Modesty

Do any of you remember how us girls dressed in the early 70's? Our dresses were short...very short!! There was a dress code when I was in high school. When you stood up and put your arms down at your side...your dress couldn't be any shorter than where the tips of your fingers reached. My Mom made most all of my clothes and we always had an argument about how short she was going to make it. I wanted shorter...she didn't!!! She used to tell me that she would hold her breath when I went out the door hoping the wind wouldn't blow my dress up!! ha! ha!

It's funny now, but I know it drove her crazy!!!

Then to Jessica Leigh's generation....not a problem with short dresses...but with necklines. She and Pappy had a few arguments on tops being a bit too low!!!

Now on to today....I've seen some things in the past few days that have really upset me. Standing on the side of the road with signs advertising a car wash were two very beautiful young ladies....wearing bikinis. These girls were probably in high school...wearing bikinis...standing on the side of the road!!! I told Pappy that their Mom and Dad needed to get those girls and put some clothes on them. I'm telling you, I almost had Pappy stop and let me get a blanket out of the back of the car and wrap around those girls. I know they're not mine, and it was probably none of my business, but these precious young ladies were anything but modest!!!

Then...I saw a lady in a store who was very well endowed...with no bra on...and her top was up over her tummy...it was sad.

And...another lady who was so attractive...but she had on a dress that you could throw a cat thru, and could see a bit more that I cared to see...and there were two men actually going down the aisles trying to catch glimpses of her. I wanted to say something to her and to just slap those silly men!!!

I'm telling you all of this to ask....where is modesty these days???? I wouldn't have a bit more let Jess stand beside the road in a bikini than I would have let her jump off the house!!! Both would have been asking for trouble. And, that is the exact thought that went thru my mind when I saw those girls...they are asking for trouble. In the world that we live in today, we have to be so careful how we present ourselves. We have to take care that we "abstain from the appearance of evil". As Christians, we really have to be careful that we don't do anything that the world can perceive as being sinful. I am not saying that Christians are supposed to be old fuddy-duddies...but....I hope you get the gist of what I'm trying to say. I was raised in a household that was very, very strict...and at the time I thought my Mom...because she was the disciplinarian....was just plain mean. But, you know what...I didn't turn out so badly...I didn't give my parents much more trouble than arguing about their strict rules...but I went ahead and obeyed them. Here is the scripture that I found that goes along with being modest:

1 Peter 2:12 - "Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world." (NLT)

1 Timothy 2:9 - "And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes." (NLT)

1 Peter 3:3-4 - "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight." (NIV)

And...here is my favorite:

I Thessalonians 5:22 - 22 - Abstain from all appearance of evil. (KJV)