Dear Everyone. (Rant on Modesty)

Dear Everyone,

I am sick of people trying to sit around and tell me that modesty has nothing to do with the way your dress- just the way you behave. Or that modesty is a ‘heart issue’ and what you ‘feel is appropriate.’  Someone once told me, ‘You can’t stop the guys from looking or thinking. that is their job.’ and that pretty much sums up what all my girlfriend’s say about their summer clothes.  Yet, as a sister in Christ to all of you whom are walking with God, let me say this:

There is no excuse you can come up with for wearing those short shorts, bikinis, tank tops (the ones that show your colorful bra or ride so low the only thing not showing is your nipple), or any summer items along those lines, that is Godly.

As brothers and sisters in Christ we are asked to help each-other in our walk with God. (Mathew 18:5-7) We are not to help each-other stumble on the fringes of sin without going over or blatantly walk straight into sin; we are to help each-other FLEE from it. God directly tells men not to lust after a girls’ beauty. (Proverbs 6:24-26) To understand what is modesty and what it is not, is not as simple as saying ‘what you feel in your heart.’. If it was, a girl could say ‘ I don’t think wearing a bikini is immodest because I am still covering my lady parts,’ just as easily as she could say,’ I think I need to wear what the nuns wear,’ the next day. ( http://www.therebelution.com/modestysurvey )

This is not saying we shouldn’t take care of how we look, but we do need to be more concerned about what’s on the inside and our walk with God; That includes helping one another with each-other’s walks. (Timothy 2:9-10) So is it just the guys problem to deal with? No. It’s also ours. Giving up what society says is fashionable for what God says is one of the simplest ways we, as girls, can show not only guys but God Himself how devoted we are. When we began our walk with Him, we pretty much said ‘Here I am Lord! Come into my heart and use me!’ But if we cannot sacrifice a few clothing items for Christ’s sake, then are you really allowing Him to dress you in His righteousness? We are suppose to portray a Christ like image- these scanty outfits are doing no good to that cause, they are hurting it. So please do not take this as a bashing or me knit-picking, but rather a thought to ponder on and research. Don’t think ‘oh, I’ve already done that. I don’t agree.’ and log off. You stuck by and read this whole thing for a reason, let God show you that reason.
(The link I posted above is a study done on what guy’s think of girl’s clothes)

~A

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Moving On; His Great Love

“…You grant them relief from days of trouble… For the Lord will not reject his people; he will never forsake his inheritance. Judgment will again be founded on righteousness, and all the upright in heart will follow it.”

            -Psalm 94:12-15 (NIV)

Even in the darkest times, he’s always there. God’s love is greater than anyone’s. And it will always be that way. There are so many people I see and am friends with that are hurt from relationships (friend or boyfriend/girlfriend). Looking at the love relationships, one can see on Facebook there are people who post things like: “I wanna be yours forever,” or “I wish I could read peoples minds so I can tell if this is real or it’s fake,” or “Until your mine, I have to find away to fill this hole inside,” and so on. There are people (non-Christians and Christians) of where you can tell that they don’t really know the true definition of love; they are lost in a world of love and relationships, and knowing the love of a human; flesh. And flesh won’t get you far when you’re young and looking for something to fill that “empty void.”

For those other things that people struggle with, there’s emotional, image, and moving on from the past. For image, there’s the fashion sense, how well your body looks, and (for girls) make-up and beauty. As for moving on, whatever it is that you’re holding onto. Let it go. The more you hold on, the more you just tear yourself to pieces. Here’s a insight: Pray to God to help you let go. Tell him everything. Release and allow him to “withdraw” those feelings from you. And emotionally, for those struggling with cutting, relationships, release those. The verse above says, “You grant them relief from days of trouble…” You, refers to God. God grants us relief from days of trouble; vain, envy, sadness, anger, feeling lonely.

“For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; 

  your faithfulness reaches to the skies.”

-Psalm 57:10 (NIV)

Take heart: he has overcome all those feelings; pains; everything. When we have faith and trust, he’ll be there, and even when we lose interest, feel alone, and think he’s left… he hasn’t. That’s a promise. “For the Lord will not reject his people; he will never forsake…” As the verse goes on. And those words right there mean everything.

His love will fill the empty void in your heart, he’ll give you strength when you think of a love one, and help you, when you’re feeling like you can’t compare to the models you see, remember God made you in his perfect image, just the way you are. Don’t try to be someone else. The world sets unrealistic standards, standards that are simply photo-shopped images and models that are way too skinny.

Stay strong. And remember him.

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”

-Psalm 46:1 (NIV)

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Modesty…Summer…Why?

PART TWO:

So now you’re thinking, ‘okay that makes sense, but we don’t have to date jerks that only care for our body. We are smart enough to stay away… I don’t see what our clothes have to do with it?’… As brother and sisters in Christ we are entailed to help each other in our walk with God.  “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in and acknowledge and cleave to Me (all of God’s children) to stumble and sin [that is, who entices him or hinders him in right conduct or thought], it would be better (more expedient and profitable or advantageous) for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be sunk in the depth of the sea.”
Matthew 18:5-7

We are not to help each other stumble or walk into sin. We are to help each other stay away from it.

Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes,
Proverbs 6:24-26
God directly tells men not to lust after a girl’s beauty. Lust is also could mean ‘desire, covetousness, and greediness.’ And it is perfectly natural for men to want a girl in such a way. That we cannot take out of them, however, as brothers and sisters in Christ I do think it is very important to help them out. First off, do you really want your brothers (whether blood or not) looking at you and getting turned on or his thoughts fed just because you wanted to wear that low tank top or short shorts? Second, besides seducing guys to look at you, what is the reason to dress in such scanty outfits? Make a list, try to debate me, but it all comes down to what I just said.

So what is modest? Is it long skirts and huge shirts 24/7? Ummm, NO! Is it no makeup and super long un-kept hair? Double negative! Modesty is simply being aware of what causes your fellow Christian mates to stumble and listening to what Paul says in 1 Timothy 2:9-10 “I want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with outwards beautifications, but with good deeds.” This is not saying that we shouldn’t take care of how we look, but it is saying we need to be more concerned about what’s on the inside and our walk with God. That includes helping one another with each others walks.

To understand what is modest and what isn’t is not as simple as saying ‘what you feel in your heart.’ If it was, a girl could say ‘I don’t think wearing my bra and a shirt out is immodest because I’m still covering my ‘girl parts’, just as easily as she could say ‘I think I need to wear what the Amish wear,’ the next day.  To understand where we should draw our boundaries, we need to understand and know what the guys think of how we dress. The link I have posted below is a whole study on how guys view modesty. The site takes a little getting used to (actually, I’m challenge in technology so it might just be me) but if you are serious about modesty and want a real review on it- PLEASE, don’t hesitate to take a few minutes to go through it! It well worth your time.

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Modesty…Summer… Really?

PART ONE

“Just try it on!”- This is a common demand from my ever fun friend Brittney when we try to decide what to wear before going someplace important. Here is the jest of the conversation-

Me- no!

Her- Why?!

Me- because don’t feel like showing the world my epidermis!

Her- you’re so weird.

Me- not weird, I just don’t want to draw that sort of attention to myself.

Do you get where I am going? If not here is the black and white- As girls, we need to step up our game. It’s almost summer time, the pools are opening, and beach trips are being planned. Every single guy knows what this means. Hot summer days + girls = minimal clothes

Girls and guys wait all year for the weather to get hot enough to pull out the bikinis, shorts, and tanks. Both genders for different reasons of course! Girls get flattered when people compliment their bodies, looks, etc… It’s like the story of the crow and the fox (for those who have never read it, look it up) the crow gets so flattered into singing he lets go of the piece of food and starts singing leaving the fox to take the food for himself and leaving the crow hungry and defeated. So how does this little kids’ fable apply to us? This is where my always thinking, ever comparing mind comes into gear.

Let’s pretend the crow is a girl and the fox is a boy. Its summer time and the girl ran track all year, works out, has an amazing tan, and is over all downright gorgeous. Her girl friends are all over how pretty she is and how good she looks in those shorts (you know, the type that could suffice as underwear) in their minds its showing off what they worked hard for and feeling good about themselves. Now the boy sees the girl and, if he… isn’t a gentleman, gets excited and compliments her. Girl gets flattered. She starts showing more, maybe her cleavage; this gets the guys’ eyes to light up and she feels good about herself. Guys checking her out and all that jazz, before you know it she has a boyfriend for the summer!

Sounds like a pretty easy way to get a guy right? Well in a sense it is. But honestly girls should we be that easy to catch? Should a guy really take a look at us and say, hey baby got plans for tonight? (Okay, lame pick up line, but I’m not a guy!) It’s nice and all to get looks, but I think a guy should date us for who we are on the inside, not for what we convey on the outside…

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