Modesty--from the inside out

(God) tells you, man, what He requires of you, but to do justice, love kindness and walk modestly with your God. (Micha 6:8)

...And with the modest ones lies wisdom. (Proverbs 11:2)

Many believe modesty is something that only pertains to the outward person. In reality, modesty is something that comes from the inside and is reflected on our outside.

While it's true man looks on the outward appearance and God on the inward (1 Samuel 16:7; Romans 2:28; 2 Corinthians 4:16; 2 Corinthians 10:7; 1 Peter 3:3), what we are on the inside does show up in our clothing (or lack thereof) and our hair and other outward adornments. Are we striving to appear like the world or do we seek to please our Lord with how we look. If our hearts aren't right it will show in how we look and act.

There are many great internet sites and booklets devoted to womens dress and modesty. It is not my intent to go over that again here. Do a simple search on "modesty" or "women's modesty" and see what you come up with. It's an area that needs to be weighed by each individual and applied with prayer in your life.

(Another area that is surfacing more and more these days is the issue of headcovering touched on in 1 Corinthians 11. Bible believing Christians fall out on all sides of the issue--the woman's long hair is the covering, the husband/father is the covering, a separate piece of material (cloth) is the intended covering. I have been on both sides of the "hair-veiling" view. I wore a prayer veiling for many years and currently do not. Being under my husband's authority, it is his descision for me to cover with an additional veiling or not. He has not directed me to do this and I had determined that I was not being under his authority by doing it on my own.)

Regardless of where you stand on the specifics, it is important to study what the scriptures have to say about our outward apprearance (and they do speak on that most plainly). A wordsearch on "outward" "modesty" etc., will be very enlightening. Tackle it with a prayerful spirit and an open heart to God's leading and be ready for a wonderful journey through your womanhood!

Keep in mind that just because one dresses modestly doesn't mean that their heart is right!

Matthew 23:27-28 which says, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead [men's] bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. "