By Miss Rachel D. - 2010 Essay Contest Grand Prize Winner
During the 20th century there was a wide spread plague. Few people were left unaffected by this infection and the consequences have been devastating. This epidemic caused society as a whole to exchange the old-fashioned practice of modesty for the stylish concept that revealing your body is glamorous. Our generation’s loss of modesty is only an outward symptom of this gruesome disease, which is a grievous lack of purity, chastity, humility, and self-control, to name a few. As people have rejected the biblical standard accepted by our fore-fathers, they have lost all the blessings and rewards of the righteous. With lust, immorality, and selfishness having long been planted in the hearts of a nation, the harvest is to continue bringing dissatisfied hearts, broken lives, and ruined relationships. Long have we been reaping these consequences already. “Be not deceived, God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap.”
Famously, the Good Samaritan once undertook an immense challenge to reach a wounded man. He “bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine.” In the same way, young women today have the enviable opportunity to reach a wounded world. By recapturing God’s sacred design for us as young women, we can have a resonating impact on the degenerating lives around us. Knowingly, God designed ladies to guard their bodies and heart, to be elegant and dignified, and to showcase femininity. Modesty of spirit and expression are oil and wine that the dying can little afford to be without.
Summer is staring at the side walk time. As soon as June rolls around, it seems as though skimpiness is the new dress code. Not to say that there aren’t ample representatives of this popular style all through the year. Today, ladies treat their bodies with little respect, all the while claiming to have won themselves honor by breaking free from societies “sexist restrictions”. Showing parts of the body intended to be kept private and sacred sadly demeans an individual. Why trade mystery and dignity for cheap, momentary attention from dishonorable men? Every human being is created by God with intrinsic worth, with a purpose. Paul writes to the promiscuous Corinthian church: “What? Know ye not that your bodies are the temples of God?” Since the beginning of time, the human race has attempted to find there worth and purpose in everything and everyone but their creator. When the world says “it’s your body, nothing but what you need matters” God counters “But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours becomes a stumbling block to them that are weak.” What to a young woman may seem like a trivial matter of taste and fashion, for a man may be a difference between night and day. God’s standards are so high, that he taught “That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” To carelessly cause a brother in Christ or even a guy off the streets to break one of the Ten Commandments is a sobering thought. Although immodesty in a woman is no excuse for lustful thoughts in men, it certainly should inspire us ladies to “Be an example of the believers in…purity”. This can be done not only by dressing in a chaste, unrevealing manner, but also through conversation. No matter how modestly you dress outwardly, baring your soul, thoughts, and secrets is no way to keep the heart pure. Feminine reserve and mystery were once common and intriguing qualities in a lady, but today few guard their hearts or bodies, and even blushing seems old-fashioned. Certainly, there isn’t any better time than the summer to rediscover God’s unpopular path of modesty.
A quick trip to the Victorian era would certainly be an enlightening experience. To see the dignity and the elegance our great-great grandmothers carried themselves with would be breathtaking. Compared with the sloppy, grungy, ripped and wrinkled look that makes up the modern wardrobe, a single century seems more like a millennium. A century of questioning standards and boundaries has left no area of lifestyle unscathed. From the books on the best seller lists to the music on the top ten to the clothing worn by fashion icons, our culture is worlds away from the biblical standard once cherished by our ancestors. It’s plain to see why the scriptures aren’t so fashionable. To a culture that screams “Be true to you! Follow your heart!” God states “Lean not on thy own understanding.” “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” When a people lean on their own understanding and reject God’s word, it reflects on the outside. Those that still walk in the paths of righteousness shouldn’t dress according to current trends that display a lazy, careless, and rebellious attitude. “Not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance… be ye holy.” Not to say we need to replicate Victorian fashion, only their theme of elegance and dignity. “Ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein.”
As a little girls, most of us pretended to be princesses and mommies.
Instinctively, we knew more about gender roles than any modern feminist.
Clothing used to reflect God given gender distinctions. Today they reflect a
satan inspired lack thereof. By embracing femininity, young women can honor
God and his original design. While the world cries for “equality” and
“liberation” from restrictive gender rules, God desires adherence to his
beautiful purpose for women. Designed to be man’s help meet, ladies are
complimentary to them. When young ladies dress exactly or even similarly to
men, they are rejecting a lovely and distinctive part of their womanhood.
Just as creation testifies to a God full of color, variation and diversity,
so should our lives. And masquerading as the opposite sex is no way to do
this. “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” Besides, what girl
doesn’t enjoy being a princess?
Clothing is an outward expression of an inward attitude. Adorning ourselves
in modest apparel ought to be a pleasure to the young woman completely in
love with her savior. Wearing clothes that goes against the tide of a wicked
and perverted world testifies to the bright light of truth given by Christ.
Remember, that we “are the light of the world.” If we dress like the
world, we won’t impact them, they’ve already beat us to the punch. Being
modest, (through pure and covered, elegant and honorable, and feminine and
obedient dressing), will benefit both the wearer as well as the watchers.
There is a remedy, for every illness. And his name is Jesus Christ.