Modesty in How We Act

Let me just start off by saying that I'm NOT writing this because I'm good at this particular concept. In fact, I'm deplorable at it. Still, over the last few years God has really worked on my heart, and my actions naturally followed from this.

I always used to think that modesty only pertained to how we dress, but I remember hearing Kristin Jones say at Xtreme one year that it is so much more than that. (In fact, that was the Xtreme that Julie and I became friends. YAY!) She said that modesty is a heart issue, and out of the heart comes everything, from how we dress to how we talk to how we act. That message has still impacted me to this day, and I thank God for not only Kristin's words but how she lives out the concepts she was teaching. It only solidifies what I heard because I saw, and still see, her living it out.

So what is immodest actions? I remember wondering what that looked like, and asking God to reveal to me what they were. I can only tell you what He told me, and I don't think there is a solid answer to that question. We can glean from Scripture, certainly, but I think it's something that He has to reveal to you personally as well. Here's what He said to me.

Immodest actions stem from a heart that craves attention over glorifying God.

Jess touched on this in the last post, too. She confessed that as a child she enjoyed shocking people by what she said. Similarly, immodest actions crave the attention and accolade of people, not God, and this also can involve the "shock" factor as well. Let me give you an example.

I love playing basketball. I used to practice for hours in my backyard growing up, and then when we moved to Florida I would practice at Metro's gym. When we started the Wolverine's basketball program I was in my senior year of high school, and was thrilled that I could play with my friends on a team.

I found, throughout the season, that I really enjoyed the attention I got because of it. I was good at something, and people noticed. That brought me selfish pleasure and self-gratification. My desire in playing was not to glorify the God who gave me the skills in the first place, my desire was to receive the attention and accolade of people.

Perhaps you can't identify with a sports illustration, so here's another one. I grew up playing the piano and singing. My whole family is musical, and we often got called the "Von Phillips" instead of the Von Trapps. This also brought me a sense of self-glorification, even though the reference was to my family as a whole and not just me. I would tell people that we were referred to as the Von Phillips just so that people could know we were "talented", to use the word VERY loosely :-).

After hearing Kristin's message, and God revealing areas in my life where my actions depicted an immodest heart, God started to give me a desire to change. Granted, I heard the message before I played on the basketball team, but God graciously revealed that to me and reminded me of what I had heard and what He was teaching me. Does this mean that playing basketball, singing and playing the piano are immodest? Of course not. My HEART was, because I wanted attention, I wanted praise, I wanted to be noticed, I wanted to take God's place as the center of the universe.

So maybe, like me, you need to pray and ask God to reveal to you where you are acting immodestly. I'm sure it will not look very much like my own examples, but remember what Scripture says? Jesus, as in like the SON of GOD, said himself that "if I glorify myself my glory means nothing." I know, right? Crazy! If Jesus can say this how much more is it true for me and you! Paul also writes in Romans 15:5-6, "May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

So let us be musicians, athletes, artists, daughters, sisters, and students who have one heart and mouth, which in unity praises and glorifies God and not ourselves.