Modesty

The older I get, the more I appreciate the way I was brought up. As a parent, I can more easily see the sacrifices my parents made because now I am sacrificing too and I am increasingly thankful for their fervent prayers and their diligence in discipline and in their teaching of God's word.



It is swimsuit season and as wife to one (wonderful) man and mother to one (growing) son and two daughters I have been thinking about modesty. A. LOT. My parents were careful in what they let my sister and I wear. From our father we learned that men struggle with certain sinful thoughts and desires often triggered by something (or someone) they see. This was his duty as our father and I am grateful for that. As I grew older I read "I Kissed Dating Goodbye." Joshua Harris stresses the importance of being modest to serve our brothers in Christ. This is biblical. Paul says in Romans that it is good to not do anything "to cause our brother to stumble."

1 Timothy 2:9 - "women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control"

1 Peter 3:3-4 - "Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear—but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious."



I love the thought of imperishable beauty!





Now my husband and I are trying to instill those same values in our children. We desire for our son to not see women as objects but to respect them and honor them as sisters. For our daughters we desire to protect them and also teach them what is appropriate. Modesty can be and I hope is increasingly found to be beautiful. For us it means clothes and swimwear that do not draw attention to certain parts of our bodies or look enticing. As they mature we will be addressing behaviour as well. It is only going to get tougher as our children grow but we must do it.







"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. " Romans 12:1-2









I needed to really just get my thoughts and convictions on this subject out there. I know that I could go on and on so I am going to stop in just a minute. I have been convicted that I really need to pray for our men and their battle against lust; and also for women that they will desire to be a blessing and not a stumbling block with how they dress.



DesiringGod.org has some great resources here and here.





Side notes: Sorry the China link is not working. Apparently the writer of the blog cannot even log in and we wonder if China shut it down. Bummer, 'cause he is really funny.



And I know that I said I would post a finished decor project, but I haven't finshed one yet! Hehehehehe. I have got better things to do!