The following is paraphrased from Nancy Leigh DeMoss's radio program "Revive Our Hearts" from May 26, 2005: "Philosophies in Conflict."
The World Says: Beauty is physical, beauty is external.
The Christian Understands: The heart of beauty, true beauty whether or not you have it outwardly, is something that is internal and spiritual.
The World Says: The way you feel about your body is equivalent to the way you feel about yourself.
The Christian Understands: Your body is not your identity. It's a casing for your spirit, for your soul. It's a temple. It's not the external temple that really matters. It's what is inside, the presence of God. The body is packaging; it's not the essence of your identity.
The World Says: You are the product of evolution, and as a result you are the highest authority there is. Your body belongs to you. No one else has any say or control over it.
The Christian Understands: Your body doesn't belong to you, but your body belongs to God. If you're a married woman, your body belongs to someone else, and that is your husband. If you are ever going to be a married woman, your body belongs to someone else. And you're just keeping it, saving it, protecting it, preserving it for him.
The World Says: People dress in order for other people to notice.
The Christian Understands: We dress not to have other people notice us so much as to first please God.
The World Says: The purpose of clothing is to reveal the body.
The Christian Understands: The purpose of clothing is to cover the body.
The World Says: If you've got it, flaunt it. Advertise what you've got available.
The Christian Understands: I want to draw attention to the life of Jesus within me, to my spirit, to my countenance, to the fullness of the Holy Spirit within me.
The World Says: If you want to be loved, you have to be beautiful, sensual and alluring.
The Christian Understands: You're already loved, you're loved by God in a deeper and richer and more meaningful and eternal way than you could ever be loved by any human being.
The World Says: Clothing is driven by fashion--what's in; what's hot.
The Christian Understands: Clothing is driven by the heart and the Word of God.
You see, Christian modesty is first and foremost a way of thinking. It's a way of thinking that manifests itself in the way that we dress, in the way that we talk, in the way that we act, and in the attitudes that we communicate.
The women who've adopted the world's philosophy of fashion and clothing are not free. You'll never be truly free until you're free to do what God wants you to do regardless of what anything or anyone else dictates to you.
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