Modesty

Every day we make choices. The clothes we wear may not seem all that important in the grand scheme of life to anyone other than ourselves. Our clothes, however, speak volumes about us. Complete strangers may be able to presume our gender, age, ethnicity, economic status, education, personality, and even character based upon what we wear. Employers, teachers, parents and peers will all take notice of our attire. The adornment of our bodies can either reinforce or change their ideas about each of us. The way we dress just may make the difference in obtaining a job, receiving an “A” on a school presentation, or making a good first impression and quickly earning the respect of our friends. Before we decide what we should wear tomorrow, let’s consider what God has to say on the subject of modesty.

I SAMUEL 16:7: “For the Lord does not see as man sees for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” <3

Now that we see God does care about how we dress, let’s define "modesty." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language (Fourth Edition, copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company) defines modesty as, “Reserve in speech, dress, or behavior.” Followers of Christ should also demonstrate godly character in their dress.

How can we apply modesty beginning today? Next time we go shopping? This is an interesting question… I was at a store the other day (not going to say which one in order to protect the reputation), they claimed to be a Christian store. When I walked into the store, I was shaken at what I saw. Not only were there clothes everywhere (whole other story), but the clothes that they were selling were appalling. When I stood there all I could see was short shorts, top-dresses, and low-tops. The sad thing was I didn’t expect other “non-Christian” stores to know was the word modest means, but I had just been in a “non-Christian” store that was clean, organized, and had modest clothes. (To top it off they had great customer service). When I went to talk to the manager about it, his excuse was “trashy was trendy.” The point of all this is not to put down any store… but just make any one reading this think twice before getting dressed in the morning. Remember your outfit maybe cute…but you maybe giving others the wrong message.

Until later… xoxo