Isaiah 62:1-5

"For Zion's sake I will not keep silent,

and for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet,

until her righteousness goes forth as brightness,

and her salvation as a burning torch.

The nations shall see your righteousness,

and all the kings your glory,

and you shall be called by a new name

that the mouth of the Lord will give. 

You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,

and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

You shall no more be termed Forsaken, 

and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, 

but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, 

and your land Married; 

for the Lord delights in you,

and your land shall be married.

For as a young man marries a young woman,

so shall your sons marry you,

and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,

so shall your God rejoice over you."

~ Isaiah 62:1-5

Photo Credit: Lindsey B.

Modesty is Beautiful

A few weekends ago I was at a park with my family. It was a lovely, warm, summer day as we were walking on the sidewalk around a peaceful duck pond. The bright blue sky and radiant sunshine were beaming overhead. I had stopped to take pictures of my little sister and we were catching up to the rest of my family when two girls in their early teens walked by. They both wore very short shorts and cut off tee shirts with their midriffs showing. I smiled at them as they passed and one of the girls met my eye and insecurely tossed her hair behind her shoulder. Her face looked strained. I couldn't help but feel sorry for both of these girls who are so young, yet so hungry for love and value.

Immodesty isn't really beautiful. Yes, I'll admit, some people who dress immodestly can look great - in a worldly way. But that's not beauty in the way that God envisions and defines beauty. His ways are different than the world's. The world puts value on "the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—[which] is not from the Father but is from the world" (1 John 2:16). God's values are very different.

We were all at a family wedding two weekends ago, enjoying the celebration of my cousin’s marriage. A woman walked up to my mom and asked which kids were hers. Mom pointed us out and the lady said, "I thought so, and I told my sons, 'there's a mother who knows how to dress her girls'". My mom smiled, and replied, "Their dad knows how to dress them." We stood out to this woman because she saw the beauty and value of modesty.

God puts a very high value modesty. Modesty reflects true beauty (Proverbs 31:30). It reflects the significance of the heart (1 Peter 3:4). It reflects purity (Ephesians 3:5). It reflects the value we find in God (Isaiah 43:4). It reflects God's light within us (Matthew 5:16). And so much more! Modesty captures everything good about womanhood in the form of clothing. It is so very beautiful and reveals God’s vision for beauty.

Pursuing modesty is just one way in which we can follow the greatest commandment:

"Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 

~ Matthew 12:29-31

When we love God with all our heart, we pursue modesty in Him because we want to honor Him with every area of our lives, including our bodies and appearance. And when we love others as ourselves, we honor them by dressing modestly (just as we honor ourselves by having the dignity to be modest). It will be hard sometimes, but this modest living is such a beautiful pursuit, as we seek God's guidance and grace.

If you are seeking modesty with me, my friends, keep up the good work. Don't grow weary in this beautiful effort. If you aren't yet walking in modesty, please join us. This is such a beautiful journey of faith as we take each step with God (in His strength, by His grace!) and seek to display His beauty through the clothes that we wear. Is modesty beautiful? Yes. God says it is!

Modestly :),
Christina

Soli Deo Gloria ~ To God Alone Be the Glory!

2 Corinthians 13:5

"Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. 

Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?

—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!" 

~ 2 Corinthians 13:5

Encouraging Modesty

Just the other day I was chatting with a friend on the phone while eating my breakfast, putting on my make up, brushing my teeth, and packing my lunch (but, don’t worry, not all at once…). At one point in our conversation, she started telling me about a sweet, wise girl she had recently enjoyed getting to know. I had already met the girl she was referring to and thought to myself, "She dresses immodestly". I struggled to think highly of this young lady (though my friend, who I think highly of, was encouraged by her) because of my perception of how this young woman dressed.

When we see immodesty in others, it’s easy to judge them or jump to conclusions about them based on their clothing. But Jesus said that we are never to judge, but rather check our own heart motives before helping each other (Matthew 7:1-5). If we aren’t to judge or devalue others because of how they dress, what are we to do? We see the answer in 1 Thessalonians 5:11, where it says, “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” God doesn’t want us to “tear each other down” in any way, but rather, build each other up in every way that we can.

Think about it as if we are each building the sand castle of our lives. We will make mistakes along the way and will need to do some rebuilding. But we should never tear down each others' castles (or lives). Rather, we should help with the building and rebuilding as we work together. What might this look like in the area of modesty? Here are some ideas:

• Seek to comment on modest outfits instead of immodest ones. 
• Go shopping with friends who share your modesty convictions, or if they don't, be willing to express your convictions with grace.  
• Share modesty style tips and even outfits!
• Talk about modesty without looking down on or comparing to others. 
• Study God's perspective of modesty from Scripture together.
• If you have a close relationship, gently and lovingly express cautions or concerns regarding certain outfits. 
• Talk about your personal life lessons or stories that you've experienced in regards to modesty (I love to do this!). 
• Focus on heart issues of modesty instead of hemlines (or necklines, or sleeve lengths, or whatever!), remembering that what is on the outside is a reflection of the heart.

We all need encouragement. It’s not easy to pursue modesty alone (though we may need to at times!). Whenever we can, we should seek opportunities to build each other up in this area and help each other. Just as Paul urged the Thessalonians to walk in God, pursuing sanctification and fleeing sexual immorality (and remember, immodesty can lead to this, in ourselves and others), so I urge you to do the same and also to urge each other to do so.

“Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality.” 

~ 1 Thessalonians 4:1-3

We're in this together! Modesty is such a beautiful pursuit. Let's pursue it side by side, building into each other's lives with love, grace, and encouragement.

I hope that by God's grace I have been able to encourage you in modesty these past couple months. This is such a huge topic and I’ve only scratched the surface. But I pray God has been working in your heart as we've look at what His Word says about how we dress. We are nearing the end of the modesty series! Be watching for a couple more posts on the blog as well as the August email on modesty!

Blessings,
Christina

Soli Deo Gloria ~ To God Alone Be the Glory! 

Photo Credit: Leanna B.

The Proverbs 31 Woman

"She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong…

her clothing is fine linen and purple…

Strength and dignity are her clothing." 

~ Proverbs 31:17, 22b, 25a

The Beauty of Older Women

We've been looking at lot at the topic of modesty in recent weeks. One of the sweetest aspects of modesty is that it showcases the inner beauty of the heart, which is most precious to God (1 Peter 3:4). I asked my friend Levi to reflect on why he thinks older women are beautiful and his answer reveals the significance of inner beauty. I hope you enjoy reading his thoughts!

Ever since I can remember, I have not seen beauty in clear skin, height, eye color, or hair color. Those things are nice, of course, but I have seen beauty in something else entirely. And I have seen that something in one broad group of women in particular: older Christian women. When I look at one of these dear sisters in the faith, I don’t see their wrinkles. I don’t see their scars from past surgeries. I don’t see their gray hair. And I definitely don’t notice the minute details of their nails or veins. I don’t even consider whether their clothes are beautiful. All I notice is that smile, and the matching twinkling eyes, and I see beauty. True, pure, godly beauty. Then my eyes start to notice the gray hair, the wrinkles, the clothes... And it all blends into the smile... to be beautiful. And that is why wrinkles and gray hair are endearing to me. Because of the smile that often follows.

Bio: My name is Levi. I'm a writer, musician, reader, teen, talker, and a doodling artist. I blog about living the Christian Faith and some things you could call self-improvement at levipierpont.wordpress.com.

Psalm 27:4

One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: 

that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, 

to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.

~ Psalm 27:4

You are God's Temple

Have you ever thought about how beautiful and ordered (or organized) the tabernacle and temple of God would have been? They would have been more perfect than the most perfect interior or exterior design we see today. Check out these passages for some of the descriptions and commands Scripture gives us about God's earthly home: Exodus 25-21, 2 Chronicles 3-5, and 1 Kings 6-7. From the perfect measurements to materials like gold, silver, bronze, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, fine linen, oil, spices, incense, onyx stones, we see God's care and concern for order and beauty in His temple and tabernacle.

You are God's Temple

There is no longer a temple today. So do you know what the temple is now? It is the people of God. We are God's temple and He lives within us. If God cared so much about beautifying and ordering His temple, wouldn't He also care about the temple of His people? In fact, we know the answer! Paul wrote this to the Corinthians:

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, 
whom you have from God? You are not your own, 
for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

~ 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

We are to honor God with our bodies because our bodies are His house! He is living within us and thus cares about our bodies. Just as God's temple was beautiful and ordered, so should our dress be beautiful and ordered.

Dress for Beauty

When we get dressed each morning, we should dress for beauty. God cares about beauty and He desires that we make ourselves beautiful. After all, He is the creator and originator of beauty (Psalm 27:4, Psalm 50:2)! But notice that this pursuit of beauty isn't all-consuming or to the extreme.

If you look at God's temple, you see good taste and valuable materials, not an overdone, cheap appearance. A truly beautiful young lady has good taste in her colors, hair, make-up, etc. and doesn't flaunt herself or her body, but shows her value in her appearance. We shouldn't cheapen ourselves. God is living in us and we are valuable to Him:

For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior…

Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, 

I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life.

~ Isaiah 43:3-4

Dress for Order

Also like the temple of God, we need to dress with order and "that which is proper":

Likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel…

with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. 

~ 1 Timothy 2:9-10

Respectable and proper…that sounds rather archaic and old-fashioned, doesn't it? (For the record, there's nothing wrong with old-fashioned things!) Think about it as dressing appropriately. You wouldn't wear dirty jeans to a wedding or your swim suit to a funeral. You would wear things appropriate to the occasion. Each day when we get dressed, we should think about what would be appropriate for what we are going to be doing that day.

Another aspect of this order is modesty. To be respectable and proper is to be decent or presentable, according to the dictionary. There was nothing in or around God's temple that was indecent or unpresentable. Everything was pure, lovely, and honorable. It should be the same with us! We should dress with order and dignity, remembering that we are representing our God, who is inside of us.

Closing Thoughts

God's temple and tabernacle must have been glorious to behold, because they reflected His glory, beauty, and order. As God's temples ourselves, let's reflect His beauty and order in our own lives by the way we dress. We have such a gift to be called to be God's temple. Let's delight in it and take it seriously.

Blessings,
Christina

P.S. The picture above is of a replica of the tabernacle that my family and I were privileged to visit a few years ago. I share it just to give a glimpse of what the tabernacle might have looked like. But, my friends, the real thing would have been so far more beautiful and glorious that this!

Soli Deo Gloria ~ To God Alone Be the Glory!