I have recently been doing a series on wardrobe tips, to help us girls get the most out of our clothing. It's had been a lot of fun looking into this and there is much more to come from both Anna and I and hopefully some other lovely ladies from the fashion world too. The Wheelie Case has also been doing the rounds and we have been having loads of fun with that too. Dressing up is fun and so is finding our personal style - we are girls and we love to play around with clothes and makeup.
There is nothing wrong with feeling beautiful in your own skin and in the clothes you wear. What is not healthy though is when we get our identity from what we wear. Clothes should not define us at all.
There is nothing wrong with feeling beautiful in your own skin and in the clothes you wear. What is not healthy though is when we get our identity from what we wear. Clothes should not define us at all.
1 Timothy 2:9-10
In like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works.
Braided hair, or gold or pearls refers to a hairstyle popular in Paul’s day. It was not speaking of simply braiding your hair. Women, in that time, would often immodestly braid their hair, weaving expensive jewellery into it. What was being addressed was that they were paying too much attention to the outward appearance and too little attention to matters of the heart. The Bible suggests that a gentle and quiet spirit is the most beautiful thing, so beautiful that it is precious in the sight of God.
1 Peter 3:3-4
Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel - rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.
What would you rather have, a beauty that is external for all to see or a beauty that is precious to God? The world's attitude is if you've got it, flaunt it and leave as little to the imagination as possible. In our church we are doing our best to help each other work through various sins. No perfect people are allowed in our church which is why we attract a lot of sinners. It's wonderful! We have more baby Christians that mature Christians which means we have to be very careful about areas that require maturity. We have alcoholics at our church so we don't approach alcohol casually but consider those that are struggling to find freedom. We also have drug addicts at our church so we consider their struggle too by protecting them from the drug dealers that they to infiltrate our church to make a quick sale. On the same note, we have men in our church who don't yet have the maturity to know how to treat women. We consider these men and the journey that they are on by not flaunting our bodies in front of them to cause temptation.
It's hard for a new Christian man to understand that he can't look at a women with lust. It is such an ingrained part of our culture and it seems normal. Movies and TV make it look normal and their friends of course don't have a clue about purity either. To be a Godly woman means that we should be woman who understand the importance of dressing modestly. This is not only so that we don't place more value on our outsides than our insides, but it is also to show respect to the men in our world. They have enough of a hard time fighting their addictions and problem during the week in the world, they shouldn't have to come to church to face even more temptation. And girls, let's be honest, it's not only the new Christians that are tempted! Check out some of these statistics, it's frightening.
* In March of 2002 Rick Warren’s Pastors.com website conducted a survey on porn use of 1351 pastors: 54% of the pastors had viewed Internet pornography within the last year, and 30% of these had visited within the last 30 days.
* 47% percent of families said pornography is a problem in their home.
Focus on the Family Poll, October 1, 2003.
* In a survey of over 500 Christian men at a men's retreat, over 90% admitted that they were feeling disconnected from God because lust, porn, or fantasy had gained a foothold in their lives.
As reported in an article on Pastors.com by Kenny Luck
Girls, men worldwide are struggling, girls these days seem to wear less and less and the Internet and TV these day's seems to be teasing them more and more. Let's be a part of the solution by dressing modestly and not be a part of the problem by dressing immorally.
Matthew 18:7-11
Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!
Girls, let's not be a stumbling block for our men. Keep your dress modest so that you are not a person causing a brother to stumble. Rather pay attention to growing a quiet and gentle spirit, which is an incorruptible beauty that is pleasing to God. I would love to hear some practical tips from you. What clothing do you feel is immoral, what practical guidelines do you abide by when choosing clothing? If you are a mother, what advice to you give your girls when it comes to clothing?
1 Peter 3:3-4
Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel - rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.
What would you rather have, a beauty that is external for all to see or a beauty that is precious to God? The world's attitude is if you've got it, flaunt it and leave as little to the imagination as possible. In our church we are doing our best to help each other work through various sins. No perfect people are allowed in our church which is why we attract a lot of sinners. It's wonderful! We have more baby Christians that mature Christians which means we have to be very careful about areas that require maturity. We have alcoholics at our church so we don't approach alcohol casually but consider those that are struggling to find freedom. We also have drug addicts at our church so we consider their struggle too by protecting them from the drug dealers that they to infiltrate our church to make a quick sale. On the same note, we have men in our church who don't yet have the maturity to know how to treat women. We consider these men and the journey that they are on by not flaunting our bodies in front of them to cause temptation.
It's hard for a new Christian man to understand that he can't look at a women with lust. It is such an ingrained part of our culture and it seems normal. Movies and TV make it look normal and their friends of course don't have a clue about purity either. To be a Godly woman means that we should be woman who understand the importance of dressing modestly. This is not only so that we don't place more value on our outsides than our insides, but it is also to show respect to the men in our world. They have enough of a hard time fighting their addictions and problem during the week in the world, they shouldn't have to come to church to face even more temptation. And girls, let's be honest, it's not only the new Christians that are tempted! Check out some of these statistics, it's frightening.
* In March of 2002 Rick Warren’s Pastors.com website conducted a survey on porn use of 1351 pastors: 54% of the pastors had viewed Internet pornography within the last year, and 30% of these had visited within the last 30 days.
* 47% percent of families said pornography is a problem in their home.
Focus on the Family Poll, October 1, 2003.
* In a survey of over 500 Christian men at a men's retreat, over 90% admitted that they were feeling disconnected from God because lust, porn, or fantasy had gained a foothold in their lives.
As reported in an article on Pastors.com by Kenny Luck
Girls, men worldwide are struggling, girls these days seem to wear less and less and the Internet and TV these day's seems to be teasing them more and more. Let's be a part of the solution by dressing modestly and not be a part of the problem by dressing immorally.
Matthew 18:7-11
Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!
Girls, let's not be a stumbling block for our men. Keep your dress modest so that you are not a person causing a brother to stumble. Rather pay attention to growing a quiet and gentle spirit, which is an incorruptible beauty that is pleasing to God. I would love to hear some practical tips from you. What clothing do you feel is immoral, what practical guidelines do you abide by when choosing clothing? If you are a mother, what advice to you give your girls when it comes to clothing?
The Being a Woman book and worksheets are available here.
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