Have you ever wondered what modesty even means? To me, it has this connotation of being old, maybe even outdated, maybe even overrated to some? Like a regular old cheerio in a bowl of colorful, sugary, delicious fruity pebbles. We all know that it's beauty on the inside that matters, right?
So.
I want to challenge this view and feeling, as well as get more into what modesty actually means. I think that the meaning of, and appreciation for modesty has been unfortunately lost in today's cultural chaos and swarm of advertisement. And I also think it's kind of a confusing subject, partly because it deals with some very core parts of humanity, and women especially.
Some synonyms for modesty could be humility, simple, small, unassuming, unpretending, chaste, meek. All of these things sound so good, don't they? It's strange that the most common use of the term is the use of modesty within clothing, because it truly is so much more. Typically, modesty is associated with this piece of ourselves, but is interrelated and begins in the following, more foundational parts of us as humans:
Our values.
Our view of ourselves.
Our appearance.
Our expression.
It's incredible how much identity is woven into what clothing we wear. The decision to wear something or not speaks into how you are representing you. How do we view ourselves, and therefore, how do we represent ourselves? An underlying subconscious decision comes behind every outfit, style, every choice, every little inch that covers you and creates a design and puzzle that you sit behind. Your values. Your appearance. Your creativity. Your choices. Who are you dressing for, and why?
But I also think that, more importantly, we can lay modesty over our words and life, just like a beautiful, clean, white sheet over a newly made bed. A touch of modesty to somebody means that they are grounded and understand their smallness. We exist in a big world, full of billions of people. We step outside on a starry night, and we can begin to understand how small we truly are. And even more than this we stand before God, someone who created the most intricate parts of us as well as those big, shining, burning stars 10 million x bigger than us in size.
In this world of ours, we can either promote ourselves to be bigger and greater than we really are, or we can choose to magnify something greater than ourselves. We can choose to live life modestly- knowing our smallness, or we can choose to live life pretending we aren't small. Being modest requires a sort of classiness and a respect for the small parts of us. It demands humility and a mindset that we aren't all that and a box of fruity pebbles. Essentially, minimizing yourself and maximizing something else.
So, in all things we have a choice to embody modesty, in whatever context that might look like. And to me, this is so important, because it is living in honesty. It isn't making something more of who we are, and it is bringing more attention on that which is truly of value, the imperishable beauty in the hidden person of the heart. A simplicity that is pure and hopeful that points to something far greater than ourselves.
"Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious" (1 Peter 3:3-4)
