Living Unashamed: Remember Your Name (Part 1)

“Remember whose child you are!” My Dad said this as my brother and I were getting out of the van. We both nodded back in reply, as we closed the door and headed into a teen hang out with our friends. Did your parents ever say that to you? Or maybe it was more along the lines of “Remember your name!” You are probably wondering what remembering your name has to do with dress, so I’ll tell you.



The Bible tells us in Acts that the disciples (those who were saved and serving God) were given the name “Christians.” We’ve held this name ever since even though sometimes we forget what this title means.

To be a Christian you must first be saved. This means that you’ve realized that no good work you could ever do is good enough to save you. Only by putting your faith and trust in Jesus Christ’s death, burial and resurrection alone gives you the promise of Heaven and the assurance that the penalty of your sins has been paid in full.

So many people think that being saved is all you need to be able to wear the “Christian” name, but there’s more. Acts says that the disciples were given the name Christian. This means that you can’t just be saved you also need to serve. Service is done in many ways through the local church but there is one thing we all are commanded to do, “…Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15

“But people don’t listen to me, they call me a hypocrite.” Is it because you are one?

People all around us are watching our every move. Most people, even if they have never darkened the door of a church, know what a Christian is supposed to act like, talk like and even what we’re supposed to dress like.

Here is were I’m going to be very transparent, very open with you. I know I am a Hypocrite. I know that I fail God every.single.day. I know that I never have been and never will be everything that I’m supposed to be as a Christian.

But… (I love this little word)

I know that God’s mercies are new every morning. I know that He never fails. And its because of what I know that I choose to ask His forgiveness, {that He always, so faithfully, gives} get up out of the dirt I’ve fallen in, and continue on, striving to do better for His Glory!

Remember your name! That day my Dad told us to remember who’s children we were has followed me for a long time. We knew what he meant, he was telling us that we were his children and that we were expected to act like it even though he wasn’t going to be there. God is telling us the same thing, remember your name, remember your a Christian, so think, act, talk, and dress like it!

Tomorrow I’m going to go into a little more detail about dressing like a Christian so I hope you’ll come back for part 2. But maybe your here, reading this today and you don’t know what it is like to be a Christian. You’ve never accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, or maybe you never knew that Jesus wants to take your sins away. If this is you please contact me, I would be more than happy to talk to you about this and show you in the Bible how you can be a Child of God.

For my Christian friends, here is the call to action! How long has it been since you’ve asked for forgiveness for not living the way you’re supposed to, dusted yourself off and started living for the Lord? I have to do this every day, sometimes several times a day! Make today your day, put on the “Christian” name and live like it!

If your new here and would like to see other posts in the "Living Unashamed" Series you can do so by clicking on either the "Living Unashamed" Tab at the top of this page or the "Living Unashamed" Button on the left hand side under "Blogging Series." 

~Thank You for your visit!

Living Unashamed: Beauty & the Lie

 

 

If your just starting this series you can read the first two posts here: Am I the only one bothered by this? and Living Un-Ashamed. You can also see all the posts for this series in the tab “Living Unashamed”

 

By nature, we as women, want to be attractive, we want to be beautiful and we want the opposite gender to notice. Nothing wrong with that, its normal, that’s the way God created us to be! The problem is that Satan has fed us a lie about what is attractive. He has led us to believe that a little cleavage is normal, a tight outfit just shows off the figure God has blessed us with, and if a man looks on a woman to lust, well shame on him! (I’ll share more on the men’s part in a later post).

 

“The problem is that Satan has fed us a lie about what is attractive.”

 

One thing I try to stress to my teen girls is that I know where they are, I know the struggles they face wanting to fit in and look like everyone else. The desire to be attractive and have people notice, to have boys notice. I know what its like to cry in a dressing room because nothing fits. I know how it feels to shop for hours and leave the store feeling defeated because my Mom and I couldn’t agree on an outfit. I know because I’ve been there, in a lot of ways I’m still there, instead of arguing with my Mom, however, its now Me{fleshly appetite Becky} verses Me {God’s new creature Becky} let me tell you, that is an exhausting battle!

 

We all want to be attractive and pleasing to the eye, at least I don’t think anyone’s goal in life is to be homely. But the Devil has fed us a lie and we’ve bought it for years! Look at the make-up ads, they are strategically geared, through the pictures, to tell you what beautiful women, supposedly, look like and you can look like them too if you buy these products.

 

 

I know what your thinking, let me assure you, I am not about to bash make-up companies. I use make-up daily, I just want to make one statement that we’ve all probably heard. Again, not meaning to bash any company, but have you heard Maybelline's catch phrase?

“Maybe she’s born with it. Maybe its Maybelline.”

With that one little phrase they are saying: Maybe its natural but more likely, its product. They are saying there is no way that you are beautiful with out our products.

 

These are the lies Ladies!

 

And there are more, clothing, make-up, style, jewelry, perfume, you name it and the ads tell each one of us that we won’t be beautiful until we look just like them.

Here’s the truth, and its simple. The Bible tells us in John 8:32

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Dear person reading this, God’s Word has all the truth we could ever desire.  Psalm 119:45 says, “And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.” God’s promise, His truth, is freedom and liberty if we will read His Word and obey it.

 

I could give you “Becky’s 12 Steps to becoming a Modest Dresser,” (ha ha) but those would be my words, why not take your instruction on dress, on standards, on living… From the One who wrote The Book. Search His Word, obey it, and “the truth shall make you free.”

 

I hope this has been a help to each person reading this. I have two more posts I’m working on, one is about “Dressing like who we are” and the other is borrowed from a fellow blogger and it is called “A Man’s Point of View.” If you have any questions, comments, or even something you’d like for me to cover please leave a comment or send me an email. I would love to hear from you!

~Bex

Am I the only one bothered by this?

So I’m in the mall the other day and need to ask the sales associate a question.

“Excuse me, ma’am?”

“Yes?” She replies, as she turns around to me. Much to my horror, she is wearing a shirt, similar to the one above with only a bra underneath… a see through one.

“Ummmmm,” I mutter while trying to remember my question and overt my eyes to the floor. Glad that my hubby wasn’t with me I leave the store embarrassed by what I’ve just encountered.

This incident along with some of my teen girls asking about how to dress modestly (and my research into answering their question from a biblical aspect and not just a personal preference.) Has prompted me to start working on a blog post and a Sunday school lesson(s) about Dressing Like a Child of the King.

If you knew me before I was married you would know that the area of dress has never been my strong suit. I’ve always struggled with trying to fit it, be in style, and be attractive according to the world’s standards. I grew up in a good church that taught on dress and having appropriate standards of modesty but I guess it never sank in or maybe I was too consumed with the lie the devil feeds us about beauty and how to achieve it. It was not until I got married, to a very loving and forgiving man, who helped me see the lie I had bought and who has also encouraged me to change my dress for the glory of God.

It is not easy for me to write on this subject because I feel so inadequate. But at the same time I know that God uses the inadequate and the broken so He can gain all the glory. I hope that you will pray for me and with me as I work on this subject and if you have any suggestions that may be a help I hope you will e-mail them to me or leave a comment for all to see and gain help as well.

Thanks in advance,

Bex