Welcome to The Modesty Proposal

        There are two main parts to being a modest lady. The first of these is physically what we wear, and the second is attitude. When I think about WHY I’m doing something, I can often find out whether its worth doing. Am I wearing this because if I don’t wear it, no one will notice me or talk to me? Or am I wearing it because it happens to be my grandmother’s and she asked me to, even though it is a little flashy? Is the way I walk, talk, dress, or look at someone else’s walk, talk, and dress driven by my selfish purposes or Christ-like selfless purposes?

Unfortunately, there is no easy measuring stick for motivations. We like to justify whatever we do in our head so that we can continue living the way we want to. And it doesn’t take much. Adam and Eve were tempted by fruit. We can totally be tempted by a cute dress that shows way too much, but makes us look just like everybody else. Why are we this way? It’s really all Eve’s fault:), and we can safely say that Eve fell prey to a wily salesman. 

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

       He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 

               And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God 

               said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you

               touch it, lest you die.’”But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God 

               knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good 

              and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, 

              and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some 

              to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew

              that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. --Genesis 3:1-7 ESV

When Satan approached Eve, he didn’t mince matters. He flat out lied about God and what God wanted. Which is just what our culture does to us. It says “ There's no good reason for you to not wear this particular dress...and in fact, if you wear it, you’ll be widely accepted for it-- because it's eye-catching, and makes you look dangerous and desired”.  The similarities between Satan’s message and the common message of our era are shocking and sobering--ones that should warn us of the need to pursue godly modesty and ladylike deportment.  

      The purpose of this blog is two-fold. One, I think better out loud, and writing is a form of thinking out loud. Two, the pursuit of modesty comes from teamwork--one girl trying to be modest on her own is like an ant trying to build an ant hill by himself.  Christian girls need to rally to support each other, and I set this up to help with that. Feel free to comment anything, from practical shopping tips to insightful scripture or poetry. Thanks for considering the modesty proposal!