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This article is from Today's
Native Father, issue #143, January/February, 2006. Related articles from this issue: |
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Modesty in Spirit and Action Dear Mothers, What would this world be like if there were no women? That is probably a non-question, considering our role in our homes and society. I think of when the first woman was created. It is such a lovely scene! God is bending over a tranquilized Adam, doing chest surgery. He takes out a rib, then closes up the wound. He takes that bone and forms a woman out of it. Then He brings this new creation to Adam. Read Adam’s response in Genesis 2. He recognized someone who was like him, someone who was different from all the animals he had just named. I think God was pleased with Himself. The Apostle Paul comments on this event in his first letter to the Corinthians .Man was not created from woman, but the woman was created from man, Paul says. Man was not created for the benefit of woman, but woman was created for the benefit of man. I have sometimes heard people say about a women, “She thinks she is God’s gift to men.” It is meant as a put-down. However, for the Christian woman who has the pure and modest spirit that the Bible teaches, this is a true and complimentary thing to say. If I really believe that I am God’s gift to men, then how should I live? What is my responsibility to all men, especially to my husband? I want to practice modesty in spirit, action and clothing. I have great responsibility NOT to defraud the men who are around me. I’m dismayed by the ways women of today expose themselves in public. We don’t understand the way God has made men. We don’t understand the way God has made women, either. So many women don’t understand the value of “the inner adornment and beauty of the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible and unfading charm of a gentle and peaceful spirit, which is not anxious or wrought up, but is very precious in the sight of God.”(1 Peter 3:4, Amplified Version) There is power in our sexuality. When we use our bodies, our actions and our dress styles in ways that seductively send out mixed messages.,“Look at me, admire me, but don’t you dare cross that line,” we cheat and defraud the men around us. Like all men, godly men have difficulty keeping their thoughts and desires where they belong. Women ARE beautiful creatures that God has made. Our culture devalues sex and beauty, and sometimes we women also lower our values to get intimacy and attention at any price. Clothing often looks nice at first. But when skin begins to appear where it should not, it invites the eye to linger, to inspect what is and what will be showing. It distracts attention away from the inner beauty that God desires. Modesty begins in the heart. It has the attitude of being bashful, reverent and in awe of God, of who He is and of His relationship to us. It is being discreet and reserved. Unlike animals, humans can blush. Shame can be a good thing when it makes us hesitate to do anything that would dishonour God or others around us. . I often blush at the advertisements which show women’s bodies to sell a product. I am angry and sad when we women allow it to happen and actually encourage it. I want to keep myself beautiful in body and spirit as long as I have life. Beauty is more than skin deep; it goes to the heart. I want to dress tastefully and modestly, reflecting what is in my heart. God gave me to my husband as a gift. God made me in His image. That gives me dignity and value. May the men around me be blessed, and may they benefit by my life and what I offer to them. In His image, Ilva |
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