Modesty and the Christian Woman

now there's things that come better from a woman than from a man and I happen to know one who has something to say so what did you just [Applause] say well since I spend most of my time in Ministry with women I uh I've noticed clothing I a woman myself so I just want to borrow your uh time a little bit this morning uh because in the past decade I've seen things change you know fashion industry says that every 30 years uh Styles repeat itself in the 7s bright bold patterns and I saw them coming the last decade and I said been there done that don't want to do that again the boldness though that I see is what Gary has already referred to as sensuality and and I had to change the leadership Covenant that we have established for women's Ministries so my leaders understood we present uh a picture of God in the way we pres present ourselves so I added this statement I will Model A humble and teachable spirit and dress with modesty now I had lots of questions what in the world does that mean now I'm going to ask your both permission and forgiveness at this point because I I uh used something very quickly so that they would get the point I don't want to see your boobs if I'm sitting across a table from you standing up buying a ticket to somewhere I don't want to have to look away because because I can't look and I'm a woman I don't want to do that second thing is I don't want to see your skin so you're worshiping God and all I can see is your midriff get rid of it well there's another point to that too anyway cover it up and the third thing the third thing is I don't want to see your upper legs so that's kind of the crass way of saying this is what we don't want to see this is what modesty is but let me go ahead and give you two good reasons that we ought to pay attention to what G Gary's just read in 1 Timothy 2 um that Paul writes under the leadership of the spirit and he calls respectable apparel it's modest and it has self-control and he explains that but uh and actually he gives us an option the preferred option is to be dressed in good works but let me read to you what Nancy Lee deas who is the um head of something called Revive Our Hearts here's how she s suggests two simple and helpful criteria for modesty and dress modesty means avoiding exposing intimate parts of the body and avoiding emphasizing private or alluring parts of the body in your dress they're yours keep them to yourself now that's what she would say so what we can say then modesty means self-control in my dress so that the secret parts of my body that were meant to be kept secret are kept secret and sacred and there they need to be covered the interesting thing is I don't believe for a minute the opposite is frumpy I I believe God values color and loveliness and femininity we're going to have to be very Discerning and I'm speaking particularly to the ladies and I hope the men are listening to uh now this is so the first thing is that God how you dress really matters to God second is it matters to the Christian Community and Gary has just mentioned that uh briefly particular to those of you who are our brothers so as we recognize this I have a I have the P the uh right to say this one of the men I work with on this campus now if you want to know who it is come and ask me later has asked me repeatedly could you please urge the sister the ladies in this church to cover up I have a problem I've had a problem with ponography I'm not in bondage to it anymore but when I sit behind them and all I can see is skin that's a problem for me let me give you a quote that I love this has changed my whole understanding and appreciation of modesty from CJ mahany from a little book He's just written called worldliness this is what he says ladies your wardrobe is a public statement of your personal and private motivation hemlines are a hard issue modesty means propriety and decency it means avoiding clothes and adornment that are extravagant or costly or sexually enticing modesty is humility I love this modesty is humility expressed in dress it's a desire to serve others particularly men not promoting or provoking sensuality and mo modesty is a choice you make immodesty is more than wearing a short skirt or a low cut top a low cut top it's the act of drawing undo attention to yourself it's Pride on display by what you where self-control is in a word restraint restraint for the purpose of Purity for the purpose of exalting God and not ourselves and that's the Hallmark of a Godly woman's dress now that's compelling so let me close with encouraging this you really never realize how important your clothing is till you you realize how important you are to God as a woman so I'm going to invite you as sisters this morning uh not to let the IM modest Style squeeze you into their mold and if you're a parent that's going to be very important as you take your daughter's shopping so let me suggest this cover up keep those intimate parties of parts of your body a secret for the glory of God and if you're married for the good of your husband if you're single Stand Tall before the Lord as a woman of beauty be content in the charm of God's image on your life and all women I don't know who you are in this room but you need to repent of your sin in if you're using your dress to be admired or to seduce the men in this room away from sexual Purity or away from their wives and instead let's rejoice in being women let's feel free to be modestly feminine clothed in garments that are chosen with discernment you'll need to pray before you go shopping shaped by self-control modeled in good works and pleasing first to God for the spiritual health of this local church who relationships you have power to control or destroy

Channel: Bruce Herwig

Views: 95,982

Keywords: Modesty, Christian, Woman, God

Id: AbAiyq2cspE

Length: 6min 37sec (397 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 01 2008