Biblical Beauty: Making It Practical - Dressing with Modest Beauty

     Make-up, hair-dos, style, oh my! Like every girl, there have been days when I have been overwhelmed by what it means to steward my God-given beauty.  At times, I have woken up and decided that sweat pants and t-shirts should be the norm and then there are other days when I am thoroughly convinced that is should be otherwise.  Along the way I have learned many things and hope to share some of my practical discoveries with you through these next few posts.  To start off, why don't with tackle clothing???
 

Dress

*For all the guys out there, this is a post that you will want to avoid simply because I use images to make a point, images that would be best for you not to see.

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       I have wondered what is the big deal concerning the way I dress?  Why don't I just wear sweatpants and a t-shirt?  Why do I really have to worry about the idea we call modesty?  Let me explain the importance of clothing to you in this way, what does the clothing below communicate to you about the women who are wearing these items?

Occupation? Feelings?

Feelings?  Outlook on life?

 






   



      Clothing communicates.  When it comes to the area of dress, at times, the saying, "Actions (or clothing) speak louder than words," is true.  Consider the messages listed below that are communicated through the clothing you wear.

• Your view of yourself 
• View of the way God made you
• Your motives or intent (dressed to impress)
• Your feelings (insecure, happy, )
• Your heart

I love the insight the Duggar girls give on this topic when they say:

"Ultimately, how we care for ourselves tells others what we think about
the way God made us.  So our primary goal is to honor the Lord
with our appearance."

So what are your clothes communicating?  Are they reflecting a heart that is filled with the security, joy and fruitfulness of that comes from Christ?  Do you take delight in dressing in a beautiful way that reflects Christ instead of for the purpose of self fulfillment or man's applause?  Your appearance matters! Take the time to invest in it.

     While God has not left us with a list of rules for us to follow when it comes to clothing, He has supplied several guidelines found throughout scripture.  A close examination of these guidelines should be included when we evaluate our clothing.

Like a gold ring in a pig's snout
is a beautiful woman without discretion.

Proverbs 11:22

What is discretion? According to oxford dictionary, discretion can be defined as: "the quality of behaving or speaking in such a way as to avoid causing offense or revealing private information".   As young ladies, we have been raised in a culture that has rejected discretion under the banner of feminism.  As the world demands and applauds the revealing of the private 'information' of our bodies, young christian women are often pressured into doing the same. This has influenced the way we dress.  What we need to understand is that our bodies are a gift to us from God that we will one day share with our spouse.  Until then, it is our responsibility to conceal, not reveal.  (My mom wanted me to add that once we are married, we should also conceal our intimate beauty for our husbands alone).
    
 Some Pointers - Conceal vs. Reveal
   I have come to appreciate this guidance by Paul Washer:

Radical Christians are those who do not dress sensually in order to show off their bodies.

 If your clothing is a frame for your face, God is pleased with your clothing. 

If your clothing is a frame for your body, it’s sensual and God hates what you’re doing.” 

-Paul Washer

 What part of your body does your clothing draw attention to?  Are you allowing your countenance to be seen more than your curves?  Dressing with discretion does not mean that you only wear frumpy, out of style, drab clothing that you bought from the old ladies section at the thrift store.  But it does mean avoiding those article of clothing that keep little to nothing of your body hidden.  So, what is okay to expose and what is not?  A helpful guideline I have found is, if an area of my body is associated with sensuality, it needs to be covered. (i.e. Thigh, chest, belly, bottom)
    One component that many woman do not think about is, how tight is my clothing?  Just because your body is covered with a piece of fabric does not mean that you are dressing in a discrete manner.  However, just because you wear baggy sweat pants doesn't necessarily mean that you are dressing with the elegance of Christ.  Nancy Lee Demos puts is well when she says:

Your clothes should be tight enough so that people know you are woman,

but loose enough so that they also know you are a lady.

You should be dressing in a manner that communicates to others that we are not seeking to put it all out there but that there is a guarded mystique that springs from Christ glorifying discretion. 

      So here are some pieces of clothing to consider when it comes to dressing with discretion. 

Leggins
     I have a confession to make. I LOVE leggins.  But let me clarify.  I love wearing leggins under my skirts.  It seems that in the past few years, it has become popular to make your underclothing your outer clothing.  The problem with this is that...there was a reason it was originally made to be underwear not outerwear.  Do leggins keep anything hidden????

      
     In this picture you can clearly see every curve of this woman's body and her bottom is completely exposed leaving absolutely no room for the imagination.  She might not be showing skin but she is showing everything else.  What is hidden?? Not much.  Is this dressing with discretion?  I think not.
     But what about this outfit???


 

While this long shirt might provide more coverage, to a young man's eyes, this is just as seductive, if not more so.  Men are visually stimulated and when you leave them with an incomplete picture, their minds seek to finish it.(I learned this from my dad.)  Wearing a longer sweater or shirt or short skirt is almost worse than just wearing the leggins plain. At least they don't need to finish the picture, it is openly displayed for them.

     Please see that the way you dress impacts those around you, specifically young men.  Your body has great power to destroy the purity of a young man's mind.  While each man is responsible before God for what he does with the temptations that come, can't we as their sisters in Christ seek to honor them by dressing with discretion?  A discrete woman is a truly beautiful woman.

Work out Pants

     I am sorry ladies, scripture does not make an exception for the workout room.  We are still called to dress with discretion in a way the conceals, not reveals, no matter how buff we are:)  Just an FYI, something does not have to be skin tight to be comfortable. You can just as conveniently work out in loose fitting pants as you can it tight ones.  Take it from a runner:)

Skinny Jeans

     I know, call me radical, I am not a fan of skinny jeans and I don't think scripture is either.  I know it sounds harsh, but let me explain.  Just like leggins, skinny jeans expose much of a young woman's body.  You can see every curve of her body. There isn't much being hidden, at all.  They tend to be a little more modest than leggins but, still, to a guys eyes there aren't many secrets.  That is not okay.  Now I know you still think I am radical but you must seek to understand clothing from a guys perspective.  Trust me, I know it is hard to do.  Young men, really any
man, is visually stimulated.  What seems just fine to you might leave a guy with temptation knocking in the door of his mind. Nancy Leigh Demoss gives another helpful insight when she exhorts young women to, "Dress as though they were walking into a room full of gun powder holding a candle".  The clothing you wear should be approached with great caution out of respect for other young men around you, yourself and also for your future spouse. God has called us to sacrificially lay down our desires in order that we might keep our brothers in Christ from stumbling. (Romans 14:21)  In Paul's day it was meat and wine, in our day it is young woman who dress in a subtly immodest way.  Be careful in the way you dress.  It has an affect on those around you.

 Women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control,
not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire....
1 Timothy 2:9

     I know, I just pulled out the M word, modesty.  At times I have cringed at the thought of modesty and it's implication to my wardrobe. And I do not think I am the only one who has thought this way before. Consequently, modesty has become that invisible weight that keeps young women from apprenticing their bodies and having the ability to freely express themselves in the way they dress. Contrary to popular belief, this is not the case.  Modesty allows true beauty be shine in the life of a young woman for all to see. Instead of others being distracted or tempted to impurity by your clothing, dressing with modesty  gives the freedom needed for other people to see the work of Christ in you!!!!   

     The greater issue is not modesty, it is your heart.  Modesty is simply an outflow of what is on the inside, as Matthew Henry says:

“The purity of the heart will show itself in the modesty of the dress.”

-Mathew Henry

So, can I ask you, how is your heart?  Are you desiring to submit to God, even in the area of modesty?  Is the purity of your heart impacting your motives and desires for how you dress?  I would encourage you sister, to submit yourself to God's word and to His ways. Exaine what I am saying in the light of His Word and allow that to be your staring point when it comes to the way you dress. His guidance is not meant to hinder you but to help you, to help you seek more of Him!

   

I know this might be an overkill on the pictures but....there were so many good quotes!  I hope they encourage and bless as much as they have done to me.