September 14-20

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There is a passage in Isaiah about the daughters of Zion. Not gonna lie…it can be a hard one to read. It calls out the women in Zion for their pride in the form of outward ornamentation, and it prophesies of their downfall. 

And though it’s a difficult topic, I want to talk about this passage and its insights into modesty. 

Isaiah 3:16-18

16 Moreover the Lord saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:

17 Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover their secret parts.

18 In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon,

There are a couple of things in there that we’re going to talk about, but let’s start with the beginning. They are haughty, walking with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet.

In other words, these girls are working the room. Their stretched forth necks make them taller, more noticeable. Their wanton eyes were flirtatious and inviting. Their “mincing” means that they were taking these tiny steps that were fashionable. In fact, some even had chains around their ankles that would limit their gait so they would have to take tinier steps. Their tinkling feet announced they were coming and invited everyone to pay attention to their status and wealth.

So let’s talk about immodesty. Traditionally (at least since the 1900’s onward), modesty has an association of covering yourself up with clothes, and these verses don’t necessarily say anything about whether these women were wearing revealing clothing. It mainly talks about their ornamentation and purposes. The word modesty has been reduced to talking about how much skin you’re showing; it used to mean so much more. 

Modesty is an attitude. It can be reflected in one’s dress, but one could be wearing a plethora of different styles and find themselves modest or immodest depending on their heart. 

If an immodest heart were to speak aloud, it would say, “Look at me. Pay attention to my looks, status, wealth. You don’t really have to even consider anything else about me. Just look at me. I want your attention.”

A modest heart would say, “How can I do good?” Completely uninhibited by the opinions of others or the need for someone to notice them. 

Outwardly, you can wear a great many things. You can make yourself look nice and have fun expressing yourself, and this goes for both men and women. Modesty is an attitude, not clothing. 

There have been plenty of times in my life that I’ve walked around with an immodest attitude. Especially growing up, I remember trying to draw attention to myself even though my clothes were considered perfectly modest. I craved attention. It made me feel better, but it never lasted. Focusing yourself on drawing attention is a vastly empty endeavor; it doesn’t feel good for very long. It also affected how I felt about myself. I reduced the entirety of myself to how much attention I could attract rather than focusing on what I could truly give to the world. When you’re only feeling rewarded for being noticed for how you look, you sometimes lose the best parts of yourself. This attitude wasn’t constant in my life, but it was present enough to cause problems.

And while I think that clothing can affect your attitude, I don’t think it’s an end-all. I wore perfectly “modest” clothes, and yet, I was plenty immodest in my heart. 

There are a great many curses that follow after this attitude, but one of the phrases in these verses that really caught my attention in these verses was the idea that the Lord would take away the BRAVERY of their ornamentation. We see that plenty. It is hard to feel beautiful, even with ornamentation, when we’re competing with an illusion on the internet. It is hard to be brave and defend yourself when you’re merely arming yourself with beauty. Even when you do well, you still get attacked.

And so we change. Instead of walking into a room and trying to impress everyone so that we can make friends, we forget about ourselves and really try to think about others. When we’re having a conversation, sometimes we talk in a certain way or say certain things because we have this great desire to be loved. Sometimes it’s not just about being admired; we are truly seeking love. Ironically, if you really want to be loved, your most effective strategy is a focus on making the other person feel special. I have found deeper relationships, more acceptance, and more fulfillment with this strategy than my previously desperate attempts to be liked. 

We don’t know exactly what the last days will look like, but if we get to the end and find ourselves without the ornamentation, we won’t feel bereft and have to go through the process of completely redefining ourselves. We will still have a basis for loving ourselves.

One last thought. Reading these verses can cause some inward reflection about whether we’re personally seeking attention. This is a good reflection and reminder. It can also cause us to reflect on others we know who are seeking attention. 

Refrain from making ultimate judgments or removing yourself from them. I would tell you to stop making judgments completely, but I don’t think that’s necessarily wise either. Humans are given judgment to protect ourselves and help us make better decisions. We just can’t take that judgment beyond its proper bounds and write a person off.

In this chapter, Isaiah was warning against pride. It would be rather ironic to dress the opposite of the daughters of Zion and find yourself with pride over the idea that you are not like them. 

Instead, when you notice signs that someone may be seeking attention, recognize they are probably seeking love but don’t know how to do it in a way that’s healthy. Make a friend and try to help them see themselves as so much more than ornamentation. Consistently draw attention to qualities that matter more than how they look. Love them enough that eventually they don’t feel a need to seek love in ways that won’t fill them.

I testify that an attitude of modesty is a blessing. Focusing on others can inoculate us against emptiness and despair. It can shield us when the world pronounces unfair judgment. There are much happier ways to live, and I’m grateful the Lord seeks to teach us of His ways.