With the arrival of springtime and summer in view, you may have on your agenda to head to the stores to update your summer wardrobe. Or, you may have made plans for a shopping outing with the children or grandchildren who have outgrown last year’s duds. As you head out, give some intentional thought about the styles you choose.
Recently, a friend pointed out to me how society has become desensitized and blind to the lack of modesty in the clothes some people choose to wear. Most notably in the entertainment world, but also in everyday life. She pointed out that many of today’s fashions, which previously were out of bounds, have become normalized, accepted, and even glamorized.
This trend prompts a few questions:
Dressing modestly reflects a proper and healthy attitude regarding the greatness of a person. Modesty includes the whole person, the intellect, the personality and value of the person, as created by God, for a sacred purpose. Modesty makes genuine relationship possible. Whereas immodesty overlooks the sanctity of person, focusing on the parts of the body, thereby diminishing the dignity of the person and interfering with the opportunity for genuine relationship.
Dressing immodestly glorifies and draws attention to oneself. Conversely, dressing modestly glorifies God. Unfortunately, over the past 50 years or so, society’s focus has shifted away from glorifying God and largely replacing our Creator with the ‘strange god’ of ‘self’. We are warned about having strange gods in the 1st Commandment. Regardless, having adopted a mindset of glorifying oneself, society has deemed modesty as old-fashioned, out of style, even prudish and has been replaced with a more ‘liberated’ dress code.
With a new ‘liberated’ dress code, eyes begin to wander resulting in covetousness, which jeopardizes living the 9th Commandment, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife/husband.”
Recall what happened when Eve’s eyes wandered to look at the forbidden tree and saw that, “The fruit was pleasing to the eye.” The implications of modern covetousness are much the same. Shame, division, and death!
God warns us about the consequences of immodesty in His 6th Commandment, “Thou shall not commit adultery,” which too often triggers a host of serious sins. Most notably, the abortion of the life of a child, which God commands us to protect with the 5th Commandment.
Has today’s immodest styles become socially accepted and gone too far and caused some very challenging consequences, especially for the younger generation? How do we restore modesty and by doing so, protect marriages, families and lives?
Following St. John Paul II’s wisdom in his Theology of the Body, our focus should not be on telling the children how they shouldn’t dress. Rather, he coaches us to restore the reverence, honor and purpose of the human body and sexuality. The Catholic Catechism of the Catholic Church provides some very insightful instruction on the wonder of the human body and God’s plan for sexuality in paragraphs 2331 – 2400. I encourage you to read these paragraphs to prepare you to guide the children in your life in making healthy choices regarding their bodies.
Think of a young man or woman you know and love. If you were to explain to him or her how their body is a masterpiece, given to them by their Creator, to be revered and honored, given for a holy and sacred purpose, wouldn’t he or she be more intentional to preserve and protect their body instead of thoughtlessly giving themselves away as they would exchange Twinkie for a yogurt?
I understand that shopping for modest styles may sound boring, but it doesn’t have to be boring. In fact, it can be quite fun. Below are several resources, including some videos, for girls, boys, men, and women, on how modest outfits can be truly attractive, fashionable and fun. (Note: You can skip past the commercials that appear before some of the clips.)
Who do you know that will be looking for the best sales on summer fashions in the coming weeks? Pray about how to share these videos and how to encourage healthy options for them to consider as they make their selections. Then afterwards, let me know how it goes.
Thank you and make it a joy-filled day!
Executive Director
IfULoveMe.org
Restoring Truth in a World of Confusion
To dive deeper in your knowledge of learning and living the 10 Commandments on a daily basis in order to experience true joy and freedom, visit our 10 Commandments Page that corresponds to each of the 10 Commandments.
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