Wednesday, May 11, 2016

FROM MODEST TO SEXY...Revolution Of The Godly Woman

As I was busy doing my household work, this title was impressed in my heart: "FROM MODEST TO SEXY...Revolution Of The Godly Woman". Words filled my heart as images flooded my mind. Images of modest women I know. To tell the truth one or two women I knew after knowing Christ Jesus as my Lord and saviour came to mind so this thought struck my mind: "When a woman changes from a formerly modest looking woman to a "sexy" looking woman it reflects who or what is occupying her." By occupying her I am referring to occupying her mind, her time, her spirit or her body.

The world or the media is filled with images of how women should look in order to look "appealing." or "attractive" The media in essence dictates to women how they should look, behave, walk and carry themselves in order to attract men, make other women envious and in some cases get the job they want. Before I go to far with this I need to bring scripture into this in order to direct where I am going with this. The word of God says in Romans 12:2 "Do not conform to the patterns of this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind." What this means is that we should not copy or be like the world (the world being all that does not agree with God's word) but be changed by a constant renewal of our minds. "How do I renew my mind so I can be transformed?", you might ask. By constantly reading God's word and praying regurlaly or always. This scripture is one of God's words that made me remember that as a woman, my behaviour or look reflects who or what occupies me.

If I constantly study and meditate on the word of God, spend most of my time doing the work of ministry by helping others, evangelizing, spending time with my family and have daily moments of intimate conversations with God my appearance will reflect that. How? You wonder. I will be more modest and more covered up because I will be very much conscious on the kind of attention I am drawing to myself. Modest does not mean frumpy, extra long dresses, dull colours and looking like one is mourning. The Dictionary.com meaning for modest in this context is "having or showing regard for the decencies of behavior, speech, dress," In other words I would dress in a way that will make those around me or see me from a distance to not feel uncomfortable around me. Another meaning for modest I found on Dictionary.com is "free from vanity, egotism, boastfulness" If we study our Bibles regurlaly we would know that God does not want us to draw attention to ourselves but wants us to whatever we do all unto His glory.

 Someone might argue and say: "But modesty has nothing to do wth what you are wearing but has more to do with your heart." Yes that is true but so a woman who believes she is God-fearing can speak the word of God even in her sleep but still wear a mini dress with a cleavage squeezed out for fresh air? Can she dress like that on any normal Sunday to church or any day to work and still be effective in witnessing for Christ? Ok, this was not meant to be part of this post but somehow it creeped in knowing how people think and can be defensive. The point of this post is to highlight on who or what affects the way a woman dresses.

Think about this, many thousands of years ago women used to dress the same with more cover and less skin showing. Then came the introduction of media and women began to be the advertising objects of lust to sell cars, tools and other things that have nothing to do with women. That is when the term "Sex sells came." In those olden days before "Sex selling" women's concern was to take care of their families, households and do the works of God. Yes adultery and fornication dates back to the Bible days but media has influenced it highly.

Ok, coming back to the title "FROM MODEST TO SEXY...Revolution Of The Godly Woman", what a woman feeds her eyes, ears, mind and soul affects how she sees herself and in turn presents herself to the world. I write with my own personal experience and observation of those around me. Before I knew how to choose what and what not to watch, read, listen to and spend my time around I had a particular way of dressing. I wore dressed more shorter and more tighter until I changed my medium I received form. Well this is not an overnight transformation but as the word says "Be transformed by the renewal of your mind." the more you spend time in the word and prayer the more you get to see yourself through the eyes of God and not of the world.

The world or media is constantly screaming to women: "Look sexy, low cut tops, see through tops, skin tight dresses, little black/red/white something" through many ways. A woman of God can unconscioulsy be transformed and conformed to the world by what she watches, reads, listens to and who she spends time with. The are many shows out there that whisper without saying too much how our sisters should look. Some shows look innocent packaged as entertainment, talent shows and/or thought-provoking or mind-shifting talk shows. But when you look at the female hosts or reality stars style of clothes they are very appealing to the eyes of the viewer especially the male viewer even though the shows are targeted at women. This will then in turn affect the women's shopping, dressing, make up and how they carry thesmselves. The word of God in Proverbs 23:17 says: "What is in a man's heart so is he." So what a woman fills her mind with she starts to become. The more of these shows a woman watches the more they even draw her to the offscreen lives of those she watches. Most of the time the media will be drawing attention to the clothes, style and behaviour of those TV stars and there it is again, her shopping decision is affected. The same happens through what she listens to and reads as the shows she watches will draw her to tabloids. As well as commercial music and music stars she follows and listen to.

Remember the word of God says: "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:27) so in everything, what you expose your mind to through hearing and seeing becomes what you believe. This why people are very quick to defend the way that they dress and quote scriptures like "God looks at the heart and not at the outer appearance." You do know that the word of God also says: "Your body is the temple as the Holy Spirit." (1 Corinthians 6: 19 ) so imagine the church building being the physical house where we worship God looked like either a night club or brothel would you still believe it is the house of the Lord? Would you believe that people can find deliverence from a place looking like that? If we refer to the old testament when Solomon had to build the temple of the Lord (Read 1 Samuel 6), God was specific and strict on how it should be built, decorated and on what articles should be in it. Even before the temple was built God specified on how The Ark of The Covenant (Exodus 25:10-22) should be designed and what articles should be in it. Just to give you a quick Bible History, remember the Ark of the Covenant signified the presence of the Lord. When Christ died on the cross the veil in the Holy of Holies got torn (Matthew 27:51) which then meant we could all now access God's presence. And when He ascended He sent the Holy Spirit (John 14:15-21) to us and  now He, the Holy Spirit lives in us as we are His temple. So now, if whatever you wear does not affect the presence of the Holy Spirit why was God so specific on the look of His temple? Do you not then think what you fill your mind, soul and spirit with through your hearing and sight would affect the presence and work of the Holy Spirit in you (John 14:26)?

To bring this article that was never meant to be so long to a conclusion, I mentioned the company a woman keeps also affects how she dresses and how she carries herself. The man in the woman's life is reflected in how she dresses and behaves. If that man is a man governed by the flesh or filled by what media feeds him, he will somehow affect her. Sometimes he does not even have to tell her how to dress but what she sees as what appeals to him, will affect her clothes, behaviour and how she carries herself. In some cases the man in a woman's life does directly tell her what looks good on her. A man can either influence a woman to cover up more or reveal more of her flesh and shape of her body. In most instances where there is more skin preferred it communicates something else about the couple's relationship or where it is heading. The same goes with the type of friends a woman has. If they feed on media junk, it reflects on their conversations, dress and lifestyle and this eventually draws the woman of God to conform. So no matter how much she makes it a point to read the word and pray, the company she keeps eventually corrupts her. Sisters, it is scriptural, see 1 Corinthians 15:33.

"FROM MODEST TO SEXY...Revolution Of The Godly Woman" this is not intended to judge or condemn or even give me a certificate of "Holy than thou" but to be an eye-opener and reminder to my sisters whom God loves. When you buy clothes or when you put them on, ask yourself: "Am I representing God or am I drawing attenion to my body?" I know over 90% of the fashion for women is body-sculpturing dresses but this should not give us the excuse to wear the skin-tight dress that makes the onlooker wonder why they cannot see any visible panty lines or the lycra tights or leggings as they are now called to church. Always remember we are houses and how we decorate these houses will attract whatever believes this house is built for. Just to point out another thing, this is also not written to condone judging and speaking against women who dress inapropriately to church because all of us are in different stages of self-discovery in Christ.

In closing: "30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
    but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
31 Honor her for all that her hands have done,
    and let her works bring her praise at the city gate." Proverbs 31:30-31


 

2 comments:

Temogo Zondi said...

Hi Faith, woke up this morning to read this. Beautiful and thought provoking. I remember how the Holy Spirit slowly spoke to me about my dress code to church and it slowly changed. Not only that, but how media affects how we think and think we are attracted to. We need a revelation of whose we are and what we invest in; will have a huge impact. I studied media and I love it. Really believe I'm called in that industry to make a difference, but as much as I know about their tactics, I continue to try my best to measure all with the word of God. It's easy to end up thinking such is a norm.

Faith Nthoba said...

@Temogo, only seeing you comment three years later. How bad am I.

God needs His children to occupy all gates. So you are in media to affect the industry and do if not the industry God’s beloved children who work there but are not aware of God’s love and concern for them.