The Beauty of Modesty

People magazine can put a half-naked woman on the cover of their magazines and claim she wins the most beautiful woman of the year award.  NO, that’s not true beauty. Modesty reveals a woman’s inner beauty for the world to see, while preserving her body for her husband in the holy sacrament of marriage. Our culture has lost this sense of sacredness for the human body and the marital embrace. Yes, you heard right! God Himself designed sex for a husband and wife to bring forth new life into this world, a sacred act reserved for marriage.

There is an exceeding amount of over sexualized behavior and immodesty in our culture. What this world needs is for women to stand up and embrace the beauty of the feminine genius, challenge men to be men of virtue and call society to a higher standard. A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies…charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” – Proverbs 31.

A woman is a mystery, and this is the way God designed her. And when a woman conducts herself in accordance with the way in which God created her, she reflects this beauty and appeal in a unique way.
At the core of every woman is the natural desire for respect. No woman desires to be mistreated, but in reality, when a woman dresses immodestly she is inviting disrespect upon herself. When she dresses in a revealing way, she is inviting others to notice her body, and possibly lust after what they see. But, when a woman dresses modestly she is protecting herself from being used, while concealing the beautiful mystery of her body. 

Women, who are the crowning of God’s creation play a unique role in reversing this tragedy. How? By embracing the strengths, essence and authentic value of womanhood. In his letter to women, Pope John Paul II refers to these unique characteristics of women as the feminine genius. What an exceedingly beautiful task we have been given!

Taken from Made in His Image Blog

The Beauty of Femininity

I remember watching the ladies' free skate program in a world skating championship a number of years ago. My ears perked up when I heard the commentator, Dick Button, talk about one of the performances. He said, “She’s a very ladylike skater. She makes me feel very relaxed when I watch her.” He was describing the beauty of femininity.
There’s something engaging about femininity when it’s truly lived out. When women are true women and men are true men, it can touch people in powerful ways. It reflects the order God intended when he created man in His own image—“male and female he created them” (Gen. 1:27).
You don’t have to be a championship figure skater to display femininity. Could someone say of you, “She’s a very ladylike student” or “a ladylike daughter” or “a ladylike worker”? Whatever position or season of life you’re in, you can glorify God by being a true woman.

Taken from Seeking Him by Nancy Leigh DeMoss

It's Not Your Body

Chastity is important because it involves how we comport our bodies — and through faith, our bodies are no longer our own. In faith, you have become part of Christ's body, and it is Christ through the Church, who must give you permission to join His body to another body.

In the Christian worldview, we have no right to sex. The place where the Church confers that privilege on you is the wedding; weddings are specific acts that grant us permission to have sex with one person.

In other words, chastity is a fact of gospel life. The New Testament makes clear that sex beyond the boundaries of marriage — the boundaries of communally granted sanction of sex — is simply off limits. To have sex outside those bounds is to commit an offense against the body. Abstinence before marriage, and fidelity within marriage — refraining from sex with someone other than your husband or wife — is just one of those basic rules that keeps you inside the Christian community. Any other kind of sex is embodied apostasy.

Practicing premarital chastity is also important because it safeguards and protects marital sex — that is, it protects us, so that if and when we do get married, we are able to experience sex as God intended it to be.

Taken from Laura Winner's article "Purity"

Who Do You Belong To?

 
It is no accident that much of our inner battle as women centers on our bodies. We obsess with appearance, weight, and form. The battle over our bodies is really a battle for our souls. We have to choose who we belong to and what we were designed for. If we believe the body is meant for us, then we leave no place for God to inhibit. If we believe our bodies were designed by God as His dwelling place, then we leave no place for worldly judgements about size or "imperfections." 
   God call us to recognize the sacred in a world of pollution. Sacred means set apart, not for common use. Something sacred is uncommon and cannot be judged alongside the profane. Sacred also implies it is initiated by God and intended for God. The world's standards are not relevant. 

Taken from Beauty Secrets of the Bible by Ginger Garrett

Who is Defining Beauty for You?

  God's definition of beauty is vibrant, alive, brilliant and radiant. It draws people in. Nothing vibrant is stationary. God's beauty compels us to action, to give to others. Worldly beauty compels us to consume: Get attention! Get admiration! Get approval!
   Vibrant beauty is the abundant life we're promised, and it prompts us to seek what we can give: give attention, give affirmation, give admiration to others. That's the beauty that leaves its mark on people and the world. The thief wants to steal, and God wants to give. When you contemplate beauty, notice what your definition of beauty is compelling you to do, and you will know who is defining beauty for you at that moment.

Taken from Beauty Secrets of the Bible by Ginger Garrett

Guarding Your Heart

I was asked not too long ago what guard your heart really means. The answer isn’t cut and dry, especially because each of us has different experiences, different relationships, different baggage, etc. However, when asked this question, I attempted to answer with an analogy that I’d like to share with you now. I told the young woman who asked me the question the following:

Imagine that your heart is inside a giant mansion. Imagine that at the outskirts of the mansion there’s a guard tower with an armed guard inside. Surrounding the mansion is a 15′-high electrified fence. Inside the fence are several Dobermans who haven’t eaten lately. On this side of the dogs is a large, triple-thick, rock wall with a gate that has a special code used to get in. Inside the rock wall is a large bullet-proof metal door with 7 deadbolts.

Now imagine that you’re early in a relationship with a man. Guarding your heart is prudently allowing the guard to take an extended leave of absence. The fence is still electrified, the dogs are still there, the gate is still down and the door is still locked – 7 times no less. The man gets a little closer to your heart, but still doesn’t have unlimited access. Little by little you reduce the security and over time, through prudent thinking and decision making, you begin to allow the man closer to your heart and allow him to have more access to you. He gazes into your heart from a distance… sort of like looking through the windows of the mansion… and from his gaze, he begins to learn about your heart. Seeing into the heart is different than having unabated access to the heart. The only time a man should have this unabated access to a woman’s heart is when she is his spouse.

For many people, it may seem too hard to guard their heart. For many people, it may seem too late to guard their heart. If pain from relationships-gone-bad, lack of trust after a break up (or after every break up) and utter disappointment in relationships in general is fun for you, then keep up the common mistakes, and lack of protection for your heart. If, however, you come to understand that your heart is worth guarding because you are a precious daughter of God and because you deserve only the best in life, then take the necessary steps to start guarding your heart now. If a man in your life is too close to your heart (or maybe inside the mansion), do what’s best for you and ask him to take a few steps back. It will be hard at first, and may even seem pointless, but in the long run, it will be a blessing. Trust me.

The analogy is based on the context of a romantic relationship; keep in mind that we should each be guarding our hearts from evil, sin, and unclean-outside influences as well. This analogy doesn’t explain the entire story about guarding your heart… but points to the reality of the importance and value of the heart of a woman.

Taken from Made in His Image blog post by Dave DiNuzzo Sr. 

Did You Know?

A secure girl...

understands that her true beauty comes from the inside, not from her clothes or her outward appearance. She uses fashion to accent her beauty, not as a wary to define herself or give herself worth. She has found her own style-one she feels comfortable in, not one she's using to get attention or to simply blend in.

~Taken from article "Secure Girls" by Beth Moore