Adorn, Adorning

When my husband and I were engaged, we were reading through different books of scripture together. We would randomly pick a book and then read through it and one of those books was Timothy. Well, we actually didn't get that far, because I felt uncomfortable by how sexist his sermons were. Apparently this, along with most of the other books in the New Testament, was a letter written to a specific people speaking about a specific problem during a specific time period and though it has some general truth it is not to be taken as complete doctrine. I like to think that God had a greater purpose and plan for his daughters and it was the world and society that wasn't ready for it yet. It makes me think of what amazing truths God is waiting to give us now only we aren't ready for it yet either.

Why I bring this up is because all three scriptures have to do with how the saints should be living, specifically how the women should dress modestly. Maybe I'm not quite onboard with the whole idea of women being these meek and obedient servants to their husbands, but I do agree with modesty in appearance and personality. Modesty shows control and restraint in a person, no one likes a loud and annoying person yammering in their face. It also shows respect for your body. That doesn't mean not to dress attractively, but it does mean not to show off.

One summer in college I had a huge crush on a boy I was friends with. However, this other girl swooped in and became his girlfriend. This girl was really pretty, kind of boring, and wore low tank tops and really short skirts. I was complaining to another guy friend of mine how I didn't stand a chance against someone who looked so great and he said, "short skirts may be hot, but they are not attractive." Coming from a college guy I felt like he was telling me some truth that most guys would never admit - that though they went after the girls who showed more skin and were really flashy, it wasn't actually what they wanted in the long run.

It was/is hard to try and dress the part of "the girl you would bring home to your parents" as opposed to the exciting "good enough for dancing at the clubs" - you have to work harder to find clothes in stores and you have to deal with constantly comparing yourself to these amazing looking women and the way guys fall over them without even knowing their name. They have power. But it isn't the kind of power that will last.

There is a power in modesty that builds your character, helping you to develop into a nice person. It takes the focus off of what you can see and looks more into what you do to make the world better. There is strength in this that I didn't fully realize I had during those tough teenage years, but looking back I can see now that I was making an impact. I fully believe that it began with how I chose to present myself to others.