O.k. Ladies. Here is my dilemma. It is something that I have been struggling with on and off for some time now. I am hoping that some of you can share your opinion with me on this so that I can see how others view our lives as Christian women.
You see, I LOVE being a woman. I mean, besides the obvious burdens we have been blessed with, like child birth (not complaining though, really I'm not) and some of the others... I really do love being a woman. I love the things that we "own", just us, you know... like bubble baths, love stories, cupcakes, and high heels. And even though I used to play G.I. Joe's with my brother growing up, played in the dirt, and STILL love to ride four wheelers in the mud, the older I get, the more I become a "girly girl." You know what I mean? I like to go get a massage. Treat myself to a pedicure. Go shopping with friends and find matching accessories. I love all of it. But there is still something inside of me that pulls at my heart every time I have a woman's day out.
I'm wondering if Girly Girl = Worldly girl.
I mean, look at some of the other cultures. In some countries, women don't even shave their legs. [NO ADAM, I'm not thinking what you're thinking... don't worry.] :)
But really, they aren't worried about putting on makeup, finding the perfect jewelry to match an outfit and what color nail polish they are going to put on. But our culture, our society, lives off of this stuff. So as much as I love to do it, I wonder if something about it doesn't take our minds off of God and place them on the material things of the world without us even realizing it. It is such a tough call for me sometimes.
I'm not so much talking about doing things to take care of yourself and to be attractive to your husband, I'm talking about all of the social standards of fashion that we fall victim to. The gimmicks they use to continue to sell us this stuff. And our undeniable attraction to things that are shiny, sparkly, or in my case, jangly. I often buy jewelry or purses based on the sounds they make. The more jangly, the more I like it.
[I'm weird. I know.]
And I know that the Bible says - "Do not let your beauty be the outward adorning of braiding the hair, and of wearing jewels, or putting on of fine clothing, but in the hidden person of the heart..." - 1 Peter 3:3-4
And believe me, if anybody believes this, it's me. I know that the inside without a doubt is where all beauty comes from. And that God has a different definition for beauty, I think, than we do. But it doesn't change the fact that I embrace being a woman sometimes with the very things that make us different from men. Our hair, our smells, etc. The girly stuff.
So when the girly side of me starts to mean that I play into all of the social standards, spend more and more money, and finally resort to sunglasses that cover my entire face, where do I draw the line?? Ladies, help me out, how do you feel about being a girly girl?
I don't think girly girl=wordly girl. I think God created us to enjoy pretty things and bubble baths and all the other tings you mentioned. Although I do agree with you that we should be careful not to draw attention to ourselves by the way we look.
ReplyDeleteMy old youth pastor had a good standard for this: she would always ask us girls if Jesus returned TODAY, would you be perfectly comfortable in what you're wearing, or would you be even a tiny bit embarrassed or ashamed? Not just because of modesty, but because of flashiness too. So I think if the answer to the question is that you wouldn't be embarrassed at all, then you don't need to re-think how you look. I use it as a standard a lot.
But as far as just enjoying being girly, I think God made us that way for a reason, and we should enjoy it. I'm also very girly, and I love girly things and I view girliness...I view it as a blessing I guess :-)
Thanks for the insight, Jessica! I think that is a great way to look at it. And I definitely view girliness as a blessing, too! I like what you said about the flashiness and if Jesus were to see you. That is, of course, the best standard to live by. Thanks again for your comments!
ReplyDeleteI think that, like most things, it all goes back to your motives. God made us women and he wants us to love our womanhood and celebrate it. He made us with the desire to be beautiful. I think that as long as we are not conforming to the standards of the world in order to gain favor from it then we can absolutely enjoy being girly girls.
ReplyDeleteOf course, we still need to be wise with our money as well! Hopefully we don't end up spending more on extraneous girly things than we give to our church or to charity.
Kathleen, I completely agree. It seems like the more and more I like doing those things to pamper myself, the more expensive they become. That is when I definitely need to draw a line and cut back. Thank you for your comments!
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