Favorite things for August & Should Christian Women Get Tattoos?
1 Sam 16:7
"...for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart."
I also think that the verse about this might be used incorrectly to say that God doesn't care at all about our outward appearance but that's not true. In the Old Testament the Israelites were not to cross-dress (Deut 22:5) nor have markings on their bodies (tattoos). Adam and Eve were also clothed by God after the fall with modest apparel. Paul tells women today to dress modestly and Peter also tells women who will be going through the tribulation period to dress modestly.
1 Peter 3:3-4
Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;
But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
As believers we are to get sound grace doctrine into our minds and hearts by reading, studying, and meditating upon God's word rightly divided and then obeying it. The outward man is perishing day by day but our inward man can be renewed day by day. I can't imagine if someone who is a spiritually mature woman would go out and get a bunch of tattoos put all over her body. Maybe it was something you did before you understood sound doctrine but certainly not something a spiritually mature Christian woman ought to do. It gives the wrong impression and takes attention away from us sharing the Gospel and places it upon ourselves and our appearance. It makes me realize just how much Christendom in general is failing to build up and edify believers in sound grace doctrine, especially younger people because I'm seeing more and more Christians getting tattoos! However, you can teach them many things in scripture but you can't make someone believe them, let alone obey them. I just pray that these women will one day choose to really desire to read and study God's word and to live it out. Satan's evil world system wants women naked, apparently also tattooed all over as that seems to be a new trend now, and focused almost entirely upon appearances.
As I get older I realize even more how important it is for women to:
"...adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;" (1 Timothy 2:9)
The issue at the time of Paul writing this was that the women were too focused on appearing wealthy and perhaps were also showing a little too much skin (that's also still an issue today!). If you look at historical artwork of that time period, the women then were dressed more modestly than many women today and were not covered in tattoos! The tattoos back then were usually in certain cultures who did it for idol worship. We ought to be thankful for our bodies but I wonder if when people tattoo them, are they idolizing their own bodies?
Lev 19:28 KJV -
Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.
Are you really glorifying God in your body when you mark it like that?
1Co 6:20 KJV -
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
We cannot expect unbelievers to live godly but also babes in Christ will not live unto God either. They need the word of God rightly divided to be built in their mind and heart before they can live godly. A "babe" in Christ is not just referring to a new believer, but to a believer that is refusing to grow up spiritually. The Corinthian church in 1st Corinthians were called babes in Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:1
And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
God wants us however to grow up spiritually and live godly. Godliness is thinking the way that God wants us to think, doing the things that God wants us to do and laboring with God in the gospel.
Are there some areas regarding modesty where I can improve upon? Yes! Here's my own modesty journey right now. [This isn't about legalism but examining my own heart and making adjustments to my behavior when needed so that's it's more aligned with holy and godly living. As believers we are complete in Christ and fully accepted in the beloved. Because of this we are to walk in the Spirit, yielding ourselves over to live out the doctrine instead of just living for our flesh. Ask yourself: When someone looks at you do they see a godly woman or someone that looks just like the world!]
I ordered online a T Shirt dress for summer from Walmart that went to just barely above my knees (I thought it would be longer) so instead of returning it, I decided to wear leggings with it underneath. However, I never wear them out of the house because it still doesn't feel modest enough. So, why wear them at home too? Angels are watching and learning from us today and that includes our daily lives at home! Even if no one else sees, they see! I'm going to just stick with my normal modest skirts and dresses and whenever I buy any other dresses I'll make sure they are longer (I prefer ankle length).
Be more careful about tops
• Not too tight. My body is changing as I am healing from an eating disorder and so a few tops of mine are a little tight. I'm throwing a few out and then keeping the others as undershirts.
An Experience:
I went into the grocery store wearing a beautiful but modest dress, and a sunhat, however a group of men were all staring at me. I thought maybe I wasn't dressed as modestly as I thought and so I asked my husband about this, and he said he believes it's because it's so rare today to see women dressed modestly and femininely that they just have to look!
Head coverings
I love the soft, thick headbands for head coverings, but I don't think it adequately covers my head alone. It's OK for when I'm just at home with my husband and doing things around the house, but I'm going back to also wearing a simple Mennonite style head covering over my braided hair bun too. Maybe some people think it looks strange to wear both, but oh well. I like it and these head coverings are soft and easy to wear. I do also wear beautiful sunhats when I go out because it's very hot here and it helps to prevent sunburn. But my hair is very thick to wear a bun and hat together, so I wear a side braid with these hats instead.
I went to Walgreens recently and found they had a whole aisle full of hats! I was pleasantly surprised! I bought this one, but if they go on discount I'll go back and get more! This one was already only $10 which is a good price for such a pretty hat.
A pretty pink hat - if it's still there and on discount I might get this one too.
Some artwork in my home
