I must write about something that is very strong in my spirit. I continue to see it time and time again and I wonder why there are not more who see it. I am talking about the ‘looseness’ that our society has begun to embrace. Our society in this context is including the Christians, the Bride of Christ. My heart aches to see what we have stooped to. To be specific, I am talking about what we wear. It is time that we as Christians assess what we are wearing, change what we are wearing and live our lives in a modest way.
If we read in Jude, it is a warning about the very thing I am talking about. Our morals stink. Our standards have slipped to an all time low. Statistics state that the church doesn’t look any different from the world. How sad. How disgusting. Jude says in verse twelve that these sensual persons were still a part of the church. They were not only teaching false doctrine but gathering others around them to believe that they were the more spiritual. This is something very serious that we need to guard against in our own selves and the Body of Christ.
My husband and I have a seven-year old daughter. We have already had to make a determination of what is right and what is wrong for her to wear. There is already opportunity to be seductive even when she has no idea of what seduction is. Our little girls are running around with bikinis, low cut shirts, and very short skirts. Why can we let that go now but a few years down the road, it is not acceptable? I believe this is a plan of the enemy to have us become so desensitized that our daughters will eventually become sex objects and have no thought of morality. If we don’t have standards now, why will we later?
What is modesty and what does it mean to live a chaste life? Modesty, by definition, is to be decent or chaste. What does chaste mean? Chaste means innocent of unlawful sexual intercourse, celibate (abstention from sexual intercourse), pure in thought and act, free from all taint of what is lewd (coarse, vulgar, rude) or salacious (scandalous) another question. If God has asked us to be modest, then it must be important. Why, even on Sunday morning, does a man have to look the other way because of very low cut blouses, very short skirts and bra straps being a part of a woman’s attire? What are we thinking? Joshua Harris says this –“ Is your wardrobe an expression of your love for God? There's a big difference between dressing attractively and dressing to attract. What's your motive ? Have you ever asked your father or another Christian woman to honestly evaluate your clothing ?? Are you willing to sacrifice fashion to be obedient to God ??”
First Timothy 2:9 says that the women (should) adorn themselves in modest apparel.
First Peter 3:1,2 says Wives, likewise be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the Word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, when they observe your chaste conduct.
Our little girls need to be raised to value their bodies and their virginity. This is a pure and precious gift that God has given to them. This is a special part of who they are. They need to be protected in our care. We need to protect them from others taking advantage of them. Let’s be real. What attracts men? They are aroused through the ‘eye gate’… their sight… what they see. Why are we letting them look? We should value our bodies enough to walk pure before God and man.
It is when we begin to compromise, we become shifting sand. Our foundation begins to crumble and with it comes destruction. It’s the little foxes that spoil the vine. We need to look at the very way we dress. This is a testimony of either godliness or worldliness. People should be able to make a distinction of ‘whose’ we are just by how we dress. Our body is the temple of the Most High God. This is where He dwells. Let’s keep it pure and chaste not only in our thoughts and deeds but also in how we dress!!
Wanda