERE

-Miss Elizabeth