True God-Honoring Dress

                        {Written by Bethany Ann}

Many a young girl struggles with knowing what to wear. Many a young girl have debated over the simple but deep issue of skirts or pants? But today I would like to share with you a few things the Lord has been teaching me on this subject and how I believe that by either wearing skirts or pants only, that we are completely missing the whole point.

     I personally wear skirts every day, not as a rule but as a option I have chosen. My parents have never told me that I have to only wear skirts or vice versa. It has always been a choice I had made. As long as it was modest and honored the Lord then I was allowed to wear it. The ladies of our family choose to switch from jeans to skirts in January of 2008. I remember that day, feeling so feminine and beautiful to the Lord, knowing that I was choosing to glorify Him by the things I wore. Although I do wear skirts ninety-nine percent of the time, I occasionally wear capris to exercise in, on super cold days, etc.

     I honestly think that when girls decide to only wear skirts or only wear jeans that even though they are stiriving to honor God through that choice, they are missing the point. God's Word doesn't give us much detailed instruction as to whether girls should wear skirts or not, but we do know that He has said: "A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor a man wear women’s clothing, for the LORD your God detests anyone who does this." {Deuteronomy 22:5} So the women and men are supposed to be different, you should be able to tell them apart. Some ways that women can do this is by:

• Having longer hair
• Wearing feminine clothing
• Acting in a feminine manner

which is par tof the reason why I have enjoyed having long hair and wearing feminine clothing.

     So should women wear skirts or jeans? I really don't think this is the question we should be asking ourselves. We should ask this of ourselves: "Is what I wear glorifying the Lord or not? If Jesus were besided me whould He be glad in what I am wearing or shamed?" You see young ladies, so many girls only focus on the issue of skirts or pants but the completely miss out on the modesty and heart issue of the question. They zone-in on the first part but don't realize that there is more to it than a simple option. Becase whether we wear skirts or jeans, both can be dishonoring to the Lord if in the wrong manner or for the wrong reasons. I truly don't think it matters whether we wear only skirts or not, our goal should be to honor the Lord by what we wear and why we wear it. If a young lady chooses to only wear skirts and goes and buys a short, tight, transparent skirt and wears it, is she glorifying the Lord? Is she being modest? Is she pointing others to Christ? You see, even though she is wearing  skirt she is not honoring the Lord.

     So, dear sister, what are you wearing right now? I am wearing a skirt but you may be wearing jeans. The point is though, its not what your wearing but ask yourself why are you wearing it? It is all about our heart issue and truly seeking to glorify God by what we wear. And when we focus on serving Him through our dress then it doesn't matter what we wear. If you are wearing your clothing for any of these reasons then you need to stop and think!

• To get attention
• To seem wealthy since you can purchase such expensive clothing
• To be flashy
• To have people think you are cool since you wear what they wear
• To have people admire you and or your body
• To be prideful by thinking you are better dresses than the person beside you

You see? These wrong direction of clothing choices can be fulfilled in either a skirt or a pair of jeans! In fact by my wearing a skirt and being modest, sometimes it is easy to fall into the trap of begin prideful because I am more modest than the girl behind me in the check-out line. So no matter what we wear, we must be sure that we wear it not for our own glory but for God's -- for we belong to Him after all! Here is some reasons we should keep in mind when choosing clothing:

• To point others to Christ and His love
• To be feminine and modest
• To be humble, not seeking attention for ones own self
• To be a servant and desire for people to form their opinion on you by your attitude and not by your dress
• To have people focus on your face instead of your clothing
• To be pure and reserved

I hope that these words may be of encouragement to you and I pray that you would, if needed make changes in your wardrobe so that you truly can glorify the Lord by what you wear! After all, our clothing is only there to cover us and should not be the center of our attention. May God bless you and you seek to serve Him!
Blessings,

Bethany Ann

{Pictures are of Bethany & Ashley Ward. March 2011}