[BBC List] modesty

Mon Nov 6 11:12:46 EASST 2006

Modesty Matters

by

Pam Hardy

©2005 by Pam Hardy, All Rights Reserved
This file may be freely copied, printed out, and distributed as long 
as copyright and source statements remain intact, and that it is not sold. 

(To obtain an audio CD copy of this message, please see the instructions at
the very end of this file)

Pam Hardy is the wife of Carey Hardy, the Senior Pastor of Twin City Baptist
Church, Winston-Salem, <http://www.twincitybaptist.org/>  NC.
This message was delivered to a gathering of ladies at Grace Community
Church, Sun Valley, CA.

Good Morning Ladies.  I have really been looking forward to being with you
today and I am truly honored that you would ask me to come speak with you
about this subject of modesty. 

Today we are going to talk about matters related to modesty, and the reason
we are going to do that is because modesty matters.  In fact, when we are
talking about how we live our Christian lives and the testimony that we
present to the people around us—it matters a great deal.  Now, I will be
honest and tell you that I approach this subject with great fear and
trembling.  This is not the easiest subject to teach on.  

There are several risks to teaching about modesty.  

1. I guess the first one is that, when you teach about modesty, basically
what you are doing is inviting every person that hears you to scrutinize
your wardrobe for the next 20 years.  So that is one negative to this.  

2. Another risk that is actually much more significant is this: I may offend
someone, and I hate to do that. I love you ladies and I think you know that,
but this has really been a burden on my heart for a long time now, and I am
afraid that it is the type of thing that simply needs to be addressed from
time to time.  I have been at Grace Church for over 14 years and I have
basically kept my mouth shut for most of those 14 years.  But just for my
own conscience’s sake I simply cannot stay silent any longer.  There are
some things about modesty that just need to be said.  

Now, I realize that we will always have some examples of immodesty here at
our church, because we are a large church and we have so many visitors and
new people.  Every Sunday we just have tons of new people on campus, but I
am not talking to them.  I am directing what I say this morning to the
faithful people who come here on a regular basis, and as will be very
obvious this morning, I have some very strong convictions about modesty.
They have developed over the course of many years and I have tried very hard
to base what I believe on what the Bible has to say about modesty and
purity.

Now, there are a few things I will say today that will fall under the
category of my personal opinion and I will try to make that very clear when
that’s the case.  Also, I want to be very compassionate in what I say
because I have come to believe that modesty is a process.  I see a tendency
for women to become more conservative with age and maturity, and it
corresponds to an increase in wisdom about how our dress affects the men
around us.  I have seen that as women get less naive they tend to get more
conservative.  

Now, let me say right up front, I am not the “Fashion Police”; I am not the
“Cleavage Patrol”; I am not the “Modesty Mafia” of Grace Church.  I do not
want you to run when you see me coming.  I am not the last word on modesty
and I do not claim to have all the answers.  I especially don’t want you to
think that I walk around every Sunday judging everyone and writing things
down in my “Little Black Book.”  That is absolutely not the case, in fact, I
have never written anything down until I began to type up this lesson.  

On the contrary, do you know what I do?  And this is the honest truth.
Instead of walking around judging everyone, I am constantly excusing
everyone.  I do my best to just believe for the best in people, and I choose
to believe that much of the immodesty I see is mainly due to ignorance or
naiveté.  I cannot really believe, myself, that people wear what they wear,
many times knowing exactly how it looks and the effect it is going to have
on people.  I just choose not to believe that.  

I was talking with a lady at the church recently, and she made the comment
that her teenage daughter was never intending to be immodest—that was not
her goal at all.  She just wanted to be fashionable. And I really do think
that is the case with many, many girls.  They’re not intending to dress in a
way that is sensual; they just want to be fashionable.  

One reason that this is such a difficult issue to tackle is because the
popular culture is so strongly opposed to the biblical standard.  There is a
scripture in Jeremiah that talks about the children of Israel and it says,
“They were not ashamed, and they did not know how to blush” [Jeremiah 6:15,
8:12].  Well, ladies, today I think we live in a culture that does not know
how to blush.  

You know it was kind of interesting at the last Super Bowl; the Janet
Jackson incident that happened.  You know on the one hand I was pleasantly
surprised that there was such an outcry about what happened, but on the
other hand I was surprised that there was such an outcry, because we see
such immodesty around us all the time that was not too far from what
happened there.  

Nancy Leigh DeMoss has written a great book called, The
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0940110431/biblebulletinboa>  Look,
and in this book she contrasts what the world says about how we should dress
and what the Bible says, and as is often the case they are diametrically
opposed to one another.  For instance, the world says beauty is external and
physical.  The Bible tells us that beauty is internal and spiritual.  The
world says you should dress for people to notice you.  The Bible says we are
to dress to please God and to glorify Him.  The world tells us that the
purpose of clothing is to uncover and to reveal.  The Bible says the purpose
of clothing is to cover and to conceal.  

We, as Christian women, should look different from the world.  What does it
tell us in Romans 12, verse 1, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable to God
and do not be conformed to this world”  [Romans 12:1-2].
We are not to dress like the women of the world, but we are to be
“transformed.”  The women of the world don’t know any better.  When I go to
the mall I don’t expect to see modesty, but when I come to church I do.  But
I am sad to say that too many times, when you see a group of girls standing
around, there is very little difference in dress between those who profess
to know Christ and those who don’t.  

One of our pastors on staff, Rick Holland, recently did a three part series
on modesty in our college department.  He did an excellent job and I will
probably quote him several times in this lesson.  When Rick taught on this,
he opened up his lesson with the story of the “Emperor’s New Clothes,” and
he made the application that just like the Emperor, those who wear revealing
clothes believe the lie that they’re not really indecent.  And those who are
looking on are often afraid to say the truth for fear of being thought
hopelessly ignorant or old fashioned, or worst of all—legalistic.

You know, I thought of another illustration that I think would apply here.
You’ve all heard the story of the frog in the boiling water.  You know, if
you put a frog; if you throw him into a pot of boiling water, well he will
immediately jump out.  But if you put him in a pot of cold water and you
ever so slowly turn up the heat, he won’t realize what’s happening and he
will stay there until he boils to death.  You know, I think we could apply
this to our churches because I feel like immodesty has crept into our
churches so subtly and so gradually that all of a sudden modestly is boiling
to death in our churches.  

So, this morning, all I am asking is that you hear me out and hopefully I
can give you some food for thought related to this issue.  

Alright, let’s get started.  You should all have a syllabus, and so you can
follow along with me, and let me reassure you, every scripture that I
mention today I’m sure is in your syllabus, so you if you miss one, don’t
worry, it’s there in the syllabus and you can look back at it later.  

I.  THE NEED FOR MODESTY

First, we need to talk about the need for modesty.  Modesty is necessary
because of several reasons:

A.  The Fall (Genesis 3).

The first reason is because of the Fall that we find described in Genesis 3.
We need to understand that there is a theological foundation for modesty
that goes back to Adam and Eve.  The very first thing after the Fall—what
did Adam and Eve do?  They looked for fig leaves to cover themselves up.
They immediately tried to cover their nakedness.  

So the very first result of the guilt of sin was the recognition that they
were immodest.  I think that is huge and it should tell us that this is a
very important issue.  When you read the account of the Fall it becomes
clear that clothing is a direct result of the guilt of sin.  Before the
Fall, Adam and Eve had no fear that their nakedness could ever be used for
evil purposes.   But when sin entered the world it changed everything and
the innocence of nakedness was lost forever.  And you will find, as you
study the Bible, after Genesis, chapter 3, whenever nakedness is mentioned,
except in the context of marriage, it is always associated with shame.
There are many Old Testament scriptures that link these two concepts
together. 

So, first, modesty is necessary because of the Fall. Another reason it is
necessary is because of the similarities between men and women.  

B.  The Similarities between men and women (James 1:14-15; 1 John 2:16).

In James, chapter 1, it says this, “But each one is tempted when he is drawn
away by his own desires and enticed.  Then, when desire has conceived, it
gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”  In
1 John 2:16, it says this, “For all that is in the world—the lust of the
flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but
is of the world.”  

These scriptures tell us how men and women are similar in their temptation
to sin.  These things affect both of us: “The lust of the flesh, the lust of
the eyes, and the pride of life.”  Both men and women have to be on guard
against those things.  

But there is one more very important reason that modesty is necessary and
that’s because of the differences between men and women.  

C.  The differences between men and women (Job 31:1; Proverbs 7:10; Romans
14:12-13).

I don’t know if you’ve noticed yet but men and women are different—they are
very different.  And one of the main differences that is crucial here, is
that God has designed men to be more visual.  Women tend to be more
verbal—men tend to be more visual.  

In Proverbs, chapter 7, verse 10, it says this, “And there a woman met him,
with the attire of a harlot, and a crafty heart.”  Look at that phrase, “the
attire of a harlot”—the Bible specifically calls attention to the way an
immoral woman dresses.  Why?  Why does it do that?  Because that is one of
the main ways that men are tempted.  Now think about it, the Bible never
talks about how an immoral man dresses—why not?  Because for most women
sight is not a major avenue of temptation, but for men it is a different
story, because men are tempted by what they see.  

Remember what Job said, in Job 31:1, he said, “I have made a covenant with
my eyes; why then should I look upon a young woman?”  I think of King David.
When did all his trouble start with Bathsheba?  What was he doing?  Remember
it tells us, he was walking on his roof one evening and “he saw” Bathsheba.
He saw her bathing and he was tempted through what he saw.  

Nancy DeMoss, in her book, says this, “What a man’s touch is to a woman, the
sight of a woman is to a man.”  That’s how important it is and how powerful
it is.  Our poor men: our husbands, our sons, our fathers—men are tempted
everywhere they look—the Internet, TV, movies, billboards, and magazines.
My heart really just goes out to them, because they are surrounded by
temptations every day, and I think as Christian women we should take this
very seriously, that we are not to make men stumble with how we dress.  When
men come to church they should be able to rest.  They should have a little
bit of a respite from this constant temptation that they face out in the
world.  

Now, let me hasten to say this, immodesty is no excuse for lust.  A man
cannot control what women wear, but he can control what he looks at.  So
yes, the bottom line is this: it is still basically the man’s
responsibility, but ladies they don’t need any help sinning.  Okay?  Don’t
be guilty of feeding those sinful thoughts by the way you dress.  

Nancy DeMoss says this, “This is not to suggest that men are not responsible
for their thought life or their behavior—they are.  They have to learn how
to walk with God and bring those thoughts under the control of Christ, even
though they live in a culture where immodesty is rampant. However, as
Christian women, our clothing choices can either help men succeed morally or
can put temptation in their path that they may find difficult to overcome.
This means that both men and women are responsible for moral purity.  We
should do everything in our power to help our brothers stand and to be sure
that our dress and our appearance brings glory to God.”

Romans 14 speaks clearly about our responsibility to our brothers and
sisters in Christ.  Romans 14:12-13, says, “Each of us shall give an account
to God
and we should resolve not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall
in our brother's way.” 

And you know what?  This is not a new problem.  The great old Puritan
preacher Richard Baxter said this, “You must not lay a stumbling block in
their way nor blow up the fire of their lust.  You must walk among sinful
persons as you would with a candle among straw or gunpowder.  Or else you
may see the flame which you did not foresee when it is too late to quench
it.”

If there is anything in your dress that is sensual or suggestive you are
inviting the men around you to go some where in their imaginations where
they should not go.  The sad reality today is that many times a man doesn’t
even have to use that much imagination, because so much is already revealed.

All right, so we understand about the need for modesty.  Now let’s turn our
attention to the:

II. THE GOAL OF MODESTY

Before I tell you what our goals should be I want you to remember a couple
of key points, and the first one is this, remember:

*        Goals begin internally (in our hearts) 
(Proverbs 4:23; 23:7; 27:19; Jeremiah 17:9; Psalm 139:23-24)

Many scriptures testify to the importance of the heart, and I have listed
some references there in your syllabus. 

o       Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of
it spring the issues of life.”

o       Proverbs 23:7 says, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”

And you know as I began to think about this issue I began to realize that
the most important question is not, “What do I wear?”  But instead, “What is
the state of my heart?”  Because the real issue ladies is the heart.  How
you dress on the outside says a lot about who you are on the inside.  Our
pastor John [MacArthur] made this great statement one time in a sermon; he
said this, “The train of sin runs on tracks that were laid in the heart.”
So you must be very honest with your self about your motives.  Why do you
dress like you do?  What kind of reactions are you trying to get?  

Now, there is nothing wrong with wanting to be attractive and pleasant to
the eyes of other people, but a woman must be very careful that, that does
not cross a line and becomes something she craves, because that becomes a
pride issue.  We should never ever get secret pleasure from thinking that we
are attracting attention from men.  So we need to examine our motives, and I
am dead serious when I say that you have to be brutally honest with yourself
here, because our hearts can be deceptive.

o       Jeremiah 17:9 says, “"The heart is deceitful above all things, and
desperately wicked.”

A woman can be trying to get attention from men and all the while pretending
to herself that she is doing nothing of the kind.  This is an area where we
really need to pray the prayer of, 

o       Psalm 139:23-24, where is says, “Search me, O God, and know my
heart; Try me, and
see if there is any wicked way in me.”

In John MacArthur’s commentary on 1 Timothy, he made this statement about
the heart, “How does a woman discern the sometimes fine line between proper
dress and dressing to be the center of attention?  The answer starts in the
intent of the heart.  A woman should examine her motives and goals for the
way she dresses.  Is her intent to show the grace and beauty of womanhood?
Is it to reveal a humble heart devoted to worshipping God?  Or, is it to
call attention to herself and flaunt her beauty, or worse to attempt to lure
men sexually?  A woman who focuses on worshipping God will consider
carefully how she is dressed, because her heart will dictate her wardrobe
and her appearance.”

You know sometimes the problem is not even modesty, but instead it is a
pride issue.  Sometimes a girl can be relatively modest but she is very
focused on buying certain name brands of clothes, or she always buys very
expensive clothing, and she wants other people to notice that.  That is just
as wrong as being immodest, because that is a heart issue.  So ladies, I
implore you, examine the motives of your heart.  

Ok, the second key point we want to look at is this:

*        Goals are expressed externally (Matthew 12:34; Mark 7:20-23)

They begin in our hearts, but they are expressed externally in our
attitudes; in our actions; in our appearance.  God always sees external
actions as expressions of what is in the heart.  In Mark 7:20-23, it says
this, “What comes out of a man, that defiles the man.”  It talks about “evil
thoughts, adulteries, fornications,” and it goes on and on about these
things and it says, “All these evil things come from within and defile a
man.”  So this scripture tells us the things that on the inside will
eventually be manifested outwardly.

In Matthew 12:34, Jesus made this statement, “For out of the abundance of
the heart the mouth speaks.”  I think we could adapt that and say this, “out
of the abundance of the heart the body dresses.”  

Never forget ladies that your clothing says something about you.  A person’s
first impression, is often, and actually, usually based on outward
appearance.  When you walk in a room, before you have even said one word
your clothes are making a statement, and if a woman’s dress is a revelation
of what’s in her heart; what you are actually telling others is whether you
have a modest heart or an immodest heart.  

And while we are talking about externals here let me caution you to guard
against being legalistic in this area.  Legalism is an overemphasis on
external things in the belief that, that is what produces spirituality, and
unfortunately this mindset often leads to becoming self-righteous and
judging other people by those same external standards. 

Do you know what?  You can be very modestly dressed and still have a wicked
heart, or you can be immodestly dressed and just be naïve and need someone
to come along side and help you.  I cannot stress it enough ladies: it is
all about your heart!  It’s not just about what you wear.

Now with those key points understood lets move on to what our goals are, and
they are really very simple.  

The goal of every Christian should be:

A.  To glorify God (1 Corinthians 10:31; 6:19-20)

We find the first one in 1 Corinthians 10:31, where it says, “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
So our first goal, of course, is to glorify God.  The goal of every
Christian should be to glorify God in every area of life and that includes
modesty.  Why?  Because Christ sacrificed His life to pay for our sin and we
are bought with a price.  If you know Christ you are owned by God and your
body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.  
Think about it this way: you are dressing a body that belongs to God—it
doesn’t belong to you anymore, so how we dress is all about the glory of
God, just as everything in our lives should be.  

There is another goal that we must have and that is:

B.  To please God (2 Corinthians 5:9)

This is one of my favorite scriptures, 2 Corinthians 5:9, it says,
“Therefore we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be
pleasing to Him.”  

How do we please God?  By loving Him, by worshipping Him, by obeying Him,
and I think another way that we please Him, is by loving the things He
loves, and one of the things He loves is righteousness.

Let me challenge you to take the scriptures that I have given you in your
syllabus and study these, and you will discover that purity and
righteousness are a priority with God.  Over and over the scripture talks
about things like “clean hands and a pure heart.”  It talks about whatever
is pure and lovely; it talks about the “pure in heart”—over and over you
read those words.

>From Psalm 11:7 and Psalm 146:8 it is very clear that the Lord loves purity
and righteousness.  Why?  Because that is the very essence of who He is, and
if we want to please Him, we should be very concern with reflecting what is
right and good and pure in our personal lives.  And you know what?  A clear
conscience is worth more than gold.  It is a wonderful thing to go to bed at
night with the assurance that you did not make anyone stumble that day by
how you were dressed.  

Ok, lets review what we have looked at so far:

o       We have discussed the need for modesty.

o       The theological foundation for modesty.

o       Two major goals of modesty:

1. To glorify God.

2. To please God.

As we move through the rest of the lesson, please keep in mind these basic
biblical principles that I have already mentioned:

1.  Our bodies belong to God (1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23; 2 Corinthians 6:16)

2.  Our external appearance reflects our inner condition (Matthew 12:34-35;
Proverbs 6:14)

3.  We are responsible to not cause our brothers and sisters in Christ to
stumble. (Romans 14:12-13)

Alright, I want to turn a corner here and move now into the last section of
our lesson, which I have called:

III. THE EXPRESSION OF MODESTY  

Modesty can be expressed in many ways but it is primarily expressed by how
we dress.  And here is where I want to address the specifics of how to dress
modestly.  But before we do this, I want to look for a moment at the two
watershed passages on modesty in the Bible: 1 Timothy 2:9-10 and 1 Peter
3:3-4, these are the scriptures that really define the issue for us.  

Now we don’t have time today to study them in detail but I do want to give
you the main point of each passage.

o       1 Timothy 2:9-10 says this, “
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.”

Now, don’t misunderstand the intent of what Paul is saying here.  He is not
saying in these verses that you cannot braid your hair, instead what he is
confronting is the showy hairdos and clothing that some of the women were
wearing when the church would gather to worship.   The women in Paul’s time
often wove gold and pearls and other jewelry through their hairdos to draw
attention to themselves and to flaunt their wealth and their beauty.

Another important thing to understand here is that the prostitutes of that
day also tended to wear lots of jewelry and elaborate hairdos and expensive
clothes.  In the MacArthur Commentary on First Timothy we read this, “The
wearing of expensive clothes and jewelry that drew attention away from the
Lord was obviously was inappropriate for the women in the church.  They were
supposed to be demonstrating humble godliness—not appearing like prostitutes
or showy pagan women.  To come to church so attired was at best a
distraction, and at worse an attempt to seduce the men of the church.”

Joshua Harris, in his book, Not
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1590521471/biblebulletinboa>  Even a
Hint, made this observation, “There is a difference between dressing
attractively and dressing to attract.”  

When you do a study on the key words in these verses in 1 Timothy, such as,
“adorn, modest, propriety, moderation,” you will find that they are
referring to qualities, such as, “orderliness, modesty, humility, and
self-control,” so that is what Paul is encouraging here.  

o       Now, let’s look at 1 Peter 3:3-4, where we see a parallel passage.
It says this, “Your adornment must not be merely external: braiding the
hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses, but let it be the
hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and a
quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.”  In this passage Peter
is reminding us, that as women, our beauty should not come from outward
adornment, but rather from a spiritual character that is honoring to God.
The emphasis here is on cultivating inner beauty.  

In his commentary on 1 Peter, D. Edmond Heibert makes this statement, “It
goes without saying that this passage does not encourage slovenliness or
indifference toward appearance.  Neither does it constitute absolute
prohibition of braids or jewelry any more than it forbids the putting on of
dresses.  This passage is a warning against extravagance and self-centered
display.” 

So, you don’t want to wear things that are immodest or things that are
designed to attract attention, but (let me caution you here) be balanced.
You don’t want to completely ignore the outside either.  In 1 Peter, that
word, “merely” is very important.  You do not want to take 1 Peter to the
extreme and not do anything.  Certainly, you can attract attention by being
too made up, but you can also attract attention by being too austere, or too
sloppy.  

Many years ago Melody Green wrote a little pamphlet called, Uncovering the
Truth About Modesty, and she says this, “I have seen people go to the other
extreme and they try to prove to others that they are more spiritual,
because of their lack of concern about the way they look.  But this too can
simply be another form of pride and self-righteousness.  God wants us to be
balanced and to seek to glorify Him in everything we do.”  

Now, I don’t know about you, but when I wake up in the morning, I’m kind of
scary—okay?  Why should I scare my husband for no reason at all?  I mean,
I’m a little scary, but you know when I get up and I put on a little makeup
and I fix my hair, it’s better.  So, ladies be balanced, and I think this
especially applies to the married women—after you get married do not let
yourself go and stop putting much effort into your appearance.  Be beautiful
for your husband.  When I go out with my husband, I want him to be glad I’m
with him.  I don’t want him to be ashamed of how I look.  But, ladies, again
let me stress: be reasonable.  Please understand I am not talking here about
plastic surgery and tummy tucks and six hours at the gym everyday—that’s
ridiculous.  Some women, even Christian women can get way too focused on
their external appearance, and it really becomes an idol in their lives, and
if you are not careful you will get very out of balance in this area.  

There was a wonderful lady in our church years ago named Sandi Keasling and
she used to say this, “Your character is the picture and your appearance is
the frame.  The frame should complement the picture, not distract from it.”
Now think about that.  When you look at a picture, the frame should not be
the main focus of attention.  Right?  I mean it’s the picture you want to
see, not the frame.  So remember, in conclusion, don’t pay too much
attention to your appearance, but on the other hand don’t pay too little
either—be balanced.

So, from these passages, in 1 Timothy and 1 Peter, we are told that we
should dress in a way that is orderly and appropriate, modest, and in a way
that demonstrates humility and self-control.  

One more thing.  Remember that we are always to dress like women.  In
Deuteronomy 22:5 we are forbidden to dress like the opposite sex.  So just
make sure that whatever you wear supports the fact that you are a woman.
Don’t wear clothes that were designed for men or intended to make you look
manly.  You always want to look feminine.  

Alright, now we need to turn our attention to the details and I do want to
be specific today.  I think sometimes you can be so vague and so general
that it really doesn’t help at all.  But I will tell you I will do my very
best to be tasteful and tactful as we talk about these things.  And as we
begin I do want to give you a foundational principle to remember and this is
it: if you dress in a way that draws attention to a certain part of the body
and makes a man take a second and a third look—it is wrong.  Okay?  It is
sinful and it is wrong.  I mean here are the poor guys trying to fight
temptation and guard their eyes, and here are girls dressing in such a way
as to draw attention to the very areas that the guys are trying so hard not
to notice, and I personally think that is sinful to do that.

You know, the way a woman dresses should draw attention to her face, to her
countenance, not to her body. We do want to be an overall vision of
loveliness, that’s fine, but you don’t want to draw attention to certain
parts of the body.  

Now as we examine our wardrobes

I want to tell you what Nancy DeMoss says to ask yourself, as you look at
your wardrobe: “First question is this, does it expose?  Second question is,
does it emphasize?”  And I think that’s a good place to start.  

As our college pastor, Rick, was preparing to teach on this subject, he
asked his Bible Study leaders to write down what the main temptations were
to them in how a girl dresses.  And let me remind you, these are guys who
love the Lord with all their hearts.  They are trying their best to live
holy, godly lives.  These are not men off the street—okay?  But they were
very honest about things that were temptations to them, and here were the
things they listed:

1.     Low pants

2.     Midriff showing

3.     Bare shoulders

4.     Cleavage

5.     Low necklines

6.     Thin tops

7.     Tight form-fitted tops

8.     Tight pants

9.     Skirt slits that are too high

So, as we go through this next section I just want you to keep those things
in mind.

Now, let me give you my philosophy about clothing.  There’s nothing wrong
with being fashionable as long as it does not lead you to violate the rules
of modesty.  Our goal should be to make reasonable accommodation for the
current fashions without compromising biblical principles.

There is one thing that you really have to guard against and that is:
measuring yourself against the popular fashions and using that as your
standard, and the reason you can’t do that is because the culture is so
blatantly immodest.  You can make some accommodations to current fashions as
long as it doesn’t cross the line and become a modesty issue.

I have had to learn as a mother, what are the hills to die on.  What are the
non-negotiables?  I’ll just tell you this, many years ago, when my oldest
daughter was young; it was when all the weird strange colored nail polish
was getting popular; you know, the purple with the white dots, and the
green, and all the different colors.  At first, I was very hesitant about
that, because I was thinking, I had always worn pink, or red nail polish and
so should she.  But you know what?  Those are the type of things that I have
kind of mellowed on through the years, because especially that is not a
modesty issue.  Now, if she wants to wear green fingernail polish, well, you
know, that’s not that big a deal.  I am much more concerned about the things
that really matter, which are things like modesty.  

Let me just say a word to any teenage daughters that may eventually listen
to this lesson.  Let me reassure you, your mother does not want you to be
ugly and out of fashion.  That is not her goal in life.  Let me reassure
you, she loves you.  She wants the best for you.  So when she gives you
direction on how to dress—listen to her.  She has been around a lot longer
than you have, and she’s got a lot of wisdom, and just remember that she
loves you.

I have been there; I have been there on those six-hour shopping trips at the
mall, trying to find some modest clothing.  Trying to find things that we
could agree on, and you know, you both end up in tears by the end of the
trip—I’ve been there, so I do understand this.  But daughters, you just have
to trust us, just remember how much we love you.

I will give you a practical suggestion.  You may have to be going to some of
the more of the traditional stores and not spending a whole lot of time in
the teen clothing stores, which are specifically geared towards the teenage
girls, and in general, the clothing in these tends to be very immodest.  So,
you just have to keep looking; you will find modest things, and it is hard
sometimes, believe me.  Another good idea is to get Dad’s input, or actually
let your daughters go shopping with their fathers.  That is a great way to
kind of get the man’s viewpoint on this, so try that.  

Alright, let’s get started.  I want to give you three broad categories, and
I think everything we need to address today will fit into one of these
categories.  

You need to examine you wardrobe and ask yourself some questions:

A.     Is it too short?

This can apply to dresses, to tops, to shorts.  

First, with dresses and skirts.  This is hard to set an exact limit; an
exact length that your dresses and skirts should come too.  I will give you
kind of a general guideline, and I would say you need to stay around the
knee.  Obviously, anything longer than that, kind of a midi-length or a
long-length should be fine.  As long as you stay right around your knee I
think you would be okay.  I have seen some wonderful, godly older ladies in
our church that will wear very nice suits to church and many times they are
right to the knee.  Okay, so they are not super long and they stay right
around the knee and they’re fine, they’re beautiful and they’re modest.  But
as you begin to go up the leg; every inch you go up it becomes more and more
immodest.  

Also, keep this in mind of what happens when you sit down, especially a
straight skirt—it may not be too bad when you are standing up, but when you
sit down it really will come up.  

Now, tops; just different kinds of blouses and tops.  Remember the list of
the college leaders—don’t show your midriff.  Okay?  Do not make that too
short.  

Now, the issue with shorts is a little more challenging.  I think shorts and
bathing suits are in special category.  With shorts, I would definitely say
this: absolutely, definitely, no “short-shorts.”  I had one mother say that
she told her daughters, that their shorts could be the length where their
fingers came to, with their arms hanging down at their sides.  Just put your
arms down at your sides, and wherever the end of your fingers are, the
shorts should not be any shorter than that.  Well, that’s great unless a
girl has really short arms, and then it could be shorter than it should.  

I personally think that mid-thigh is okay for shorts, but I know junior high
and high school girls, and I know they would rather die than wear their
shorts that long.  So let me give you a wonderful alternative here, and that
is in the form of Capri pants.  Amazingly this is one of the few times that
fashion actually works in our favor and that is in the form of Capris.
Capris are cute; they’re fashionable, and they come down below the knee and
they are quite modest.  So I would get rid of a lot of your shorts and go
buy some Capri pants—I really recommend those.  If you do insist on wearing
shorts just make sure that they are as modest as you can make them, but
again, I really recommend Capris.

Alright, let’s talk about swimsuits.  Let’s analyze a swimsuit.  A swimsuit
basically covers the same area of the body that underwear does.  Right?  And
you think about it—would we wear our underwear to a pool or to the beach?
No.  But people wear that today; bathing suits that are incredibly immodest.

I will give you a little food for thought here: in 1922, if you wore what
today would be considered a very modest one-piece swimsuit you would have
been arrested for indecent exposure (Jeff Pollard, Christian
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1929241348/biblebulletinboa>
Modesty and the Public Undressing of America).  That is how much the
standard has been lowered in our society, in the last 80 years.  

I heard somebody say this, “You know when you get really honest, there is no
such thing as a modest swimsuit.”  You may think, “O my goodness, that’s
somebody that’s really out of touch.  That must be some much older woman
who’s out of touch with today.”  No, on the contrary, do you know who said
that?  My 20-year old, college age daughter, who I think is being much more
honest about this than most girls her age.  

But, I am realistic enough to know that you are probably not going to go
home today and immediately throw your swimsuit in the trash and say, “Boy,
I’m never going to wear that again.”   In our culture, from time to time,
most of you will probably wear a bathing suit.  So, if you do, let me say
this, just be super modest in this context.  Today, amazingly, there are
actually some fashion trends that really work in our favor here, and we see
that in the skirts, the sarongs, the paseos, the boardshorts—any kind of
skirt or wrap that covers up the swimsuit, obviously, is a great help.  Just
remember this, absolutely, even with a one-piece suit, you should not wear
anything that is low in front or back.  Do not wear the high-cut legs. 

My own personal conviction on this, is this, I personally am not comfortable
wearing even a modest one-piece around any men other than my husband.  Now,
I am not going to tell you what to do.  You will have to make your own
decision before the Lord on this.  I am still really thinking through my own
convictions in this area, and I think possibly in some contexts, it is
permissible to wear a modest, one-piece swimsuit.  For instance, I know in
our fellowship group we sometimes, in the Summer, have a day, when the
mothers can bring their children to go swimming at someone’s house, and
there’s not any men anywhere around.  You know, also, of course, you may go
swimming with your family.  I do think, possibly, in those contexts a modest
swimsuit is okay, but you will have to make your own decision in that area.

Okay, so that’s the first category: is it too short?  The second one is
this:

B.      Is it too tight? 

This could apply to just about anything you can wear.  Now, let me be very
tactful here.  If you are, shall we say, “endowed,” you have to be
particularly careful not to wear things too tight.  Do not dress in a way
that emphasizes your figure, but in a way that minimizes it.  You can still
look like a woman, just don’t dress in a way that draws attention to that
area.  

Now, this next point, I guess would be my personal opinion, and actually
this is just a personal request from me.  Please, I am begging you, don’t
wear those thin, stretchy, tight bras that are made of nylon or spandex.
Wear a bra that has some sort of thickness—kind of a rounded appearance.
Those thin, stretchy bras, I mean for all the good they do—you might as well
not wear anything, because they really don’t cover or camouflage anything.
Now, if you just really like that kind, and you really insist on wearing
them, I am begging you, please don’t wear tight knit tops or sweaters with
them.

There are three things that should never go together: one of those thin
stretchy bras; a tight knit top; and a cold room!  Okay?  So, do you get my
drift?  I am trying to be really tactful here.  

You know, talk about something that will make a man stumble—I have seen some
things that—it embarrassed me, and I just don’t understand sometimes how
woman do not understand that everything is showing.  So please, I am begging
you, wear something underneath your tops and your blouses that kind of
camouflages.  Okay?

Now, again, does this mean that you can never wear a knit top or a sweater?
No, of course not, just don’t wear them too tight and make sure you wear
proper undergarments with them.  Okay?

Now, how about dresses and skirts? Again, don’t wear your dresses and skirts
too tight.  Don’t wear thin stretchy material that is so tight across the
back that it hugs every square inch.  Sometimes the girls don’t wear a whole
lot underneath, and it is truly indecent.  

You know gals, so much of this comes down to this: what do you want?  I do
not want men staring at me as I walk past, and I don’t think you do either,
and if you don’t want that, then you cannot wear your pants and skirts so
tight that, that is exactly what they will be tempted to do as you walk by.

This applies to pants and jeans—they need to have some slack. 

And since we are talking about tightness here this is a good time to address
something else, and that is the issue of our weight.  No matter what I do,
every year I seem to be adding on a few more pounds, and I think most women
struggle with their weigh to some degree or another.  So let me give you a
few helpful hints.

If you are overweight consider these things:

1.     Consider color.  Light colors make you look larger.  Dark will make
you look slimmer.  

2.     Think about the patterns you wear.  Horizontal lines add width and
weight.  Vertical lines make you look taller and slimmer.  

3.     Tightness. This is absolutely the most important thing, do not wear
your clothes too tight.  That is the worst thing you can do, because it
accentuates the extra pounds.  Now, does this mean that you have to wear a
tent dress all the time?  No, of course not, just wear things that drape
nicely on the body and are not too tight.  

Alright, the third section; the third question to ask is this:

C.     Is it too low?

This mainly, obviously, applies to the tops that you would wear.  Let me be
very clear on this—no cleavage!  Cleavage is for your husband and nobody
else—nobody else.  I taught this to the junior high girls last year, about
modesty, and one of the mothers caught me later on and she thanked me for
what I said, she said, “My daughter really listened,” and she said, “We even
took some things out of her closet.”  And the mother said, “You know I had a
top that was a little bit low and I was going to give it away, and my
daughter said, “Well mom, no, no, don’t give it away.”  She said, “You can
wear it with daddy, because Mrs. Hardy said that, “Cleavage is for your
husband.”  So, just remember that—cleavage is for your husband, it is not
for the men of Grace Church; it is not for any other men except your
husband, and any cleavage at all will draw a man’s eye, and even an inch is
too much.  

Here is probably also a good place to address a very controversial area;
that is the area of weddings.  I am going to give you my personal opinion
here and you may not agree, but I really must say something here about this.

I have been so disappointed at so many weddings with the wedding dresses and
the bridesmaid dresses.  So many are strapless, backless, and show lots of
cleavage.  The main problem with strapless wedding dresses is the cleavage
that goes along with it.  You know, I don’t care what the occasion
is—cleavage is cleavage, and skin is skin!  I do not understand why people
throw out all the modesty rules just because it’s a wedding or a formal
occasion.  No one has ever been able to give me a valid argument of why it
is okay, suddenly okay, to be immodest in those settings.  

Think about this, there are several aspects of a wedding that make it a
worship service: we join together in the Name of the Lord; we are reading
the Word; there is proclamation of the Word; there is prayer, and it is
shameful what some women wear in that context.  

Now, please don’t get offended here.  I know there are probably some of you
here that wore strapless wedding dresses, but believe me I don’t know who
you are.  I mean I can barely remember sometimes if today is my carpool day,
much less remember what you wore at your wedding five or ten years ago.  So
I don’t have anybody in mind here today, I just know that I have seen it a
lot.  I know the current fashion is all strapless wedding dresses.  I
realize it’s hard to find one that is not strapless.  I have seen one, maybe
two at the very most that were somewhat modest.  They didn’t gap or pull
away from the body and there was no cleavage.  Another big problem with
these, is that as you twist and turn they do gap—they pull away from under
the arm and it’s immodest.

Let me give you a behind the scenes peek at Grace Church.  My husband, who
is a pastor, has given me permission to tell you this.  Every Monday they
have a staff meeting and they discuss what the pastors think are significant
issues at Grace Church, and more than once the issue of immodest wedding
dresses has come up.  The pastors are shocked and grieved by some of the
immodesty they see at the weddings, and they are currently doing their best
to find a way to encourage a higher standard for wedding attire.  And
personally, I think it is shameful, that our pastors are even having to deal
with this issue, because I think the women of Grace Church have been so well
taught they should know better.  

My husband also was talking to some of our leaders in our fellowship group
and he asked them, “Guys, just be really honest with me.  When you go to a
wedding and you see a wedding dress and it’s low, it’s very bare, do you
just look at it like this beautiful vision of loveliness, or is there
anything in that, that comes across a little bit provocative, a little bit
tempting?  And you know what?  And these are godly men who love their wives
and love their families, but all of them said, “Well, to be honest there is
something that is a little bit sensual about that.”  

So ladies, I am just appealing to you to really consider this.  Many of you
are already married, but you know girls that are going to get married
someday; you have daughters; you have granddaughters—just encourage them to
think about this.  If there is ever going to be a day in your life that you
should look chaste and modest and pure, it should be your wedding day.  Now,
if you don’t agree with me on this, don’t worry, we can still love each
other.  My husband and I don’t agree on every little thing either and we
love each other a great deal.  So all I want you to do is promise that you
will think about it.  

Just a few more things.  We are still in the “too low” category—is it too
low?

Alright, let’s talk about jeans.  Please make sure that your tops that you
wear are over the top of your jeans no matter what you do.  Raise your arms,
look in the mirror, do jumping jacks, whatever you need to do, but make sure
you do not show your belly button.  A belly button is something that really
catches the eye of a man!  It’s just terrible.  I go to the mall and I begin
to wonder if there is any girl in that mall, under the age of 25, who is not
showing her midriff.  It is just awful, and modesty issues aside, just from
a practical standpoint, believe me they should not dress like that—it begins
to make you wonder if they have mirrors at their house.

Let’s keep going—I don’t need to get on my soapbox here, but just keep that
in mind, don’t wear your jeans too low.  Also, this goes without saying,
don’t wear things that are low in the back.  Okay?  That’s just common
sense.

There are a few more miscellaneous issues I just want to consider here.  

Think about color.  Now I love white.  That is about my favorite color of
clothing, but the big negative to white is that it can be see-through.  Any
kind of white or light colors can be see-through, and yet dark colors are a
natural concealer.  

Now, I am not big on visual aids.  I am not a big visual aids person, but I
have brought something today that I thought would be very helpful.  This as
you know is a camisole and contrary to popular opinion this is not to be
worn by itself.  Ladies, we live in a day when, as Nancy DeMoss reminds us,
underwear has become outerwear.  What this is intended to do, is to be worn
under those things that are a little bit thin, a little bit see-through.  I
do encourage you, if you have like a dressy white blouse; sometimes those
are a little thin—wear a camisole under it—whatever you need to do to keep
it from being see-through and to see lines underneath it.  Let me encourage
you—don’t buy a white camisole, because that again shows up
you’ll see a
line against your skin.  I recommend buying something that is as close as
you can get to the color of your skin and so it all just kind of blends
together.  

Another issue is the writing that is on clothes.  I think this is really
only a problem if your clothes are too tight.  I have some loose sweatshirts
that may have something written on the front, but it’s loose—it’s not tight
on my body.  But sometimes you see things that are very tight and they have
writing that draws the eye to that area, so don’t do that.  

Also, be careful when you wear sleeveless shirts.  Be careful of the
armholes, you may need to sew them up.  I love button down sleeveless shirts
when it’s hot in the summer, but you know what?  I think probably half of
the ones I have in my closet; I sewed them up because the armholes were too
big.  

Another thing, how about exercise clothes?  Be modest in your exercise
clothes, you don’t have to wear skimpy little outfits.  You know when I do
walk around my neighborhood or jog sometimes, I wear sweatpants and I wear
kind of a loose T-shirt, but I have seen women out jogging in outfits that
were just totally indecent—little short, kind of biking shorts; tight little
tops—you don’t have to do that.  

One last thing to consider here is modesty in the home.  It is so important
to set a good example—be modest around your children.  Set a good example
for them.  My husband and I have always been very careful around the house
to be modest.  Now, I am not saying you have to
remember that wonderful old
show, Leave it to Beaver
I am not saying that you have to look like Mrs.
Cleaver.  I don’t clean my house and cook dinner in my Sunday dress and a
string of pearls, but I do dress modestly.  

Now, as we begin to wind down here, I want to say a quick word to both the
single ladies and the married ladies.  Never lose sight (single gals) that
you are to save your body for your husband.  The kind of man that you want
to marry is not the kind of man that will be attracted by suggestive,
immodest dress.  If you a woman who loves the Lord, don’t send a confusing
message by the way you dress.  You will give men a wrong impression of who
you are and you don’t want to do that.  The right kind of guy will be
looking for the right kind of girl.  

To the married ladies here, just remember that marriage was designed by God
and God designed a woman’s body to be beautiful and attractive to her spouse
and only to her spouse.  But to dress in public in a way that is alluring to
other men is wrong.  

Now, what do you do, and we have run into this situation, occasionally,
where the wife wants to be modest, but her husband wants her to dress in an
immodest, sensual way.  First of all, she should appeal to him.  What this
really boils down too is an issue of obeying God rather than men.
Obviously, we are to honor our husbands and submit respectively everyway we
can except when he is asking you to sin.  A wife has been given clear
direction in God’s Word about how she should dress and in this situation,
her husband, tragically, is encouraging her to disobey God.  And as
important as the modesty aspect is, I think an equally important problem
here has to do with the husband’s motives.  

Why would a man want his wife to dress immodestly and show off her figure to
other men?  I have really thought about this and I cannot think of any
reasons for that except of pride.  The husband is getting some sort of
satisfaction out of showing off his wife because it builds him up and it
makes him look good.  Now, it’s one thing just to be grateful to the Lord
that you have an attractive wife, and just be thankful for that—that’s okay.
But it’s another thing altogether to flaunt a wife and make her a temptation
to other men, and that is sinful.  In fact, in Ephesians 5, it tells the
husband that he is to love his wife and cherish her, which means he would
never want to lead her into sin.

So, if a husband is insisting that his wife dress in an immodest way; she
needs to pray about it and then she needs to appeal to him respectfully.
If he keeps insisting, she needs to enlist the help of a friend, a pastor,
an elder, someone she respects to go intercede for her with her husband.  I
think you follow this course of action, whether your husband is a Christian
or whether he is not; I think you do the same thing.

Alright, we have covered a lot of ground today, so let’s wrap it up.  

When it comes to modesty, we’ve seen that both men and women have a
responsibility: 

*        Men are to guard their eyes and thoughts and they need to train
their sons to do the same thing.

*        Women are to dress modestly and exhort each other to be modest.

*        Mothers, please talk to your daughters about the importance of
modesty.  And you need to start young.  You can't allow immodesty when
they're young and then expect them to suddenly become modest when they're
13! 

When you dress modestly, what are the results?  You glorify God and you
please Him, and you will be an encouragement to both men and women.  You
will not be tempting men and you will be setting a good example for women.

Let me give you a word of caution.  Should it ever be necessary for you to
confront someone on a modesty issue—give them the benefit of the doubt.
Don’t be judgmental and condemning, but instead, come alongside them with
humility and compassion for them as your sister in Christ.  Make sure that
you desire to honor Christ and that your own motives are pure.

Alright, here are my final thoughts on this:

Instead of drawing attention to ourselves in our dress, we should bring
glory to God.  Instead of dressing to please ourselves we dress to please
God.  Instead of being clothed with immodesty, we should be clothed with
what the Bible tells us.  I’ve given you some scriptures there that talk
about, “Strength and honor are her clothing.”  And 1 Peter says, “Be clothed
with humility.”  Ladies, these are the things that the Bible says we should
be clothed with. 

"DeMoss makes this observation:  As women, our beauty should not come from
outward adornment but rather from character that is honoring to God.  When
others spend time with us or even meet us for the first time, they should be
struck by God’s work in our lives (our character, our pure speech, our
gentle and quiet spirits) not by our trendy clothes." 

In your appendix, I’ve given you something called the Modesty Checklist
written by Carolyn Mahaney.  This is a great checklist to help you as you
dress.  

Now, I do want to close with this final prayer by Nancy DeMoss, that says
this:

Lord, this body of mine belongs to You.  I desire to bring You glory and
honor through my words, my attitudes, and the way I dress.  I resolve to be
pure inwardly and outwardly, and I am willing, where necessary, to stand
against the culture. I accept responsibility for how I dress.  Help me to be
teachable and to have an attitude and spirit that brings You glory through
my actions and appearance.

If you will make that commitment today, I can promise you that the Lord will
bless you and you will know the joy and peace that comes from obeying the
Lord and living your life in a way that glorifies Him.  Let’s pray.

  _____  

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Nancy Leigh DeMoss, The Look.  [Buchanan, MI: Revive Our Hearts, 2003].

Nancy Leigh DeMoss, What Does Your Clothing Communicate?  [Gresham, OR:
Eternal Perspective Ministries, 2004].  

Mary Mohler,  Modeling Modesty.  Southern Seminary Magazine, The Beauty of
Biblical Womanhood.    Winter, 2003.  (www.sbts.edu/resources/ssmag.php)

Josh Harris, Not Even A Hint. [Sisters, OR:  Multnomah Publishers, Inc.,
2003].

Melody Green, Uncovering the Truth About Modesty.  (
<http://www.lastdaysministries.org/articles>
www.lastdaysministries.org/articles.)   

D. Edmond Hiebert, 1 Peter. [Winona Lake, IND:  BMH Books, 1992].

  _____  

Modesty Checklist

By Carolyn Mahaney, Nicole Whitacre, Kristin Chesemore, Janelle Mahaney

(Used by permission)

“
Women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with

modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls

or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess

godliness- with good works.”

1 Timothy 2:9-10

First, it’s time for a heart check

“How does a woman discern the sometimes fine line between proper dress and
dressing to be the center of attention? The answer starts in the intent of
the heart. A woman should examine her motives and goals for the way she
dresses. Is her intent to show the grace and beauty of womanhood? Is it to
reveal a humble heart devoted to worshipping God? Or is it to call attention
to herself and flaunt her beauty? Or worse, to attempt to lure men sexually?
A woman who focuses on worshipping God will consider carefully how she is
dressed, because her heart will dictate her wardrobe and appearance.”—John
MacArthur [emphasis added]

*         What statement do my clothes make about my heart?

*         In choosing what clothes to wear today, whose attention do I
desire and whose approval do I crave? Am I seeking to please God or impress
others?

*         Is what I wear consistent with biblical values of modesty,
self-control and respectable apparel, or does my dress reveal an inordinate
identification and fascination with sinful cultural values?

*         Who am I trying to identify with through my dress? Is the Word of
God my standard or is it the latest fashion?

*         Have I solicited the evaluation of other godly individuals
regarding my wardrobe?

*         Does my clothing reveal an allegiance to the gospel or is there
any contradiction between my profession of faith and my practice of
godliness?

So, I’m ready to leave the house, but I still have to do a modesty check.
What are some things I should look for as I stand in front of my mirror?

Starting at the top

*         When I am wearing a loose-fitting blouse or scoop-neck, can I see
anything when I lean over? If so, I need to remember to place my hand
against my neckline when I bend down.

*         A word on purse straps: How could a purse possibly be a modesty
concern?  When you’re wearing the strap across your chest. Regardless of the
shirt you’ve got on this accentuates your chest and creates a temptation for
men.

*         If I am wearing a button-down top, I need to turn sideways and
move around to see if there are any gaping holes that expose my chest. If
there are, I’ve got to grab the sewing box and pin between the buttons.

*         The same check is needed if I am wearing sleeveless. When I move
around can I see my bra? If I do, I need the pins again!

*         Am I wearing a spaghetti-strap, halter-top or see-through blouse?
Not even pins will fix this problem! Most guys find these very unhelpful.
It’s time to go back to the closet.

*         Can I see the lace or seam of my bra through my shirt? In this
case, seamless bras are a better option.

*         One final shirt check: Does it reveal any part of my cleavage?
Does my midriff show when I raise my hands above my head? Is my shirt just
plain too tight? If the answer is “yes” to any one of these questions, then
I need to change my outfit.

Moving on down

*         Does my midriff (or underwear) show when I bend over or lift my
hands? If so, is it because my skirt or my pants are too low? Either my
shirt needs to be longer or I need to find a skirt or pants that sit higher.

*         I also have to turn around to see if what I’m wearing is too tight
around my derriere, or if the outline of my underwear shows. If so, I know
what I have to do! 

*         And for my shorts – I can’t just check them standing up. I need to
see how much they reveal when I sit down. If I see too much leg, I need a
longer pair.

*         The “sit-down” check applies to my skirt or dress as well. And I
must remember to keep my skirt pulled down and my knees together when I’m
seated.

*         And speaking of skirts, watch out for those slits! Does it reveal
too much when I walk? Pins are also helpful here.

*         Before I leave, I need to give my skirt a “sunlight check.” Is it
see-through? If so, I need a slip.

*         Finally, I must remember to do this modesty check with my shoes
on. High-heels make my dress or skirt appear shorter.

*         And don’t forget – this all applies to formal wear as well.

*         A note on swimwear –the pool or beach. Look for one-piece bathing
suits that aren’t cut high on the leg or have a low neckline.

www.sovereigngraceministries.org

  _____  

To obtain a copy of this message on audio CD, 

Contact Pam Hardy:  truthtalk at msn.com  

Or, by writing and requesting the “Modesty Matters” CD 
and enclosing $4.00 per CD ordered.

Pam Hardy
P.O. Box 1280
Clemmons, NC 27012

  _____  

Transcribed and Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "Sermons and Other Articles
Collection" by:

Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board 
Box 119
Columbus, New Jersey, USA, 08022
Our websites: www.biblebb.com <http://www.biblebb.com/>  and
www.gospelgems.com 
Email: tony at biblebb.com
Online since 1986

Thanks.

Charis,

Mike Abendroth

 <http://www.bbcchurch.org> www.bbcchurch.org

2 Tim 1:2b  "Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our
Lord."

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