Buyer Beware! …

(Editor’s note: Ramona submitted this blog last spring, but it coming off of a message on the family in the culture it seemed apropos. And, hopefully, spring is coming soon!)

The weather has changed—its warm—and so comes the yearly ritual of the ‘changing of the clothing.’ As usual, I am amazed at how quickly my children have grown. The summer clothing I diligently packed away in the fall seems to have shrunk in the bins that housed them during the colder months. And so off to the local department stores to fill in the gaps in my kids’ summer wardrobes.

I just returned from such a trip almost empty handed and with a sad heart. Though there were more than enough clothing options available—even at a reasonable cost—I was unwilling to buy into the ‘cultural norm’ and trade some very important principles we have used to make clothing selections for our children. In the stores I visited, the styles available for my eight year old daughter were predominately immodest and geared toward a trendy, teen pop culture that doesn’t embrace the biblical standards of modesty, humility, and appropriateness that Paul refers to in 1 Timothy 2:9 where he urges, “that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire.”

Obviously, my eight year old daughter is NOT a woman. In fact, in spite of what the fashion industry would like her to believe, she’s not a teen yet either. But there is direct application to her life, none the less. My example of dress, how I relate to her on the topic of dress, what I purchase for her wear, and what I allow her to wear now, in her elementary years, will ultimately tutor her heart either toward godly virtues of purity, modesty and self-control, or tutor her heart toward worldly values of sinful comparison, worldly acceptance, and gaining attention through her appearance.

Buyer beware! That cute little mid-drift top with spaghetti ties at the shoulder may deliver more than you bargained for as your daughter becomes progressively desensitized to our culture and its sensual trappings.

C.J. Mahaney has done some outstanding teaching in this area, and has written a chapter on modesty in "Worldliness: Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World" (you can order it at a special sale price at the ginormous sale ). It’s called “God, My Heart, and Clothes.” It’s wisdom for women of any age.

Also, please take some time to look over the Modesty Check List which will help you not only care for your daughters, but sharpen your convictions for yourself as well.