What happened to modesty?

Modesty in the way we dress? It seems as though people today have no respect for themselves or don't believe they are of any worth unless they are showing more than they should. I never really paid attention to it until, of course, I had children. And I really pay attention now that I teach Sunday School to 7th & 8th grade girls. The teachers in my SS class have told our girls before about skimpy dressing because 1) it's not what God wants for us
2) attracts the wrong kind of guy
3) takes the focus off what's in your heart and places it on the physical

I'm not advocating dresses-only or clothes that completely cover every square inch of you but I don't see anything wrong with that. I just see a lot of girls dressed in very seductive clothes and their parents allow it-i don't understand it. Do we absolutely have to fit into society's standards? Can parents not take a stand with their kids and say, "hey, you're advertising the wrong thing by wearing that" or "in our family, we dress more modestly". Just because the trends say, "looking like a ____ (fill in the blank as you see fit) is where it's at" must we, as parents, say, "sure sweetie, you need to look like every other in the box trendy person".

This is not what I want my son to see growing up and to be tempted by and definitely not what I want my girls to be around. So we are trying to teach our very young children about modesty. As for Cade, I have told him about girls dressing modestly and how I believe that is one small way to glorify God and even her future husband. As for my very young girls, the biggest thing for us is one-piece bathing suits or tankinis. I think if they are used to wearing this by the time they get older, hopefully, it will be less of any issue. We shall see .....

I can remember when I was talking to a mother of a boy in junior high and she said, "I understand that people always believe it's the boy's fault when things happen with their precious girls but if they could only see how their precious girls act around our boys - her son. It drives me crazy when they call his name and stretch and yawn so their shirts rise up to their chest so they can tempt them with their skin and when they bend over so their pants ride down to show their thongs". Nope, not always the boy's fault. Girls aren't stupid, they know what they are doing. Soooo, why not teach our girls to respect themselves and that they don't have to do those things to find the guy God has already chosen for them.

Last night, Jeff paused the tv during a football game and called me in there. Faith Hill was performing. He asked me, "isn't she married?" ummmm, yes indeed she is. "So, why's she dressed like that, there's nothing left to the imagination." And indeed there wasn't. This is what our girls look to for inspiration and what our boys look to and believe our girls should look like. Sad, don't you think?

I've seen young girls that wear dressy short-shorts to church and I think to myself, "what are you doing? and have your parents seen you?" I've told girls in my SS class-put your legs together, you're in a dress; pull your top up, pull your skirt down; I've even told someone to please not wear something again unless she has leggings on under it-all of these things I said with love. These girls know we love them and only want the best for them. But really, what is happening here-in our church?

Jeff and I are trying to raise our children to dress modestly, yes they're very young, but I think that's where it needs to starts. Will we succeed? Only God knows the answer to that. But we'll keep trying and keep teaching them. Our children are worth it and more importantly, God is worth it.


FYI-don't google image search "modesty" for something cute to post on your blog. Um, it pops up a lot of crude stuff. Niiiiccccceeeee.