I
read a book over the weekend entitled, "I'm No Angel", and I have to
say, it was inspiring! What a testimony this woman has and how open she was
about her mistakes and also her desire to be a Proverbs 31 woman no matter the
cost to her career.
In
a day and age where every TV show, every movie, every ad, every commercial,
every clothing line, and everything else we see promotes such a flirtatious and
sensual marketing, it was so encouraging to read about one woman who gave up
the whole "glamorous" life in the modeling world to honor God with
her heart and body.
Let's
be honest. Sex sells. Sad, but true and raising my children in this modern
generation can be disheartening. I want to share my heart on this issue for
those willing to read it and I pray that you will understand the burden on my
heart and my desire to see us make a stand in purity and modesty.
I
am a parent of a 16-year-old son, a soon-to-be-teenaged daughter, and a
9-year-old son (who can only think of his Legos right now) so I am speaking with
complete honesty (and probably some controversy) BUT the matters at hand need
attention.
Raising
a teenage son in the Word of God to treat women respectfully and as beautiful
gifts from God can be challenging when everywhere he turns he is faced with
temptations. Women's clothing has taken a huge hit in the area of
material....as in, there is much less of it and living in a beach community where
girls bathing suits don't leave much to the imagination can leave teenage boys
put in compromising situations. Everywhere he goes he is faced with skin and
lots of it and if the skin is covered, it is by clothing so tight that it just
looks as though the skin has been dyed. Praying he keeps his eyes focused on
Christ and not on all the alluring sights is strong on our hearts.
What
message are we sending to our sons when most of what they are seeing in their
communities should only be viewed in the sanctity of marriage with their wife?
"Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects
the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own
body. Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who
lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for
God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body."
1 Corinthians 6:18-20 (NLT)
On
the other side of that, I want my daughter to respect the body that God has blessed
her with and to be God-honoring with it. Finding clothes that are modest and
don't expose so much of her innocent skin or such tight clothing that every curve
is displayed to every male in sight is challenging but doable. Thankfully, she
still leans on the overly modest side at this point, but I'm sure there will
come a day when the temptation to wear skimpy or tight clothing and look
"sexy" will rear its ugly head and as her mom, I will make the tough
decisions and choose modesty. Her body belongs to God first and then, one day,
her husband as they become one. I want her to look her best in a God-honoring
way, not a sexy way.
"Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a
woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised."
Proverbs 31:30 (NLT)
So
you see, I'm writing from both points of view. So what do we do?
We
take a stand in what we wear first and foremost and we set the example in what
modesty is for our children. We teach our children to honor God with their
bodies and that special union of marriage. We make the hard and unpopular
decisions on what our children wear and don't leave it up to their pre-teen and
teenage hormonal minds. I know scripture doesn't come out with exact
terms of modesty and people's views will vary from what I believe. I’m not the
expert on modesty and I'm not here to say that girls skirts have to touch the
ground or that bathing suits should look like those from the Laura Ingalls'
collection, I'm saying that the more we immerse ourselves in scripture and pray
for God to guide us in areas of modesty, He will show us. He will guide our
hearts and minds to what is pleasing to him.
Let’s choose beauty for Christ!
"Do not love this world nor the things it offers you,
for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For
the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything
we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the
Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with
everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live
forever."
1 John 2:15-17 (NLT)
"Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy
hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe
yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty
of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God."
1 Peter 3:3-4 (NLT)
I
have battled for months about posting on modesty and withheld because of fear
of offending anyone. It has burdened my heart for some time and after reading
this book over the weekend I decided to share my heart. Reading about the effects
of decisions in this young woman and seeing now her bold stance to live a life
for Christ and desire to be a Proverbs 31 woman, I have renewed hope that we
can make a difference in the lives of young people. You may not agree with me
and that's ok. I'm not looking for approval and I'm not here to be judgmental.
I'm just praying that others commit to pray and make the hard choices on
modesty and purity. When all around us are the messages of "you have to
look like this" or "the sexier the better" we, as Christians,
need to be bold in our commitment to honor and glorify Him! Let’s teach and
model for our children how to be God-honoring in how we dress and portray our
bodies. I encourage women to read this book and share it with your daughters.
Let's commit to pray and see God begin to change hearts and live lives pleasing
to him!
"And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to
give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a
living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the
way to worship him."
Romans 12:1 (NLT)
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