Modesty Heart Check

Here's a great two-page PDF document to use as you seek to worship God with how you dress. If you read/listened to what CJ Mahaney said about the connection between our hearts and our wardrobes (and how it all ties into the Gospel), then you might be desiring some help with the specifics, so here it is! If you didn't get a chance yet to listen to CJ Mahaney's sermon (or read his chapter on it), just click here.

The Soul of Modesty

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of listening to this sermon by CJ Mahaney (one of my favorite authors!) on modesty. Oh, how I long for each of you to be able to listen to it! If you prefer to read, rather than listen, you can find the same basic message HERE.

Mahaney says, "Immodesty, then, is much more than wearing a short skirt or low-cut top; it’s the act of drawing undue attention to yourself. It’s pride, on display by what you wear."

Mahaney says he "assumes that most Christian women who dress immodestly are ignorant of the war with lust that men confront on a daily basis. They probably don’t have a clue what goes on in a man’s mind and what effect their bodies have on the eyes and hearts of men young and old." But CJ's sermon and article remove the excuse of ignorance, and all of us are better off for it!

Is ignorance the reason that Sunday after Sunday I see a variety of very nice women at my church showing various amounts of cleavage? In his sermon CJ asks, "Is there a man who came to church today desirous of worshiping God and was distracted by you?" My friends, THAT is not what we want, so why do we act like it doesn't matter what we wear? Men are VERY visual, and it DOES matter how we dress. But don't take my word for it. Please listen to the sermon because I love the way CJ explains that it is for the sake of the Gospel that we should care about modesty.

If you've been to the Girl Talk blog, then you know that CJ's wife and daughters are very stylish, attractive, cool women who love God passionately. It's not about legalism or dressing with no style whatsoever. I think Beth Moore is a great example of this. She dresses in a stylish way (not necessarily a style we'd all chose, but it really works for her), but she's always modest. And in her Esther study DVD she pleads with women to "COVER THEIR BREASTS." So this is not an idea that I came up with on my own, but it's something of great concern to me, and I've really been wanting to share this sermon with you. I think it's an area none of us are exempt from working on. We all have room to grow, and we've got to help each other out, right?

I promise you won't regret the time spent listening to this. Let me know what you think!