1 TIMOTHY 2:9
Whenever I go shopping for clothes, I always try on pants that are too tight, or shirts that are too low-cut, or skirts that are just a bit too short. I am tempted to buy them. I am surrounded by ads that encourage me to wear suggestive clothes and girls everywhere who do. Because I want to fit in, I feel like I have to dress that way. I try to explain it by thinking, “Well, who is this bothering? I feel great.” But then I stop and think about why I am wearing these clothes. Is it really to fit in? Is it so that guys will notice me? I begin to wonder if that’s the kind of attention I want from guys. Do I want them to talk to me because of how I look or because of who I am? My friends who are girls don’t like me because they think I am hot or like the brand of jeans I wear. My friends are true friends precisely because they don’t care about what I’m wearing or what I look like. So why should we want guys to like us for that reason? There is something else, though, that I rarely consider. Guys really struggle when a girl wears immodest clothes. Maybe he does want to get to know her, but the shirt that she’s wearing is distracting him from getting to know her past what she looks like. By wearing provocative clothes we encourage guys’ minds to wander, hurting both them and ourselves. Someone told me to consider whether my outfit is drawing attention to my face or another part of my body. When I get dressed, I ask myself, “Does this honor God and my brothers in Christ?”
Grace Bricker, 16, Jonathan Edwards Academy, Greenfield, MA
Lord, is what I’m wearing right now
honoring You? Did I even think about that
when I got dressed? I pray that I will from now on.