Da’ Judge (is not you)…

As women striving for modesty in today’s society, it can be frustrating to be around women who are obviously not interested in dressing and acting modestly. It is especially hard during the summer months, when we are often surrounded by blatant immodesty, even in church and with Christian women! When we see this, it is easy to judge, become angry and get a superior attitude about how much better we are at being modest than “that woman over there” (who really, really should know better!!).

Our society has pushed the “judge not lest you be judged” attitude, only allowing for judgement when it is them who is upset with us. However, while the verse can often be used out of context, I think it applies rather well here.  Jesus was telling us in Matthew 7:1, that we are going to be “measured” or judged with the same standards that we use for “measuring” or judging others.  When we see women who are not being modest, the first thing we should do is pray for them. Many times, it is not that these women have a strong desire to flaunt “everything” (although I do know that it is sometimes the case), but often they have not explicitly heard about why modesty is so important.  We can also pray for an opportunity to speak with them about it, if it’s something that God would have us do. (This mostly applies to sisters in Christ, I think.)  But….We also need to make sure that while we are praying for the other person, we are consistantly asking God to show us the areas in which we need to become more modest.  There could be a pair of pants we wear that is just a little bit too tight, but we like how they look; or the heels that are so high, that they make us walk with a little more “hip”.

Because although “the other woman” might seem obviously immodest, the little things that we do are just as wrong…especially if we know it’s wrong, and we still do it.  We might get angry and frustrated with how others dress, but we need to remember that our “sins of immodesty” are just as real, and grieve God just as much, if not more because we should know better.  While there might be levels of immodesty when it comes to what others see–a fitted shirt might not seem quite as immodest as a plunging neckline; but when it comes to the heart, God says sin is sin.

So, I’m not saying to never get frustrated with immodesty or to just brush it off as “cluelessness” on the person’s part, because we are to be upset by sin! But, we just need to make sure that we are just as upset and frustrated by our sins as those of others. Because at the end of the day, we are only responsible for one person–us. But if we are so busy measuring the sins of others, that we can’t work to eradicate our own…we have problems.

A wife to my handsome man and mama to my little man. I spend my days fixing meals and cuddling. I live in the cold, cold north, where there are four seasons: almost snow, lots of snow, more snow, and the two days of summer. I love the subject of modesty, but am dissapointed that there seems to be so little of it in today's clothing. Maybe this will be my very small way of helping to bring it back.