God, My Heart and My Clothes

from a friend on Facebook comes this simple, but thought-provoking article:

There is not a 'square inch' of our lives,  including our closets with which God is unconcerned. Even more, He cares about the heart behind what you wear, about whether your wardrobe reveals worldliness or Godliness. All respectable apparel is the result of a Godly heart where modesty and self-control originate. Your clothes are a public statement of your personal and private motivation. And if you confess Godliness, you should be concerned with cultivating these twin virtues, modesty and self-control.

Modesty is humility expressed in dress. It's a desire to serve others by not promoting or provoking sensuality. Immodesty then is much more than wearing a short skirt or low cut top, it's the act of drawing undue attention to yourself. It's pride on display by what you wear.

Godly men find modesty attractive! They appreciate women who dress with self-control. They are grateful for women who serve them by helping them fight the temptation to lust. You should not dress in a way that resembles those whose intent is look seductive and sexy. One man said ,"When women that I am friends with dress immodestly, it definitely has a negative effect on our friendship. When a woman dresses immodestly, it does not make it easy to see her as a sister in Christ. There's a constant battle going on as I am talking to her." The way you dress should not be sexually enticing, distracting or divisive.

Immodesty includes clothing that is too tight and that is very form fitting. Immodesty is wearing to little clothing and shows to much skin, including unbuttoned blouses, plunging necklines that reveal cleavage, exposing the midriff and sheer see-through blouses that reveal undergarments.

Christian women think Christian men are immune to being visually triggered by lust due to the way they dress. Sin means that even nice men can have nasty thoughts.

IF A CHRISTIAN WOMEN COULD READ THE MINDS OF ALL THE MEN AS SHE WALKS INTO CHURCH,*STORE, SCHOOL ETC., WITH HER BARE SHOULDERS OR CLEAVAGE ON DISPLAY,SHE WOULD NEVER WEAR SUCH CLOTHING AGAIN. BUT CHRISTIAN MEN ARE AFRAID TO ADMIT THAT IT TAKES VERY LITTLE SKIN TO TEMPT THEM TO SIN. THEY SAY NOTHING, AND CHRISTIAN WOMEN ASSUME THEY ARE NOT LUSTING!

~Brother David Cooke [Thoughts from Mahaney and Spinney]