Years ago, belly shirts were popular. Honestly, most of the girls who wore the belly shirts shouldn’t have been drawing so much attention to that particular part of their bodies. While I was serving in YW, we had a problem with girls wearing extra short shirts to Mutual. We tried non-offensive tactics to encourage the girls to wear more modest clothing, but nothing seemed to work. Apparently, the YM leaders had also noticed and one evening I saw a YM leader with a roll of duct tape in his hands. The next thing I knew, he was wrapping the duct tape around the middle of one of our young women to cover her stomach. A little radical, but it definitely sent a message.
I remember attending PTA meetings with a mother who always wore micro-mini shorts and revealing shirts. Not only were her clothing choices completely inappropriate for our meetings, she had tons of cellulite and it was so unattractive. I always wonder why older women wear low-cut shirts or short skirts. Do they think it fools the rest of us into thinking they’re still teenagers? Sorry, but sagging and cellulite just aren’t attractive—cover it up.
“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? . . . The temple of God is holy, which temple ye are” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17).
“Your body is God’s sacred creation. Respect it as a gift from God, and do not defile it in any way. Through your dress and appearance, you can show the Lord that you know how precious your body is. You can show that you are a disciple of Jesus Christ” (For the Strength of Youth, p. 14).
Dressing modestly shows the Lord that we respect our body and ourselves. While we should not judge people for the way they dress, the way someone dresses is a reflection of who he/she is and how he/she feels about himself/herself and the gospel.
My grandma used to say, “If you’ve got it, flaunt it.” There’s certainly nothing wrong with looking good and dressing nicely, but wearing revealing clothing only serves to pique the wrong kind of interest. When my son attended high school, he’d come home and tell us how difficult it was to keep his mind clear in preparation for his mission when girls were wearing such low necklines. He had to avert his eyes on many occasions.
While young men have a responsibility to keep their minds clean and pure, girls have a responsibility to not provoke impure or unclean thoughts. “Never lower your dress standards for any occasion. Doing so sends the message that you are using your body to get attention and approval and that modesty is only important when it is convenient” (For the Strength of Youth, p. 15).
Young men and women that dress modestly look better and are more attractive. Rather than succumb to the low dress standards of our society, we should embrace modesty and shout out that, “Modest is hottest.”
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2 comments:
The same goes for dressing out clothes for our younger kids. I never understood hot shorts on 3 yr olds. I know why older women and teenagers where them. To attract men. So, why then would you put those on a 3 yr old. One year I had to buy my daughter shorts in the boy section becasue they just didn't make modest shorts for girls. I also won't put my daughter in a tank top. Why would I dress them in a way that I wouldn't dress.
I agree with the previous comment, I figure if we teach them when they are young we won't have the Fight when they are older (or at least not as big a fight)
So far as the post - I heard a neighbor commenting once on a girl walking down the street "she shouldn't be wearing that - just look at her! (refering to her weight)." I was offended, not by the girl, but by my neighbor. So if she had been skinny it would have been ok? Because they look "sexier" it makes it ok for them to dress that way? The dialogue needs to change, the comments on "weight" need to be removed, this neighbor has taught the girls in YW - and because of the way she words it the heavier girls dress modest, while the skinny ones push the limits - and she says it is ok... but if the heavy ones come close she lets them know.
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