About two weeks ago I published
this post on why I wear exclusively dresses and skirts. I'm amazed about how much of a response this post has generated, and I was so excited about receiving all the comments from you dear ladies about this post. Thank you so much for leaving your comments; it was a joy for me to get to know all of you, and to respond to your comments and questions. I have responded to the majority of them there in the comments section of that post, but there are a couple that I would like to respond to here, in a new post. For those of you ladies who may not have read the above mentioned post, please do so now, before continuing on with this one. Thank you! :)
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I received the following comments from a dear lady named Lynne:
I find it interesting that you use arguments about the cultural aspect of clothing, especially since in our American culture, pants are seen as women's clothes as well as men's.
You brought up a great point, Lynne, that I was wanting to discuss! :) Now, before I continue on with answering your question, I want to make something quite clear to all of those ladies reading this post. Not a single thing that I say here about the whole "jeans vs. skirts debate" is said in order to point a finger at those females who wear jeans, trousers, slacks, pants, or whatever you want to call them. Nothing I say here is said in order to be judgemental towards those ladies. If I ever ever come across as being rude, mean, or judgemental towards ladies who disagree with me, then please accept my deepest and most heartfelt apology! What I am writing here on this blog about femininity is written in order to edify and encourage you ladies.
As I said above, you brought up a great point! Deauteronomy 22:5 says, "A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman's garment, for all who do so are an abomination to the Lord your God." This can also be translated that they are "detestable to the Lord your God." Those who disagree with me on this subject often point out that today, pants are considered women's clothing, and so that makes it ok. But, I want to draw up an analogy to begin with here, if you don't mind. When someone lies, that is a sin. Now, if someone has been lying profusely over a long period of time(of, say, 5 years), does that make it automatically ok, just because it's become a very common occurance? That person commiting lies was sinning when he began doing so, but just because he continued to do so very very often for the next 5 years, and it thus became an everyday occurance, doesn't mean that it was allright for that person to be lying all that time. Likewise, when women began switching from wearing skirts and dresses(a female's distinct clothing) to wearing pants(men's clothing) in the 1960s, that was a sin. The above mentioned verse points that out clearly. Pants were clothing that pertained to men, and so to begin wearing them was a sin, by this verse's standards. This was not to be done. So, just because this sin has lasted for a good 40 years, and because it's become more prevalent as time goes by, doens't mean that it's any less of a sin today than it was 40 years ago when it first began.
There's something else I want to point out on this subject. The precise wording of this Deuteronomy verse is very noteworthy. It's very interesting and important. Notice what it says: "A woman shall not wear
anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man
put on a woman's garment". This is very noteworthy, and I'll tell you why. This verse could have been written "A woman shall not put on a man's garment, nor shall a man put on a woman's garment." If it said this, then women could argue today that they're not doing anything wrong as long as they're not wearing a piece of clothing that was purchased in the men's section of a clothing store(thus, a "man's garment"). If this was the case, then women could easily argue that they can wear pants if they want to as long as they were purchased from the women's section and not the men's. But, as we can see, that's not how the verse is worded! Instead, it says, "A woman shall not wear
anything that pertains to a man, not shall a man put on a woman's garment." That's a big difference! From the way this verse is specifically worded, it shows that wearing pants (clothing, that for centuries and centuries has pertained to men), is a sin. I think this verse is worded this way for cultures like the one we have here today in the West, where many many women are wearing jeans, pants, etc.
Also, something we have to understand is that the "women wearing pants movement" came about because of feminism. For articles on why it's so important that we, as Christians, do not support any of the philosophies of feminism, please check back soon. I'm currently working on many articles on the subject of feminism(its history, hidden agendas, destructiveness, founders, etc.) and will be posting them here in the near future.
As long as you're not showing a personal, private part of your body that belongs to your future husband (or the Lord), you are dressed modestly.
I must say that this is a dangerous argument to have! Because, by saying this, then that means that bikinis and speedos are modest. Because, by your argument, in both items of clothing, the private parts of the body are covered with clothing material. Yet, both of these items of clothing are extremely immodest and are not to be worn by Christians. Recently, I read an outstanding book by Mr. Jeff Pollard entitled
Christian Modesty and the Public Undressing of America. In this life changing book, Mr. Pollard uses his extensive knowledge of the Hebrew language and the knowledge he's gained from in-depth Bible studies to prove that the Bible teaches that any article of clothing that does not reach the knee is immodest, and is against what God requires for a Christian's clothing. I will be posting exerpts from this great book here on my blog shortly, so be on the lookout for those! :)
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I received the following question from Caitlin:
Hi Rebekah, I had another question for you, and for other people who wish to share. What do you wear to swim in?
That's a great question, Caitlin, and I'm glad you asked it! :) I used to wear the regular 1-piece swimsuits, thinking that I was modest because I wasn't wearing the 2 pieces! However, after reading the above mentioned book, the Lord showed me, so clearly, the horrible error of my ways.
This past summer, my family was planning a vacation to Savannah, Geogia, and the beach there:Tybee Island. We were in need of modest swimming suits! We came across this website, and Mama decided to purchase one of their patterns instead of the modest swimwear they themselves sew, in order to see if she could make them herself. She succeeded beautifully, and the finished product can be seen here and here. I felt so blessed to be able to go to the beach and not feel self-conscious. I was able to go to the beach and have fun while being completely modest and glorifying God at the same time! It truly was a blessing, and I look forward to wearing this swimsuit in the future. :)
What about the rest of you ladies? What do you swim in in order to preserve your modesty?
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Again, I want to offer a big thank you to all of you ladies who commented on the Biblical Guidelines about Clothing post. To those of you whose questions/comments did not appear on this new post, please refer to the comment section of the Biblical Guidelines post, and there you will find my responses to your comments! :) And, for those of you who may not have read that Biblical Guidelines article, please do so now! And I welcome your comments on it as well as on this one!
May the Lord richly bless you all!
