Monday, May 9, 2011

An Admonition

There's been a lot of things on my heart and mind lately. I feel the need to put out an admonishment

Here goes..

Like I said, there's been a lot on my heart and mind. Especially how I--and other girls--dress. Especially around the guys. I know I talk about this a lot, and I don't want to keep beating on the point. But there's so much that goes along with being an honorable young lady.

Guys are visual. Very visual. Just one girl dressed immodestly can cause even a Christian guy to stumble. Think about your clothing for a minute. Why do you wear that low-cut shirt or those short shorts? Seriously think about it. Don't say, "Oh, well, it was cute, so I bought it." Really? Are you really comfortable in an outfit like that? The Bible says clearly that if a man looks upon a woman with lust in his eyes, he has already committed adultery with her in his heart. What is the purpose in causing one of your Christian brothers to sin? And on purpose? I have to say, for the most part, you girls know what you're doing. Listen, I'm a girl, and I understand it's hard to find clothes. I understand guys need to keep their eyes to themselves. But I also understand it is possible to find cute, modest clothes, and to encourage guys to flee from lust, just by wearing modest clothes. A girl wearing an immodest outfit is not forcing a guy to sin, but it helps him sin. It makes it all the harder for him to keep his mind clean. We are in no way helping any guy when we don clothing that does not honor God. Modest clothing, while hard to find, does exist. It might take a little more effort to find, but it's worth it.

And guess what? Good Christian guys appreciate it so, so much when they see their sisters dressing modestly. Why? Because when we do, they can breathe a sigh of relief. They don't have to constantly direct their minds away from lustful thoughts. If you're dressed modestly, your brothers have no one to blame but themselves for any lustful thoughts that cross their minds.

Ladies, you have to understand that lust isn't just a by-passing sin that the occasional guy struggles with. It's every single guy. Every one of them. I think a lot of times we girls don't understand this. We don't try to wrap our minds around it. We don't know what it's like to have fight this battle every single day.

We have our own battle to fight. The battle of wanting to feel loved and needed. I strongly believe that many times when a girl dresses immodestly it's because she gets that attention she so strongly hungers for. That every girl hungers for. But if we're getting attention because of our skimpy outfit, we're getting attention for the most wrong reasons.

Next time you go clothes shopping, really think about what you're buying. Ask yourself, "Is this something that's going to make my brothers stumble?" If you're not sure, the answer is yes. When you come home, show your newly purchased outfits to your dad. He's a guy and he'll be the best one to tell you whether or not something is appropriate. And if he asks you to take something back, know that it's coming from a guy who struggles just like any other guy. And that you should listen. It's better to have something like that come from your dad than to have the embarrassment of a wounded brother approaching you about it.

There's a video I found once that sums everything I've been talking about perfectly. It was made by guys explaining just how much they appreciate it when girls dress modestly. I'd highly encourage both the guys and girls to watch it [note on the music clip at the beginning: not my type of music, so please excuse it]:



"How beautiful then is modesty 
and what a gem among virtues it is." 

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