Post by Guadalupe on Apr 13, 2015 22:46:41 GMT -5
Let's continue this thought from another thread. Feel free to share your own journey using charity and kindly uplifting discussion. Excerpt from coveredbaptists.proboards.com/post/22489
From Guadalupe:
I'm giving away my age here but my teen years saw John and Jackie Kennedy in the White House setting the fashion trends for the nation. Young ladies all wanted the pillbox hat, pink suit and matching shoes. Heavy eyeliner, mile long false eyelashes, teased hair, eyeshadow, and lipstick were required before we could step out our front doors or we would be referred to as unsophisticated, frumpy, and one of the uncool girls. Absolute dictates of fashion trends were not only slavishly followed but even forced on those of us who were never completely comfortable with it all as Christians. Every women's magazine and ads in stores commanded us to wear the latest makeup color or the latest hairstyle that changed every year. Young women were told they could never get a date much less be married unless they resembled starving models named Twiggy and so anorexia and bulimia became the norm and still happens today. Young women were told to be objects of sexual desire to be used instead of loving wives and mothers who raised future generations of a Godly people. Then they were told they were to burn their bras and overcome the "oppressive male dominated society" as the liberationists called it. No mention of love and mutual caring was ever promoted: the liberationists said it was "us" vs "them" and we were to maliciously and brutally abuse men verbally by calling them names and take their jobs by whatever means necessary. It was warfare of a most insidious kind that had no bullets or bombs but murdered the family centered focus of our society. Divorce rates and custody battles went skyrocketing.
When I decided to recommit my life to Jesus I knew it had to be to the whole Truth taught in the Bible. The fate of Lot's wife who looked back as well as other Bible teachings about fully committing myself as a disciple of the Lord were very clear and my outward appearance needed to be consistent with the grace of God in my heart. The makeup, the pantsuits, and all the other trappings of the fashion fads had to go.
The first week I was terrified because it meant leaving the house without makeup, with a small bun covering and a skirt below my knees when the hem trend was well above. I was still struggling with the fashion brainwashing from magazines and tv. Some people looked at me but not for long because they were too busy with their own lives. A couple of friends asked if I was feeling okay? It was then I realized that I DID INDEED FEEL OKAY! I wasn't anxious if my hair was out of place or if I had to fix my makeup. I didn't feel the need to buy hundreds of dollars in clothing and makeup for people to like me. The only outward adornment I needed was a friendly smile and caring manner and complete strangers would open their hearts and share their stories with me.
The feeling of freedom I am blessed with because I no longer focus on vanity is glorious. I can focus on my relationship with God and carrying His message of Salvation and Love to whomever I meet without being anxious if my lipstick has worn off.
... Biblical standards are actually liberating when we consider the following:
The pressure from our immoral and immodesty culture to conform to their standards is even more legalistic and stifling than any Christian standard we have seen. The amount of hate speech and biased attitudes today towards those who are too plump, too thin, wearing last year's fads, and so on is far more enslaving, stifling and disrespectful of our human dignity and freedom as sons and daughters of God than any caped dress, prayer veiling, long skirts or simple shoes can be. The fashion industry deliberately promotes fads to keep people spending money in a failed effort to "fit in". If the fads keep changing, one can never fully "fit in".
It is far better to practice the eternal Truth of God's standards than the fickle and greedy standards of an immoral culture. Christian standards based on God's Biblical teaching both focus upon and promote the dignity, the beauty of the human soul as a creation of God. The standards of the secular and immoral culture only seek to make money and treat us as mere objects for vanity, to be discarded when we are too plump, too old, too thin, too.... useless.
The pressure from our immoral and immodesty culture to conform to their standards is even more legalistic and stifling than any Christian standard we have seen. The amount of hate speech and biased attitudes today towards those who are too plump, too thin, wearing last year's fads, and so on is far more enslaving, stifling and disrespectful of our human dignity and freedom as sons and daughters of God than any caped dress, prayer veiling, long skirts or simple shoes can be. The fashion industry deliberately promotes fads to keep people spending money in a failed effort to "fit in". If the fads keep changing, one can never fully "fit in".
It is far better to practice the eternal Truth of God's standards than the fickle and greedy standards of an immoral culture. Christian standards based on God's Biblical teaching both focus upon and promote the dignity, the beauty of the human soul as a creation of God. The standards of the secular and immoral culture only seek to make money and treat us as mere objects for vanity, to be discarded when we are too plump, too old, too thin, too.... useless.
From Guadalupe:
I'm giving away my age here but my teen years saw John and Jackie Kennedy in the White House setting the fashion trends for the nation. Young ladies all wanted the pillbox hat, pink suit and matching shoes. Heavy eyeliner, mile long false eyelashes, teased hair, eyeshadow, and lipstick were required before we could step out our front doors or we would be referred to as unsophisticated, frumpy, and one of the uncool girls. Absolute dictates of fashion trends were not only slavishly followed but even forced on those of us who were never completely comfortable with it all as Christians. Every women's magazine and ads in stores commanded us to wear the latest makeup color or the latest hairstyle that changed every year. Young women were told they could never get a date much less be married unless they resembled starving models named Twiggy and so anorexia and bulimia became the norm and still happens today. Young women were told to be objects of sexual desire to be used instead of loving wives and mothers who raised future generations of a Godly people. Then they were told they were to burn their bras and overcome the "oppressive male dominated society" as the liberationists called it. No mention of love and mutual caring was ever promoted: the liberationists said it was "us" vs "them" and we were to maliciously and brutally abuse men verbally by calling them names and take their jobs by whatever means necessary. It was warfare of a most insidious kind that had no bullets or bombs but murdered the family centered focus of our society. Divorce rates and custody battles went skyrocketing.
When I decided to recommit my life to Jesus I knew it had to be to the whole Truth taught in the Bible. The fate of Lot's wife who looked back as well as other Bible teachings about fully committing myself as a disciple of the Lord were very clear and my outward appearance needed to be consistent with the grace of God in my heart. The makeup, the pantsuits, and all the other trappings of the fashion fads had to go.
The first week I was terrified because it meant leaving the house without makeup, with a small bun covering and a skirt below my knees when the hem trend was well above. I was still struggling with the fashion brainwashing from magazines and tv. Some people looked at me but not for long because they were too busy with their own lives. A couple of friends asked if I was feeling okay? It was then I realized that I DID INDEED FEEL OKAY! I wasn't anxious if my hair was out of place or if I had to fix my makeup. I didn't feel the need to buy hundreds of dollars in clothing and makeup for people to like me. The only outward adornment I needed was a friendly smile and caring manner and complete strangers would open their hearts and share their stories with me.
The feeling of freedom I am blessed with because I no longer focus on vanity is glorious. I can focus on my relationship with God and carrying His message of Salvation and Love to whomever I meet without being anxious if my lipstick has worn off.
