Guest Post - Modesty by Savannah Carnahan

 

I met Savannah at an event called "Fashion Cover", where I was invited to speak to teenage girls about our identity as daughters of the King. The event's theme revolved around modesty and how to dress as the Jesus' girls we are. What an awesome idea! They had a fashion show before I spoke and the "models" (girls from that church) had to write an essay about what Modesty meant to them. Savannah won the contest and I invited her to be a guest on this blog. I believe this is a very important message today: If we are to make an impact in this world for Jesus, we must act, talk and dress like His daughters. Listen to Savannah as she shares her heart.  

                     

Modesty

                                                                                                                      By Savannah Carnahan

Modesty to me means respecting myself, others, and most of all, God.  The way you dress shapes how people perceive you. If you dress like a vulgar woman, people are going to treat you as one.  I once had a good friend who tended to dress immodestly, and despite the fact that she was highly intelligent, she had a hard time getting people to treat her as anything other than boy-crazy and vapid. 

The way you dress also shapes and is shaped by the way you see yourself.  The easiest example is that when you are in a bad mood, the only thing you want to wear is sweatpants and a sweatshirt.   Obviously, there is nothing wrong with that, but it is a good example of how what you wear is shaped by your attitude. 

Subconsciously, we also see what other people wear and judge them by it.  If I say “high heels and micro-mini”, a judgment about the character of the girl in question automatically pops into your head.  Even though we try not to judge by appearances in theory, in reality, most of us do.

Modesty means respecting others, especially guys.  

I read a book once about praying for your future husband, and one of the things the book recommended praying for was that you would behave toward the guys around you the way you would want the girls around your future husband to behave.  That really hit home with me.  It made me realize that I wasn’t just preventing the guys around me from stumbling because of me - I was also respecting their future spouses.  

However, it is not only guys that you are respecting when you dress modestly.  You are also respecting older people’s feelings.  Back in my grandfather’s day, women wore full dresses as swim suits and did not even wear pants.  I am sure today’s extremely short skirts or shorts shock him to no end.  By dressing modestly, I am showing him that I have respect for him.

But I am also respecting myself by dressing modestly.  

Although women are still long ways from being respected only for their intelligence and not their looks, dressing modestly means that the first thing my boss would see is my face and not my other assets.  Obviously, some ogling will still happen, simply because guys are guys, but when I dress modestly, I know it’s their choice, not mine.  Modesty means being known as “that really fast girl Savannah” at my track meets, instead of “that girl that runs around in her sports bra after her race… what was her name again?” 
Dressing modestly helps people see me as a person instead of an object.

Finally, dressing modestly honors God.  

By respecting my body, I am clothed in His righteousness.  When I do not, I am, in essence, desecrating His temple. 

Dressing immodestly also takes away from my Christian witness.  When people see micro shorts and a low cut top instead of a high and mighty God, I make myself a graven image and put myself above God. 

Immodesty takes away from the pure beauty only He can give. That beauty was intended for one man: My future husband.

 

Savannah is a tenth grader and participates in cross country, track and field, FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes), Beta Club, and FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America).  She is also involved in her youth group at her church and Girls on Track, which teaches middle school girls life lessons using running and games.  She believes she will major in either biochemistry or creative writing.

Chained to the Past

Passage: Isaiah 43:18-21 

Key Verse:

“Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. “Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it?” Isaiah 43:18 

Our conversation was going well. We talked about the girls’ schools, the weather and our concerns about the country and the economy.  

I had learned to keep our conversations quite superficial, unfortunately. But we had enough time in our hands for the inevitable. The past was knocking at the door and she just had to let it in. Sigh.

Have you ever been around someone who just cannot let go of the past?

You meet them everywhere and every family has at least one. They drag their shackles around everywhere they go. They are slaves and do not know it. They are unhappy and invariably become bitter, resentful… and lonely. So.very.lonely.

They are doctors, housewives, wealthy and poor. Many of them sit on the pew beside us. They know Jesus. And yet, for different reasons, choose to remain chained to the misery of their past. Even though they know that Jesus came to set them free.

My heart aches for them.

But truthfully, many of us have been there. I know I have.

For years I looked back to find justification for my bad attitude and shallow faith. I would blame my insecurities on my parent’s broken marriage and my poor self-image on things that I heard growing up. I blamed my jealousy on that boyfriend who was unfaithful and my reluctance in giving up bad habits on the fact that I came from a different culture.  

Blame, blame, blame. Attached to the chains that keep us bound to our past is the Blame Monster. And we feed it every time we drag the past around, allowing it to rob us of an abundant, victorious present and future.

Honestly, it’s not easy to release the past. And I cannot in all fairness compare my pain and sufferings with some terrible stories I’ve heard. But regardless of the measure of our pain, eventually we must be confronted with two simple questions: 

“Am I willing to let go?” 

          and

“Is God able to rewrite ANY story?” 

Sometimes it is easier to bring the past along with us, because in order to confront it, we must realize our share of responsibility over our destiny. Of course, there are things that happen that are absolutely outside of our control: A child never does anything to deserve abuse. Neither is one’s fault that a parent leaves home, abandoning his or her family.

However, there are hurts of the past that have a measure of self-infliction which is hard to confront. It’s easier to blame mom and dad… or the ex-husband or ex-wife… than to look in the mirror, choose to look forward and take ownership of our destiny.

There is also the fact that we become accustomed to living in bondage. We may have blamed our past for so long, that we do not know how to function without the dysfunction!

All along, the Bible message of restoration rings the same: “I am able to rewrite your story. Any story. If only you are willing to let go.” 

Just as He did to the woman at the well, who did not look back at years of promiscuity… but rather, went on sharing her story of redemption in the city.

Just as He did to Joseph, who did not cling to the years of slavery and imprisonment, but rather looked forward to the fulfillment of God’s promises given to him in a dream.

And as He did to the woman with the alabaster box, who poured her past and her pain at the Savior’s feet… the One who could give her hope of a new future.

 “I came that you may have life and have it abundantly”, He says.

He does not offer to erase the past, but to heal and restore us, if only we are willing to cut the chains and let the past go.

That is the part of our story that is absolutely, unquestionably, in our hands. No one can do it for us. We must choose to leave the past where it belongs, that we may receive God’s abundant future.

Reflection:

• Did someone hurt you? For your own sake, set him or her free! There is healing available to you, if only you open the chains of blame and guilt and extend to others the same grace and forgiveness that Jesus gave you at the foot of the cross.

• Did you mess up and miss God’s best for you? He has a new “best” for you, if you are willing to ask Him to forgive you and to show you the way. He is a God of second, third, one thousandth chances!

“Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love." Micah 7:18

“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14

Broken and Beautiful

Verse: 

“Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.” Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NLT)

It was our fourth vacation day at the beach. 
Our youngest daughter and I ventured down the beach, eager to find at least one intact shell for our vacation collection. She had been filling her purple bucket with shells every day; however they were mostly broken. As I looked inside with little interest, I realized that these were remains of what once were large, beautiful sand dollars, massive conchs and shells of all kinds.

That was just not going to work. I was determined to find one intact large shell to bring home. 

Our adventure remained unproductive as the hour went by and each scoop of wet sand revealed another broken shell. After reaching down once again to sift the sand, I spotted my daughter, skipping in my direction, holding what seemed to be the inside of a horse conch. Her eyes, beaming with excitement: “Oh, mommy, look! It is so beautiful!” I picked it up and was ready to shrug, in frustration, when I heard Him whisper: “Look again… It is broken… and beautiful. Much like My children are.”

There are moments in life when time stands still and our perspective turns 180 degrees to consider life from a new angle. That was one of those moments. I knelt down beside my daughter, seeing the twisted piece in her tiny hand in a new way. Broken… and simply beautiful.

A flashback of life danced in my mind as I contemplated the large shell piece: Shattering moments in the past; painful situations that caused me to break time and again. Sin that shattered my soul until my Redeemer made me whole. Broken pieces. That was me. 

No, wait a minute. That IS me.

In a moment I realized that everything that I’ve ever done and ever gone through make me who I am.

“Oh, if I could ever go back!” How many times have we wasted time wishing we could go back and fix life!

On that beautiful day at the beach, holding a broken shell, I fully grasped the fact that, had I never been broken, I would not have known my Savior and experienced His redeeming, restoring love. For the first time since I’ve known grace, I truly embraced my brokenness as beautiful. 

God loves broken shells. 

Because I’ve been broken, I have seen the ugliness of sin for what it is… and invited Him to cleanse me and give me a new heart… He cleanses broken shells. 

Because I’ve been broken, I can look at my brothers and sisters with compassion when they fail. And instead of judging them with unmerciful and self-righteous pride, extend them sympathy, forgiveness and love... He uses broken shells. 

Because I’ve been broken, when my neighbor is hurting, I remember the pain. And remember to give. And pray for them… He softens broken shells. 

Because I’ve been broken, and although the scars shall forever be a reminder of His deliverance and undeserving grace, my heart found peace and joy in Him… God restores broken shells.

Broken and beautiful. Just as God has chosen to use me to proclaim His mercies and be useful in His kingdom, I have chosen to bring a bag filled with beautiful broken shells home from the beach. They will be put in a vase and placed on my study desk: Beautiful memories of lazy days at the beach with the family I love and a fresh reminder of who I am in Christ: Broken, but whole. Scarred, but beautiful.

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature;

the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."

2 Corinthians 5:17

Reflection:

Do you find yourself grieving over sins of your past? Or wishing that life was different than what it is today?  

Surrender your brokenness to Him. Because if you are His child, your hurt has a distinct purpose. Whether it is to cleanse you, strengthen or prepare you, even though you cannot see His purpose, dare to trust Him. You will look back one day and understand that, in the process of breaking you, He was remaking you. And when He’s done remaking that very part that was once broken, He will use you in a mighty way. 

“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4 (NASB)

BROKEN & BEAUTIFUL 

Music & Lyrics

By

 Mark Schultz

My Latest Column for the AJC: "Spread God's Love One Box At A Time"

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God's Promises Are Forever!

 In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, "SO SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS BE."  Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. Therefore IT WAS ALSO CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Romans 4:18-22 

I was on my way to lunch and as I approached my car, I read my brand-new license plate frame: “No worries – God’s got it covered!”. I started laughing at myself, thinking of the irony of the statement as I searched my heart that day. I was having one of those days - the devil was on to me, attacking from every front, trying to destroy my testimony, trying to limit my vision to only what I could see at the moment.

Then I read about Abraham and his faith. He did not regard his old body and Sarah’s dead womb. He knew that “God had got it covered”. My license plate frame should be his! Looking at the obstacles ahead of him and his limited resources, he chose to trust God, obey Him and wait on Him. He lived his faith and because of that, he made it possible for each of us who confess Jesus as our Lord and Savior to receive God’s righteousness as our inheritance:

Romans 4:11: “He received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them”.

I cannot begin to tell you how wonderful it is to read that today! Mainly because I know Abraham’s story - his life was marked by mistakes, sins and failures, as much as with wisdom and goodness. But because of his faith ALONE, he inherited his promise and was found righteous before God. Not because of his works, his good days or bad days, but because of his solemn trust in God and His Word. That completely changes the paradigm of righteousness - my righteousness is not based on how I behave, on the bad days I have, but based on the faith that I placed in Jesus as my Savior and Lord, wherefore I inherited God’s righteousness and His promises.

On days like this, I cling to the thought that my not-so-perfect heart attitude can never move God’s love and acceptance. I cling to the promise Abraham received and that I inherited in Christ Jesus: the promise that, no matter what happens, God’s plan will be fulfilled in my life. All I have to do is trust and obey. One step at a time. In the meantime, I’m being conformed to His image, as He works on the rough edges, teaches me to love unconditionally, forgive always.

On days like this, I remember that worry and fret are simply a waste of time, because God’s plan for me has not changed. Sometimes I cannot see where He is leading me, but I know His plan is perfect and will unfold in His perfect time. Abraham saw his body get older, Sarah’s menopause come, and kept on believing. He kept his eyes on his (unseen) promise.  

 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” Hebrews 11:1

What is the prize that lies before you? Where is your Promise Land?

I challenge you to cling to His promise, asking God to teach you how to accept the trials that test your faith and learn to praise God in spite of your circumstances, all the way to your Promised Land!

 As for me, I'm going back to my car and face my cool license plate frame. When I look at it this time, it's not going to be a joke anymore. It's my heart's song: "No worries, God's got it covered!".    

Lord, thank you for the awesome inheritance of righteousness and the promises that I received by faith when I accepted Jesus as my Savior. Help me to look past my current circumstances, into the promises that You give me in Your Word. Help me to see that the tests and trials I am going through are tools that you use to strengthen my faith. Help me remember that “You are not a man, that You should lie, nor a son of man, that you should feel repentance for what You have promised (Numbers 23:19 – Amplified). I choose to trust you today that you will fulfill each one of your promises to me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.