Modesty Honors Beauty – reblog

Modesty Honors Beauty – by Sarah Howell
By bryankemper

Modesty is the decision to reclaim our bodies and tell this society that we do not need to sell ourselves to one another just to feel worthy.

First, let’s get this straight: Modesty isn’t just putting on more clothes. Modesty is honoring God by acknowledging the value He placed on your body when He created you. If it were just about clothes, then Adam and Eve would have been created wearing something more than skin. Modesty isn’t about your closet, it’s about having a heart bold enough to throw aside that which society tells us, and hold on to that which God tells us: That we are a beautiful creation wrapped in the wonder and glory of the perfect artist.

Today’s world of advertising will never tell you that. Girls, you will never hear an advertisement tell you how beautiful you already are. Instead, it will tell you how beautiful you will become if you do this or buy that. And, even more disappointing, that end result of “beauty” will have nothing to do with your true self; it will have everything to do with the exploitation of your sexuality. Guys, you will rarely see an advertisement that encourages you to be a respectable man who spends his whole life loving one woman, but you will see plenty that tell you success is measured in how many scantily clad females your deodorant can attract.

Are we really so surface? Is there not more to us than an insatiable sex drive?

In today’s media–commercials, music videos, movies, and television programs–the bottom line is that sex sells. Always. Why? Because, at some point, we actually started to believe that sex was a measure of success. Women think they have to be sexy, meaning constantly willing to have sex, just to be beautiful. And men think that they have to have sex, a lot of sex, to be worth something. And when you take those two ideas, and throw them into fashion and pop culture, you inevitably come up with styles and trends that depend upon the targeting of our sexuality. That which God created for mystery, becomes a commodity, and something glorious becomes commonplace.

This is where modesty comes in. Modesty is the decision to reclaim our bodies and tell this society that we do not need to sell ourselves to one another just to feel worthy. Modesty is a girl’s decision to encourage a guy in purity by accentuating her love for Christ, not the curve of her hip. Modesty is a guy’s decision to prove himself a man by running after God, not by making himself physically available to every girl. Modesty is choosing to let your beauty speak of Love, not lust.

Choosing to be modest is not sentencing yourself to a life of baggy clothes and long dresses. That’s not what this is about. Modesty, quite simply, is daring to live a life submitted to God. It is choosing to live outside of the norm.

Are you daring enough to be modest?

Commentary by Sarah Howell for Stand True Pro-life Outreach