Modesty is a subject that comes up a lot in my conversations as a mother of boys, a mother with a teenage daughter, and due to the fact that I am a woman myself.  

Lately it has been a burden on my heart as I have watched someone I love dearly swing from the oppression of forced modesty by the church to the opposite extreme.

So what is modesty?  Is it the way we dress or is it a condition of our hearts?  

Let me say as a Christian woman, I do believe that we should dress tastefully for we are God’s workmanship and we are also His temple.  But true modesty does not come from the clothes we wear, it comes from the overflow of our hearts.

When our self worth is perfectly tied to who God says we are, there is no need for us to get value or worth from our outward appearances.  Being safe and secure in the love of Jesus and in our identity as daughters of the King frees us from a life of using our body to gain value.  

We find our value instead on what He did for us on the cross and in our adoption into the Kingdom.

I used to be a woman who wore certain types of clothing striving to keep my husband’s eyes from straying and to boost my own self esteem.  BUT this type of worth is empty and was fueled by the reactions I received from others.

When my focus shifted off of my ‘who am I’ mentality and became about who God says I am, I stopped having the need to compete for that type of attention.  

The more focused I became on Christ the more I wanted to live in a way that honored him.  The more I have lived a life that honors Him the wiser my clothing choices have become.  I found that I no longer had to be a slave to the fickle opinions of others when my identity stopped resting on the crux of who I was and instead became anchored to who God is and what He did for me.  

You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfolding beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.  1 Peter 3:4 (NLT)

As I prayed for a friend that was facing a path of uncertainty, I asked God to go before her and prepare the way.  I asked Him to walk alongside of her as she started down a new and unpredictable road.  I began to request that He go behind her to tie up any loose ends when a thought intruded upon my petition.

How many of us ask God to go before us without really thinking about what we are asking?  Do we even believe it is possible when we pray words like these or are they just something we say?

The amazingly good news is that our God is not bound by time and space.  He is omnipresent, meaning that He is everywhere at the same time.  He is atemporal: independent of or unaffected by time.  He is timeless.  Since our God is not restricted to the limits of time, there is no situation you will face where He has not already been.  No path you can take where He hasn’t walked ahead of you to prepare the way.

No matter what you are facing today.  You are not alone.  He is there now.  He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  You don’t need to be afraid.  Your emotions may dictate otherwise, but you are perfectly safe in His care.  So, unfurl those hands.  Let go.  He’s already seen your situation through to the end.  You can trust His plans for you.

You go before me and follow me.  You place your hand of blessing on my head.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!  I can never escape from your Spirit!  I can never get away from your presence!  If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there.  If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.  I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night— but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.  To you the night shines as bright as the day.  Darkness and light are the same to you.  Psalms 139:5-12 (NLT)

As Christians we are asked to live with open outstretched hands.  This is easy to do when things are going well.  When we are walking through a mountaintop experience.  But what happens when the doctor brings bad news when you were expecting a miracle?  When something threatens a relationship that is dear to you?  When your kids or spouse don’t listen to your advice and make decisions that literally rock your world?  When the face that looks back at you from the mirror is hardly recognizable?  When you long to spend time with someone, but their gravestone is the only tangible thing you have left?  What do you do then?

This is when we must intentionally choose WHO we trust.  We must declare to our circumstances, our emotions, and our thought life that no matter how the storm rages around us, we will trust the name of the Lord our God.

We have to willingly unfurl our fists and raise our arms in open surrender.  Telling our circumstances, reminding ourselves, and declaring out loud…  The LORD is my strength and shield.  I trust him with all my heart.  He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy.  I bust out in songs of thanksgiving.  Psalm 28:7 (NLT)

We all have a testimony that needs to be shared.  Your story may be the breakthrough that someone else has been praying for.  Don’t allow fear to hold you back from declaring what He has done for and in you.

They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; Revelation 12:11a (NIV)