Minding our Emotional Modesty
September 3rd, 2010 by Kristi Stephens
- Image by luc legay via Flickr
Modesty. The word, for me, typically conjures up mental images of women wearing turtlenecks, floor length skirts (with no slit, of course), and knee length socks.
I’m kidding. Sort of.
While we might all differ slightly on our interpretation of what, exactly, modest dressing is, we all understand that there are certain things that are appropriate and inappropriate in various situations. I might not be wearing a floor length skirt with coordinating turtleneck to church, but I also am not going to wear my swimming suit.
I dress modestly because it is a protection for me, shows respect for the unique relationship I have with my husband, honors the God who made my body, and guards against inappropriate thoughts and behavior with others.
Lately I have been pondering an interesting phenomenon I see everywhere in the online world – facebook status updates, tweets, and blog posts are brimming with something I call “emotional immodesty.” These online venues have given us an uncensored outlet, a place to share things that often should not be said, with a veneer of privacy as we sit alone with our laptop or iphone and share our every thought with thousands of strangers. To make this even trickier, we often do it and call it “being real,” as though it was a virtue.
Click over to Gather inSpirit to read the rest of this post…
- 2 Comments »
- Posted in Blogging, Guest posting, Womanhood
September 3rd, 2010 at 4:17 pm
Nice post Kristi. When I was single, I considered my parents as the top layer of accountability for my relationships / modesty. Living 500 or more miles away from them for those 9 years of singleness made that more a “principle to live by” then a requirement of law from my father. But it did give me an umbrella of protection. My parents were my closest confidants. And heeding their wisdom helped my life greatly. Now, my husband fills that role as “umbrella” for my life.
My other thought as I read was the principle of edification – does what I type edify? Shouldn’t the words I write be held to an even higher standard (since I can delete them before posting!) If it’s not building up, it’s not worth others time reading!
Once again, thanks for tackling a needed subject!
September 3rd, 2010 at 5:05 pm
Kristi ~ I really appreciated what you had to share in this post today. I have had to be careful of this in my relationships with friends and remembering those girl friendship relationships are secondary to emotional intimacy with my hubby. What an applicable post. ~I will be praying and considering those areas in my life and how I can humbly encourage emotional modesty with people God places in my path. Thanks for sharing this truth, friend!