"Modesty Is A Choice"

Modesty is a choice. No one, including God, forces us to adopt modesty into our life. 
No matter our decision, God loves us, but choosing modesty will change our life. The change doesn’t happen because we stop wearing bikinis, it happens because we choose to obey and submit. 

Choices of obedience and submission are not easy when we don’t fully understand or still want to be in control. Sometimes we have obey simply because we trust that His ways are better than our understanding. Some of us might be in this place with modesty. We honestly don’t see what is wrong with showing some cleavage, wearing short-shorts or workout clothes that show all our curves. We don’t understand how modesty really leads to holiness. Even when we don’t understand, God is asking us to trust. Trust that He knows what is best. Trust that He is protecting us. Trust that He is offering true freedom. Trust that He is taking us into a deeper place of intimacy with Him. No it isn’t easy but He isn’t asking you to change overnight or all at once. He is asking us to take one step of obedience, then another of step of submission, then another of step of trust.  

Where do we start? We start by digging into His Truth, searching scripture, and talking with women who have already been on this journey. We start by make holiness our goal. As we take these steps we will fall deeper in love with Him and that’s when we will begin to understand. We will understand why God designed modesty. We will understand that it’s not about rules but about a deeper relationship with Him. We will understand that modesty is a gift that allows us to respect ourselves on a whole different level. We will understand that God isn’t after a wardrobe change; He’s after your heart. I pray that today you will choose to start the journey of modesty, even if it’s out of pure obedience and submission. He won’t let you down! 

"The Freedom Of Modesty"

Modesty can easily be taken to extremes. People say that unless women cover every inch of skin, men will lust and women will compare. Hoping to prevent this, they tell us how low shirts can go and how many inches a pair of shorts should be. Other’s take it to another extreme saying that modesty is old fashioned and suppresses women’s rights. They believe that it is our right to show as much of our bodies as we like as long as it make us feel good. The problem is that both these, and other extremes, divert us away from the true outcome and blessing of modesty, which is freedom and protection. 

Through modesty God frees us from the need to receive approval from men or women, protects our minds, allowing us to live with the confidence of His truth and protects us from thinking that our beauty has anything to do with our outer appearance. Without God’s protection and freedom we tend to dress hoping for the label of sexy, gorgeous or beautiful. We want to be noticed, encouraged and affirmed for how we look. The problem is that those labels are a temporary fix for what is really going on in our hearts. Our hearts are longing to be loved and sought after and no worldly label has the power to change our hearts or give true self-confidence. These labels only deceive us and lead to more emptiness, pride, complacency, and comparisons. God didn’t design us to live this way. He designed us to live with freedom, confidence and protection. To give us an alternative God designed modesty. He knew that if we would dive into modesty we could gain a healthy perspective of our bodies and begin to live with all that God has to offer. This happens because through modesty we seek Him. 

Modesty doesn’t restrict us; it brings true life and real freedom. Don’t let people’s extremes water down God’s definition, intention and blessing of modesty. Begin to live the life that God created you to live by diving into the heart of what modesty really is, a guide to living with freedom and protection 

"The Purpose Of Modesty"

Life can be full of excuses and justifications. In the area of our clothes we can often hear excuses similar to “God looks at our hearts, not our clothes” or “it’s not my fault that men lack self-control” or “I dress more modestly than others.” These excuses are easy to say and believe when we don’t grasp the purpose of modesty. God didn’t create modesty so that people would stop comparing or lusting. These things are sometimes by-products but they are not the purpose. 

The purpose of modesty is holiness. God created us to be holy, meaning we are to be set apart from everything that is opposite His truth. Holiness is not achieved by being good or following moral rules; it’s achieved through seeking to be so intimate with God that you can’t breathe without Him. 

One of the biggest hindrances to holiness is our self. We begin to focus on what we want, how we need to feel, and how we want to be viewed by others. We dress in a way that allows us to achieve these necessary wants and feelings. We loose the fact that life is not about us but about God. When this happens lines get blurred, excuses rise to the surface and justifications invade our hearts. God, knowing this, advises us to implement the principle of modesty. He knows that striving for modesty will help us downgrade our personal desire and need to feel significant, redirecting our focus onto His truth. God cares about how we live our lives. No excuses or justification will change that. I pray that you begin to see modesty as a tool to help guide you into a lifestyle of holiness. 

Modesty is a picture of Grace...

"What Modesty Is Not"

The word modesty makes us cringe because we begin to think about what we can’t do. We have heard how we can’t wear certain styles, images or words on our clothes, we can’t dance a certain way, and we can’t appear sexy. Yes, at times, rules such as these can make modesty easier to understand, but here’s the deal, God didn’t create modesty as a rule, He created it as a guide to remind and redirect our focus back to Him. 

When you look at scripture we see God giving us examples, not rules, about the way to dress. These examples are to show us that our clothes and outward appearance are not where we gain our true significance or beauty. God didn’t intend for these examples to become the rules that we live our lives by. When we make these our rules it can cause us to compare our standards to others instead of to God. When those comparisons prove us slightly better we call ourselves good. God would rather us seek Him in each situation, asking questions like “What is the wise choice for my situation?” or “Does this outfit point to God or to myself?”. God doesn’t want us to seek the rules for our answers; He wants us to seek Him. He wants us to search His truth and wisdom for each situation. 
    "I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.

A woman[a] should learn in quietness and full submission."

God doesn’t’ care about style, dance steps, or feeling sexy. He cares about you. He cares about having a relationship where you continuously align your life with Him and renew your mind with His truth. He knows that when this happens, you will be in a place where you can receive whatever He has to say about modesty, whether it be from the bible, a leader, friend or just a personal conviction. Modesty isn’t about following man-made rules; it’s about searching God’s heart and growing closer to Him. Start seeking to align your heart, mind and soul with God’s truth in the area of your body and He will reveal what is right for you. He won’t disappoint you as you begin to know, love and apply His wisdom to your life. 

"What Modesty Is"

Growing up when I heard the word modesty I thought it was basically about covering up everything. Dressing decently and all but thankfully, I couldn’t have been more wrong. I signed up for a Modesty Challenge and i know better now.

Modesty is a lifestyle, not a style of clothing. It is about living in such a way that all our actions, including the way dress, point people to Jesus instead of ourselves. When God talks about modest dress He isn’t commanding us to cover up every inch of who or how He made us. Instead, He is showing us how to decrease so that He can increase in our lives and be glorified. 

     1Peter 3:3 "Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;"

I will be concentrating more on how the principle of modesty affects what we wear. God knew that modesty in this area would be hard! He knew that we would want to wear certain clothes that make us fit in, feel sexy, and gain stares of approval. He knew that the way we dress would be an area that would draw our attention away from Him. Therefore, He introduces us to modesty. 

In a world and culture inundated with ways to please self, God knew that we would need a reminder that beauty comes from Him, not from our clothes. Modesty wasn’t designed to frustrate us, God designed modesty to help keep our lives and bodies focused on Him instead of ourselves. I hope you take advantage of this opportunity to see modesty for what it truly is, living and dressing in a way that points people to Jesus! I pray we open our heart and allow God to wipe away any preconceived ideas and start allowing God to show us what dressing modestly is really all about. 

     

   2Corinthuans 5:20  "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."