Danette’s Reviews > Modesty: More Than a Change of Clothes > Status Update

John Owen
Fill your affections with the cross of Christ … that there may be no room for sin.

“When I’ve been extremely careful to follow God’s Word, He will like me again when He sees how obedient I am” - this is legalism. You are using works to try to earn Gods grace - an impossibility by its very definition. Grace can never be earned as a ‘payment for services rendered,’ since it is always a gift!

Modesty includes what we do, say, and think. Biblical modesty does not teach that you must dress in an ugly way or be out of fashion. Be beautiful, but be modest in the presentation of your beauty!

…we are the ones who chose these friends in the first place. There is something in our heart that desires these people to be our friends. No one can ever make you sin, if you don’t want to do so. They may influence you, but it is from your own heart that sinful desires come. The friends whom you choose to influence you are a reflection of your heart’s desires.

If your primary motive in life is to be charming and beautiful, then you are deceiving yourself with a vain, empty, or useless life purpose that will ultimately let you down because it leads you away from God. If your motive is to please God, you will find joy that is utterly satisfying as you depend upon Him for His grace and do what He says.