Modesty of the Heart
For some reason I have been thinking about modesty a lot in recent days. And I keep coming back to having a heart of modesty above all. I looked up the definition of the word modesty and this is what I found:
mod·es·ty noun \ˈmä-də-stē\ The quality of not being too proud or confident about yourself or your abilities 
I keep coming back to this thought. The whole point of modesty is to not be prideful by showing off our bodies in an inappropriate way, but the very concept of modesty can lead to us being prideful about the way that we modestly dress. It is equally as wrong to dress in a way that is provocative or in way that makes us fit in, as it is to dress in a way to please people for how modestly we dress, or look down on those that don't dress the way that you do.
C.J. Mahaney says, "Immodesty, then, is much more than wearing a short skirt or a low-cut top; it's the act of drawing undue attention to yourself. It's pride on display by what you wear."Modesty is not just a way that we dress it is an attitude of the heart that flows out into everything that we do. Dressing in a frumpy way to draw attention to how modest you are shows just as much pride as dressing in a way to attract the attention of the men around you.
I keep coming back to this thought. The whole point of modesty is to not be prideful by showing off our bodies in an inappropriate way, but the very concept of modesty can lead to us being prideful about the way that we modestly dress. It is equally as wrong to dress in a way that is provocative or in way that makes us fit in, as it is to dress in a way to please people for how modestly we dress, or look down on those that don't dress the way that you do.
C.J. Mahaney says, "Immodesty, then, is much more than wearing a short skirt or a low-cut top; it's the act of drawing undue attention to yourself. It's pride on display by what you wear."Modesty is not just a way that we dress it is an attitude of the heart that flows out into everything that we do. Dressing in a frumpy way to draw attention to how modest you are shows just as much pride as dressing in a way to attract the attention of the men around you.
Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting of the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. 1 Peter 3:3-4
These verses talk about where a woman's true beauty lies. True beauty is not about what a woman does or doesn't wear, it is about what is in her heart and spirit.
I don't want this to come off as though I don't think dressing modestly is important, I do! I think we as women need to take a good look at our closets and make sure that the things that we are wearing are honoring to Christ and to our husbands (or future husbands). This probably means taking a look at how tight, low cut, and how short the things that we wear are, but most of all it means taking a look at our hearts and why we wear what we wear. I do not think that modesty means that we have to look frumpy or that we can't wear clothing that is trendy and in style. It just means that we need to examine what we are wearing and why we are wearing it. I think we should dress in a way that is polished and feminine. I think that we should dress in a way that represents Christ well. I think that our clothing should be an outpouring of what is in our hearts, and in our hearts should be a desire to please the Lord above all else. Above all Christ should be glorified by what we wear, not ourselves for our attractiveness, or for our "modesty".
