What are you Wearing?
One of the toughest things that I’ve had to face as a modern woman is my own appearance. It is a constant struggle to wonder what to wear and how others will react to the clothes I put on. Today, women all around the world feel that they need to be a specific size and shape to fit in or to be what men expect. We worry far too much about our hair, our makeup, our nails, our tan, our wardrobe. It has become such an issue that thousands and thousands of women out there have developed phobias and disorders pertaining to how they look or how others will see them. I was one of these women. To be honest, I still battle with my self-esteem. I’ve always wanted to fit in and I was always afraid that my husband’s interest would be in the other women out there wearing next to nothing, not the one next to him.
Being a young woman, especially in high school, is extremely difficult with all the pressures the world puts on us. Too many girls feel that if they don’t look like a real-life barbie that they’re ugly. It doesn’t help that everywhere you look there are women wearing too much make-up and not enough clothing. To make matters worse, a lot of men hold women up to a certain standard as well. We are judged by what they see before they’ve even had a conversation with us. It’s so terrible that there are men who actually have psychological conditions in which they aren’t able to form relationships with real women because they are too infatuated with the photoshopped images they see on television, the internet and in magazines.
There was a study performed at Princeton University which revealed that the region of the brain associated with tools lit up when men were shown images of women wearing revealing clothing. Additionally, in some men, there was zero activity in the medial prefrontal cortex, which is the area of the brain that we use when we think about someone else’s thoughts and feelings. Researchers were aghast because they almost never see this part of the brain shut down when a person is looking at another human being. Researchers concluded that men see immodest women as objects, not people.
Women are guilty of this too. Some judge men based on the size of their biceps or even their wallet. This evil is called lust. Whether lusting after someone’s body, or someone’s money, it is wrong. While it is not a bad thing to be attracted to your spouse, it IS wrong to emphasize their appearance. There was a reason God created Adam and Eve blind to their own bodies, and that is because he wanted them to see with their hearts.
To all the women reading this, I want you to think on this verse- 'Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord will be praised.' —Proverbs 31:30
Beauty lasts for such a short time, but do you know what will last forever? 'Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.' —1 Corinthians 13:13
This doesn’t only apply to your love of God, but to your love of others and to yourself! So don’t compare yourself to the rest of the world, judge yourself by God’s standards. The Proverbs 31 woman is the role model He gave us and she was a modest woman “clothed in strength and dignity”.
Being a young woman, especially in high school, is extremely difficult with all the pressures the world puts on us. Too many girls feel that if they don’t look like a real-life barbie that they’re ugly. It doesn’t help that everywhere you look there are women wearing too much make-up and not enough clothing. To make matters worse, a lot of men hold women up to a certain standard as well. We are judged by what they see before they’ve even had a conversation with us. It’s so terrible that there are men who actually have psychological conditions in which they aren’t able to form relationships with real women because they are too infatuated with the photoshopped images they see on television, the internet and in magazines.
There was a study performed at Princeton University which revealed that the region of the brain associated with tools lit up when men were shown images of women wearing revealing clothing. Additionally, in some men, there was zero activity in the medial prefrontal cortex, which is the area of the brain that we use when we think about someone else’s thoughts and feelings. Researchers were aghast because they almost never see this part of the brain shut down when a person is looking at another human being. Researchers concluded that men see immodest women as objects, not people.
Women are guilty of this too. Some judge men based on the size of their biceps or even their wallet. This evil is called lust. Whether lusting after someone’s body, or someone’s money, it is wrong. While it is not a bad thing to be attracted to your spouse, it IS wrong to emphasize their appearance. There was a reason God created Adam and Eve blind to their own bodies, and that is because he wanted them to see with their hearts.
To all the women reading this, I want you to think on this verse- 'Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord will be praised.' —Proverbs 31:30
Beauty lasts for such a short time, but do you know what will last forever? 'Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.' —1 Corinthians 13:13
This doesn’t only apply to your love of God, but to your love of others and to yourself! So don’t compare yourself to the rest of the world, judge yourself by God’s standards. The Proverbs 31 woman is the role model He gave us and she was a modest woman “clothed in strength and dignity”.
