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.
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.
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