Friday, September 20, 2013

The Thing About Modesty.

Hi there!  :)  It's time for Faithful Fridays!

Faithful Fridays is a weekly linky party hosted on my blog. I made it so that Christians could have one special day out of the week (Friday) to share something from their Christian walk on their blog. If you'd like to participate, write your post, grab the button from the Faithful Fridays page on my blog (so that it will link back here), and come link up at the bottom of this post! :)
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Something that's kind of been on my mind and heart is modesty.

And not in the way you think.  I'm sure I've talked about modesty before in some way, and there are tons of posts about modesty in the way we dress and act.  So much so, that I think sometimes in our own little Christian circles, we feel more pressure and judgement on the side that's telling us to be modest in our dress than from the side that's pressuring us to dress skimpily for attention.  Do you know what I mean?

Different people have different ideas of modesty--kind of like how in the church, we have different denominations and variations of beliefs.

These things in the church aren't salvation issues most of the time.  But still, we get crazy over this stuff.  We get in fights, hold grudges, even split off into other churches because of these minor issues.


And within the circles of Christian girls and women, some of us do this over modesty.  We silently (or maybe not so silently) intimidate, belittle, and shame each other if we don't wear skirts or if our shorts are too short or if we don't wear a tank top under our blouses.  And it's not really that it's really immodest--we know when something is truly immodest.  It's that different people have different ideas of "exact" or "true" modesty, and we try to push them on each other.  And it results in people feeling judged and intimidated.

"Charm is deceitful and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."
-Proverbs 31:30

I don't know about you, but sometimes I get so tired of people pushing modesty articles in my face and discussing hemlines and routines and rules.  And then there's the polls and the opinions and the videos where they get guys to come in and talk about how they can't stand it when a girl wears this or that.


Modesty IS important--that's for sure.  We don't want to be careless with what we wear.  But we also don't need to let these things divide us and rule us and get in the way of making Jesus first.  It doesn't need to be blown up into a big, over-the-top, life-ruling argument.  We have to keep things in proportion and keep our priorities straight.  We have to keep ourselves from getting a judgemental, "I'm-more-modest-than-you-are" attitude.


It all comes down to this: most of us know when something is immodest.  So if you think or feel it isn't, don't wear it.  Bottom line.  Get advice from your parents.  Beyond that, things like whether or not we wear skirts or earrings or shorts or whatever isn't really important.

We get so wrapped up in these issues that we forget what a big part of modesty is about--inner beauty.  And if we're too busy haranguing each other over what we wear, aren't we forgetting about that?

"Rather, 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."
-1 Peter 3:4

Girls, we have got to stick together.  Being a girl is hard.  Being a teenage girl is harder.  And being a teenage girl trying her best to follow Jesus with her whole being is the hardest.  But we can do it.  Just lean on Him and let everything else fall under that.

Don't let side issues distract you from keeping your eyes on Jesus.  He doesn't want us to let these things get first place in our lives above Him.  Lay away all the small, petty issues and seek Jesus--He has such a high plan for you!

God bless you guys and have a great day!  :)
Joy :)

9 comments:

Ty said...

Great Post, Joy!
This is a great way of explaining this.
I know that at my school teachers get caught up in dress code - like if a tank top shows at the bottom, if more than two shirt buttons are unbuttoned, if skirts go 3 inches above the knee instead of 2, ect. They forget that the real reason for a dress code is to focus on inner beauty.
Have an amazing weekend:)

Breanna said...

Thanks so much Joy for the great post! I'm 14 also almost 15 and 5'7.I also try to be modest and just found your blog 2 days ago and I love it! Thanks Joy!

Breanna said...

Also i'm home schooled too! (I actually found your blog on pinterest...) :)

Tammy ~ Country Girl at Home ~ said...

Joy,

This is such a wise post! All Christians need to stick together more on the things that matter....things that bring folks to Him, instead of concentrating all the little things we don't see exactly eye to eye on. And I couldn't agree with you more on this!

Love you! 10!
MOM

Clare McKenna said...

Such a great post :) Modesty all the way!

Lauren said...

Wow Joy i loved your post! Of course...I love all of your posts...and i originally found your blog through Rescue the Orphaned. Your posts always encourage me in my walk with the Lord. Have a great weekend Joy!

Jazzmin said...

Amazing points- I loved that you brought out the other side of modesty that we should think about; not getting so focused on the little rules about modesty that can so easily divide us, or even distract us from the real point of modesty. And I relate a lot to that, because it is easy to find ourselves judging and feeling judged by others because of that. Listening to the verses that reflect modesty are a great way to live in modesty in all things as girls :)
Great thoughts and reminder to be careful of this... love the paragraph you started "And within the circles of Christian girls and women..."

God Bless you!
Hope you have a great day, Joy!

Jordan said...

I'm glad you wrote this, you're absolutely right! Thanks for putting everything into perspective!
Seriously made my day:)

-Katy
theartistshollow.blogspot.com

Bella said...

Oh my goodness Joy, I just discovered this post!!! We think the same!!! :) TOTALLY agree with you! We have had people judge us before, and like you said, it's kind of silly. We used to be in those circles where people judge you for what you are wearing, but my Dad felt that it wasn't right, and wasn't what God wanted us to do. So we left, being judged, but have been so much happier. And I hate when someone judges you for what you are wearing, who cares what you're wearing, I mean judging people for what they are wearing has gone so far that it's separated churches and close friends (I've had personal experiences) and I think we really need to stop worrying about the appearance of someone, and start worrying about they're heart instead. Thanks SOOOO much for this post Joy! It's really made my day!!!

-Belle

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