What Wearing Skirts and Dresses Won't Do....

I wrote a post back in April that was called Modesty, for us..... In many ways, it was my coming out post. Putting it out there that for my daughters and myself, we had decided to start transitioning to a skirt-wearing family. I was very specific in my post that it was what my family felt was the right things for us to do. By us wearing skirts, we felt that we were able to be more set apart from the world and would be gender-appropriate. By setting guidelines, such as no spaghetti straps and nothing above the knees, we were able to further being set apart as well as establish our modesty guidelines. I have seen many a post about modesty and they will use the verse "And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach. Exodus 28:42" to claim that the Bible teaches that the upper leg must be covered. However, in context those guidelines were for the priests. My view on it, however, is one that if it was considered nakedness then, why is it not considered nakedness now? This is why we are working at constantly keeping the thigh covered- swimming is one area we failed at this year, though have already figured out a plan for next year. It's a journey.

Having said all of that, I want to say this.

Wearing skirts and dresses do not....

Make you better than anyone else. We are all sinners saved by God's grace! I don't care if you are covered from head to toe or if you walk around Walmart in a bikini! What you wear does not make you better.

Make you closer to God. A prisoner can have a better relationship with God than someone dressed extremely modest. This is why modesty is more than just clothes.

Make you more of a girl! It just makes you look like one! Wearing overalls with hair in pigtails and dirt smudges on your face will not change that God created you as a female! In fact, if my son put on a dress, he would be 100% boy still! We just choose to wear clothes designed only for women (last I checked, there weren't skirts in the men's clothing section at the store) because we want to be set apart and feminine. It's much easier to be girly wearing a twirly skirt than a pair of overalls.

Make you more loving, caring, considerate....

Make you more submissive to God or your husband. This is a heart thing.

Set you apart if you refuse to act differently. We can only be set apart if we allow our whole life to be set apart. We can put on a floor length dress, but if our attitudes and actions are "Look at me! Look what I do! I don't need anyone!" then we aren't any different from the world.

Make you modest! I've seen skirts and dresses that are way too short and way too tight and way too low cut for it to be modest! And again.... modesty is way more than what we wear.

I'll say it one more time. For myself and my girls, we are on a journey led by God. We strive to be different, yet we fail. We want to embrace our femininity and wear clothes that we think help us do that. We want our eyes to be focused on God and not draw un-needed attention to ourselves. We want others to see Jesus in us and for us to have a servant's heart that it shouldn't matter what we wear. We want to follow God and be set apart.

By the way, I don't care what you or your children wear.