Is Modesty The Best Policy?

Hello Everyone!

    Lately a thing I have observed throughout the Christian community is a strive for modesty. Not only do I believe that modesty is an important thing and that we should dress in an honorable way, but I believe that we should act this out on a daily basis. But there is one thing that I have noticed, that I think is definitely not okay.

    From an early age, we have been told that modesty is the best policy. That is a noble goal and one not to be taken lightly. The way it has been implanted into young girls minds though, is that their bodies are something to be ashamed of. I can bet we've all had the talk about how women are stumbling blocks to the men around them and that because  said men have a strong sex drive, we should be careful about how we dress.

    This is true, but this is also not giving enough credit to guys out there. The problem with this statement is that our brothers in Christ, while still having that mindset, also have self control. A lot of times, the male side of this is overlooked, but I did really quickly want to touch on it. I believe that males have amazing minds that can create wonderful things and that statements like these undermine them and diminishes our brothers to nothing more than animals.

    I could go on and on about how I believe that men should also watch themselves and what they are focusing on, but that is not what I wanted to spend most of this post on. My problem, is with the way modesty is approached. As women, we are told that our bodies create sexual thoughts in males and that it should be hidden and concealed. I believe that this causes body shaming in young girls. If they are taught that their bodies are a bad thing, that causes insecurity and uncertainty for young women.

    There are things that people don't always get to decide, like how our bodies grow or where our bodies grow. I think that it's awful that young developing women are told that their bodies are something to be ashamed of. God created women and he made us beautiful. We are so different from males, not only in the physical sense but in the emotional and spiritual sense. We are formed by a God who does not make any mistakes. Every curve, every inch, he meticulously designed and brings him pride. 

    I believe that modesty should be approached in a way that encourage women, rather than demeaning them. We should look at modesty as a healthy thing for girls to learn, and teach them that they are beautiful no matter what they wear, because they have a Father in Heaven who knows what he is doing. Modesty shouldn't be something that we dread, but something that we embrace, not only for our male counterparts, but for ourselves. 

    Self respect is a big issue for many women. We see celebrities on magazine covers who appear to be perfect in their low cut tops or short skirts and dresses. We are told that that is the standard of beauty, and if you don't fit that standard, then you aren't beautiful. Here's the thing, YOU ARE!! Modesty should increase the respect we have for our bodies, by knowing that we are choosing to honor the temple of the Lord. 

    At the end of the day, I'd like modesty to not be about guys. It is about girls respecting themselves enough to know that their beauty does not come from what they wear or how they look, but that it comes from their heart, as cheesy as that sounds. Its about girls knowing that they don't have to dress in short shorts or skinny jeans to get guys attention, because they right guy shouldn't honestly care too much about the outward appearances. Whole other topic. 

    As a woman, it's important for me to be able to love the body that God has put me in and to know that my beauty is found in Him. He made me to bring glory and honor to him with my life in the form that he knit together and had planned before the world began. He created the celestial bodies above and he formed the my body just as intricately.

    Don't think that I'm not a fan of modesty, because I am and I think it is important. I'd love to see it change in a way that encourages women to respect their bodies, rather than viewing them as 

something that needs to be hidden.

"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

 "Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear—  but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable

beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious."- 1 Peter 3:3-4

"For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”- 1 Samuel 16:7

"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."- 1 Corinthians 10:31

     These verse are my favorite when it comes to modesty. They talk about modesty in way that doesn't condemn the wonder that is the human body, but to strive to respect it. That is the difference. 

    1 Corinthians 6 address that we are the handiwork of an all powerful God and we should glorify his workmanship. That is an amazing thing to teach young women! Because your body is a precious thing that should not be taken for granted, you should dress in a way that honors God. In this way it's a sort of thank you to our amazing God for creating us the way we are.

   1 Samuel 16 talks about how we should take care for our spiritual self and bettering that, rather than focusing just on our outward appearance. Another important thing for girls who are constantly bombarded by models of the "ideal" beauty to know. That what matters most in this world is not human approval; that the Lord of Heaven takes the greatest delight in a pure heart that is gentle and has a quiet spirit.

    And lets definitely not forget 1 Corinthians 10 where the body of Christ is demanded to bring honor to God in everything we set our mind to. Including the way we dress. Women should dress to bring honor to God with their bodies that he painstakingly etched into being. It's not just to protect the men in our lives, it is to respect ourselves and to focus more on our spiritual life then on our social life.

    God has created each of us so uniquely and intricately. He knows everything about us and created us to be just the way we are, whether is 5'1 and 130 lbs or 6'0 and 200. Honestly, we should honor God in everything, through our actions and the way we treat each other. So let's make modesty a way to bring  honor to God and teach women to respect themselves enough to know that the latest fades don't dictate what is truly beautiful. I think that if we approach modesty in such a way, it will gives girls a deeper value for the bodies God has given them. Modesty is not something that should make women feel ashamed about themselves, but something that creates higher self esteem, and greater love for our design.

Have an amazing and blessed day and know that your Father loves you in an incomprehensible way,
Grace 

Made For Community

Hi There,
    So lately God has been showing me some really wonderful things about his character. And one of those things is how much He desires to be in communion and community  with us. I've been going through the Bible, pinpointing what God reveals to me in each chapter about his character. Generally, when you think about who God is, you think of loving and kind, or maybe you think of just and righteous, but I wanted to discover more about him, and this past week, I learned about his desire for community with us and for us to have community with each other. I wanted to share what God has been revealing to me throughout the week in the first 2 chapters of Genesis.
    In Genesis 1, God has a conversation with the Son and Holy Spirit. In the first chapter, God creates the heavens and the earth and formed all that surrounds us. This is how it came to be
     "Let US make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness" Genesis 1:26 (emphasis on words mine)
     So what I saw throughout this first chapter where, 5 main things that I would like to share with you.
 
     1. God loves what is good-  "And God saw everything that he made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day"- Genesis 1:31 (ESV)
    One of the main things that stands out to me, is how God had always intended for us to reflect his goodness. His heart was to provide everything that we need. His creation of Man was a perfect reflection of his heart. He loves goodness and all he created was good, including man.
   
     2. God is powerful- "And God separated the light from the darkness"- Genesis 1:4 (ESV)
     I'm not sure why, but the statement of him separating the light from the dark. I guess I'm awed at the thought of his sheer power made evident to me by how he easily separates the darkness and light. The power to call everything we are familiar with into existence.

     3. God is vastly knowledgeable- Genesis 1
     I think it's crazy that God knew everything that our bodies needed to function. Everything that we have is necessary for our survival. Our environment as well is exactly perfect for our living conditions. He was so thoughtful into how he would make things to be, that it amazes me. I always thought of the creation story, but I never really understood the power of what it must have taken and the knowledge that is necessary to create everything.

     4. God is a provider-  "And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants[a] yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so.  The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:11-12 (ESV)
"And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so." Genesis 1:29-30 (ESV)
     God's heart from the beginning was to take care of our needs. He provided protection for Adam and the animals as well as vegetation for all of them to eat.

     5. God is creative- "And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

     And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good."- Genesis 1:20-25 (ESV)

    God's creativity is seen throughout this entire chapter with how he designed everything. The animals are proof of his eye for design. The colors that we seen, the texture of things, it was all his unique blueprint, his carefully thought out design.

     Now I know what your thinking, your probably wondering what I'm getting at, because what does creation have to do with community. Well, to see the full picture of what I learned this week, you have to look at the first two chapters. In the first chapter I was overwhelmed by how he loves what is good, and one of those things that he views as good, was the community that he had with man, which we hear about in the second chapter. But, the first chapter describes in my mind how the Trinity in community with each other, decided to share their divine communion with Man, us.

     In chapter 2, you hear about how God, creates man. I love a quote that I read that said that Man was made from the Laughter of the Trinity. That description really fits for me, because when you think about the sacred communion with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and how God's original plan was for us to partake in that sacred relationship.

     "then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature"- Genesis 2:7 (ESV)

     I also have 5 main things to share with you that I learned from chapter 2. 

     1.  God fulfills his plans until completion- " And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done."- Genesis 2:2 (ESV)

     I love how he doesn't rest until he sees that he has completed what he had set out to do. It makes sense of why he doesn't sleep or rest because he is constantly seeing through his tasks.

     2. God is Ruler- "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden"- Genesis 2:16 (ESV)

     He is the ultimate Ruler. When he gives a command, it is to be obeyed. He easily called everything into existence by simply saying it should be so. He told Adam how it would be, being the Highest King and Adam being his Prince to follow through with what he declared.

     3. God sees our needs " So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh."- Genesis 2:21 (ESV)

     God saw how Adam didn't have enough example of his community and saw his need for a helper. He created Eve to help him in his work and support him in the way that we should be God's hands and feet. Also the relationship between a man and a woman imitates the intimacy that our relationship between God should be like. Here is where I started getting a clearer picture of community.

     4. God accepts our vulnerability- "And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed." -Genesis 2:25 (ESV)

     God sees us for who we are. Naked and sinful in His eyes, He still feels longing for our hearts to be close to his. Our walls are not necessary to keep up from him, because he will accept us by his grace, through Jesus. I have had to learn to trust God's plans for my future this past week. Not only did I give him my plans and hopes and dreams, but I gave him every relationship I have so that he would bless them or see to it that I removed it from my life if it was harming my time with him. I was talking to one of my close friends, and we were talking about how crazy it is that we feel the need to keep a barrier up between God's plans and ours, because he's not human, he is God and trustworthy and good. When I asked God to help me trust him, I felt such a huge weight lifted off. I had for so long tried to plan out what I would do with MY life, as if I owned it. And what God has showed me is that he has good and great things planned for me if I would only give my life to him in complete trust.

     5. God desires for community and companionship- "And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made[a] into a woman and brought her to the man."- Genesis 2:22 (ESV)

     God's desire, is for us to walk in companionship and community with himself as well as the Son and the Spirit.  From the beginning, it has been about having a personal, intimate relationship with the Father. Although he sets rules, he wants our love for him to drive us to follow his law without making it a struggle.

     I know I finally got to the part about community. But I wanted the whole picture to be set before I went into what I thought about being in communion/community is. This week, at my house, my family hosted and inner city missions trip for about 20 teens and young adults. During this past week, we had devotional times and communion with each other and all participated in a VBS for the children of my neighborhood. The theme of the week was about the Character of God, shown through creation, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. In the morning we had sweet devotional times, where we dove into God's character and nature, and afterwards, I would spend at least an hour with God. That hour was spent dwelling in the word and learning more about his heart. One of the biggest things that I realized is how much my heart's desire is for community. 

    When you are surrounded by people from when you get up, to when you go to sleep, and your all striving for the same goal and are on a similar spiritual level, there is such an intimacy felt, a togetherness that simply can't compare. It showed me a little taste of how it's going to be in heaven, when we have perfect community with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It's hit me so hard at how, I have distracted myself in work and this world to distract myself from the longing inside of me to be in community with people. Because we all have that desire inside of us. When God made, it was an act of the Spirit and the Son as well to say, "Let's share this intimacy with another race. Let's allow to partake in this community of ours". It's amazing once you feel that. And while, I no longer have 20+ people at my house, I now have this sweet sensation of a whole other side to God that I never thought about before. How when he made us he was in perfect communion, and how we all long for perfect communion. 

    That is what I felt called to share with you in this post. That all of our hearts long for perfect community with God and our fellow believers. While it may be such a simple thought, it's hit me so strongly this week, and has filled me with a sense of God's love, and I wanted to share that with you all.

God Bless,

Grace