5 Posts on Dressing Modestly

The issue of how we dress as women has been on my mind a lot recently as it has actually become warm enough here to discard the long sleeves and jackets!! The Bible says it is not good to do anything that would make our fellow Christians stumble (Rom 14:21), and certain ways of dressing can make it very hard for men not to have lustful thoughts.

The more I learn about what sets men’s minds going, the more careful I try to be, because I do not want to be a cause of someone else sinning, or even of them having to fight the temptation to sin.

Here are some links to what people have written about it:

Modesty: A Pastor’s Concern – We hardly ever hear about what dressing does to men, but here C. J. Mahaney puts it on paper, like this quote: ‘Sometimes when I see a girl provocatively dressed, I’ll say to myself, “She probably doesn’t even know that 101 guys are going to devour her in their minds today. But then again, maybe she does.”‘

Philosophies of Beauty in Conflict – Nancy Leigh DeMoss points out the difference between the world’s philosophy and the Bible’s teaching. She says that some Christian women ‘have adopted the philosophy of showing a little bit to tease.’ But ‘The Christian philosophy should be, “I want to draw attention to the life of Jesus within me. I want others to see a reflection of the beauty of Christ.” ‘

What Not To Wear – Three questions to use when deciding how to dress: ‘Is it becoming? Is it decent? and Is it moderate?’ based on 1 Timothy 2:9, written by Mary Kassian.

Fashion and Following the Saviour – from Girltalk blog, some of this is taken from C.J. Mahaney’s talks on this topic, but given a feminine twist. It is part of a series of 6 posts on the topic of modesty. This one covers why we wear what we wear – ever wondered why it’s so hard to wear modest clothing?

Spring Fashions and Modesty – From Women Living Well blog, I can really identify with what Courtney says here: ‘I’ll be honest, I have those moments where I take an outfit to the dressing room, try it on, realize it’s immodest but love it. Then the war begins in my mind. “It’s not so bad. Maybe I could just wear it on vacation where no one from church would see me?”… These are tempting thoughts that end in dishonor to God if I believe them.’

On a positive note, here is a post by Carolyn Mahaney on the spiritual attributes we should wear, taken from Elisabeth Elliot’s writings.

Video

This is a video exerpt from one of C .J. Mahaney’s sermons on modesty, from a  man’s perspective.

Books

If you are a bookworm like me, you might like to know that some of the posts above are related to or taken from books, though I haven’t read them so can’t comment on what they are like!

Worldliness: Resisting the Seduction of A Fallen World by C. J. Mahaney

The Look: Does God Really Care What I Wear? by Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Girls Gone Wise in a World Gone Wild by Mary A. Kassian

A Lamp Unto My Feet by Elisabeth Elliot