Have you noticed there are “movements” within the Christian world? The “Quiverful Movement”, the “Homeschooling Movement”, the “Homechurch Movement” and there’s also the “Modesty Movement”. And honestly, if you do not take heed to any of the others, please stop and take a closer look at the issue of modesty, as I believe it is one that is crucial for our society today – especially for our young people: boys and girls.

I have a few articles here at Traci’s Cottage that deal with the issue of modesty. You can do a search here on the site and find those. But I want to address this from a slightly different perspective and look at how immodest dress effects our whole society; how it has degraded us as women, been a thorn to our self-esteem, fuel on the fire called p-rnography and how I believe contributed to the breakdown of the family.

There are numerous web sites, books and articles discussing and debating the interpretation of scripture and what the good Lord meant when He wrote in Deuteronomy 22:5 that a woman shall not wear a man’s clothes and a man shall not wear a woman’s clothes. He said it is an abomination for them to wear each other’s clothes. He didn’t mince words there. Men wear men’s clothes and women wear women’s clothes. Yep Lord – got it. So what’s the problem? Why are we struggling with this issue still today? Scripture even goes on to clarify that we are to be modest in our dress, even being specific that women are to dress modestly as stated in 1 Timothy 2:9. Again, right there in black and white. Can’t miss it, right?

One look at TV, magazines, billboards and a walk through the local school grounds will reveal that we obviously did miss the message. And if you think that’s because I’m referring to non-Christians, well think again. Have you looked around you in the church pews lately?! If you think my reference to a look at the school grounds was meaning high school or junior high, try grade school or preschool! Honestly, the clothing in the stores for children and babies is appalling. It isn’t cute or funny to have our preschoolers running around in micro mini skirts and skin-tight jeans with their stomachs showing. It’s immodest and it’s desensitizing our boys as to what is and is not appropriate parts of the female body they need to be seeing. But this goes both ways: we we have billboard ads, TV commercials and the like with half-naked men on them too that our girls are seeing and it’s desensitizing them as well. Which leads me to another issue that’s contributing to the downfall of the family…. p-rnography.

P-rnography is everywhere. It’s subtly overtaking our homes via the internet, but it’s been a long time in coming through TV, magazine and billboard ads. We’ve been desensitized over time by slowly becoming accustomed to seeing more and more skin! Now with children having computers tucked away out of sight in their bedrooms, parents aren’t even monitoring what their children are doing, and it’s causing destruction to the very core of the family; because it’s not just the children who are being drawn into p-rn, but parents as well.

How did we get to this point? Slowly. Steadily. And on someone’s agenda: Satan’s agenda. He is out prowling and seeking to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10) families, because that is the foundation of all things. He’s starting with individuals: chopping away at their self-esteem, plaguing them with illness (mental and physical) – whether real or perceived, so he can control them more and more for his own agenda. Satan is the real enemy here. Not the feminist movement. Not the right wing or left wing political activists, or hate mongers or this rights group or that one. It’s Satan. He’s behind every evil and bad thing that goes against the word of God: even those that are within the Christian community that divide believers against each other. Yep, Satan is behind the division, the prideful (and remember, rebellion often comes out of pride) attitudes, and strife within the church. Here’s some examples of pride/rebellious comments I’ve heard:

“I’m not wearin’ that, because I have freedom in Christ and I don’t have to!”

“Well, back in Bible times, men wore dresses too, so that means us women should get to wear pants now and men wear dresses!”

“I think the Bible should not be taken literally, or it should be considered in it’s cultural relevance.”

Uh, yeah right – so God’s word is eternal; the Lord is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). So I’m trying to figure out where exactly the Lord changed his mind on men not wearing women’s clothing and women not wearing men’s clothing. ?? HE DIDN’T!! That’s the whole point. That’s where Satan has stepped in and really messed with our minds. He’s spent since the beginning of man working his plan to bring us down. That’s his whole agenda. God knew this. He warned us. He told us all this in his Word. He sent us Jesus – who warned us. But we are S-T-U-B-B-O-R-N and we don’t want to listen. We want to do it our way. We want to fit in with society and the ways of the world because quite honestly, that’s way more cool, fun and easier than following God and his rules and possibly appearing “weird” to the world. We want our “cake” (our Get out of Hell Free card = salvation) and eat it too (living like the world, dressing like the world and having all the fun we can, because after all, we have “freedom in Christ”).

So, say some of what I’ve written is sinking in a bit. The Holy Spirit is convicting you (hey, don’t shoot the messenger, I’m just telling you the Truth – I’ve given you the scriptures, go read them and discuss it with God and your spouse ), so what does modern day modesty look like, exactly? Do you have to wear denim jumpers Berkenstocks and a ponytail, homeschool your kids, homebirth and all that? NO! You do not, unless the Lord directs you to.

Modern Modesty does not mean you need to wear a potato sack, look frumpy, frazzled and boring. It just means you need to look feminine (if you’re a woman, of course!) and keep your private parts – private and covered up! We don’t need to see your cleavage, every curve of your body in a skin tight outfit and every inch of leg up to your buttocks. It really isn’t necessary and it certainly isn’t modest. There’s nothing wrong with wearing something with some style, just try these three things when you decide on what to wear:

1. When you bend over: can you see down the top or up the back
2. When you sit down: can you see up the front
3. If you were standing in the light, can you see through your skirt

The above points are really just taking your outfit into the perspective as to how others will view you in what you wear, from all angles – and angles that you can not see yourself. So have your spouse or someone else help you check your outfit, if needed. It’s not rocket science – just common sense.

If you keep the above points in mind, then choose whatever style you like, and you’d be modest. The Word says we aren’t to dress to impress (my paraphrase on1 Timothy 2:9), so we shouldn’t be all consumed all name-brands, or at least buying the most expensive and the very latest fashion trends – just because it’s the latest fashion trends. I’m all for quality clothing, and name brands are often high quality and worth some extra money; I’m very frugal, and believe strongly in discount stores and scouring resale shops for bargains, and I usually find those name brands at way under retail at discount store and resale shops. You can look like a million bucks – you just don’t have to spend that much AND still be modest too.

Now I would be remiss if I did not mention that True Modesty Begins Within. It should go without saying, but I did want to mention it again, should someone not realize that, or not have read my other articles on the subject of modesty.

Modern Modesty Mission Week: for one week in December 10-14, 2007; I’m going to post a challenge for everyone – wear modest clothing for one week and post photos of what you wore every day that week. You don’t need to show your face, if you don’t want to for privacy reasons, but let’s see what outfit you chose to wear that day. You can post it on your blog or web site and post a link to it in the thread I will start here at The Cottage. Be on the look out for that. I’ve seen this idea on a few other blogs I’ve visited and we have done a similar Dress Challenge on the T2CHK message board for a few years now; but we’ve never posted photos of what everyone wore. Care to join us?

Oooooo – I found some wonderful, fun and fashionable new modest clothing resources for you!! Squee!!!! Check out these places – not your frumpy, potato sack clothes here!

Funky Frum

Christa Taylor

Layers Clothing

Down East Basics

The Vintage Hem

Ambrosia – Modest Wedding Dresses

Zori Fashion – Modest Wedding and Formal Dresses

Written by Traci Knoppe ©: Aside from her roles as wife, mother of six, mother-in-law and grandmother, Traci is a Christian parenting instructor, Sunday school teacher, and business owner.

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