MODESTY: A Matter of the Heart

As a writer, I always find it of utmost importance as to the way an article is started. However, I couldn’t discover a nifty way to start this particular subject, so I’m going to jump right in there.

Modesty is a matter of the heart. When you dress modestly, are meek and quiet on the outside, but on the inside, your heart is black with resentment or hate, the modesty is a put-on act, and avails to nothing.

If you’re like me, you hate reading really long articles that drag on and on about everything in general and nothing at all, so I’ll make this short and to the point.

The way you look at life is colored by how right you are with God. Modesty is colored by what’s in your heart, and what’s in your heart is colored by how right or wrong you are with God. It’s all one large circle – circular logic, as my uncle calls it. It just goes around and around, and if one thing is out of place or wrong, the rest crashes to an end very quickly.

You can be a girl in a skirt and be just as worldly as the girl next to you wearing spray-painted-on jeans that look like they’ve been rolled in the dirt once or twice before put on the sales rack and a too-revealing shirt. You can be just as foolish and dress just as loudly as that girl. You can be just as loud and attention-demanding as can that girl. And worst of all, you can be just as wrong with God as she could be.

What I’m emphasizing here is: It doesn’t matter what you wear if your heart isn’t in tune with God’s call and plan for your life.

Guarding the heart. What’s that mean? You hear it all the time and I’m sure you’ve read articles on it. I’ll boil it down to three things that we don’t do in our family so as to guard the heart: 1) we don’t date, 2) we don’t dress to attract attention and 3) keep every thought captive! That’s a bit ambiguous, so I’ll say it like this: Control your thoughts. It IS possible with God’s help! Really, if you think about it, you can stop yourself from singing that dreaded song, “This is the song that never ends-” or from singing “There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,” etc. But do you control those thoughts of the cute boy in class next to you? No! You say, “Why should I? It’s not like thinking of him is going to get me in trouble with him or anything.” And I say, “YES IT DOES. Basically, what you think about now is what you think about after you’re married. If you spend time fantasizing about cute guys you see, will you be loyal to your husband?”

“…and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:7 NKJV