One of the hottest issues today among women is the pants issue and other areas of clothing. Just the way a woman reacts to the whole sublect of pants modesty and dress reveals to me the seriousness of the situation. There are many problems in the church today and I think women constitute one of the main problems.
A woman who is causing problems In the body of Christ is either not dressed properly or not under sub mission to her husband. In some cases she Is nelther dressed In a proper manner nor under her husband. A woman greatly influences and brlngs out the Godly qualltles of her man by her actions and words.
Just as Important are the frults of her marriage: the children. Her dress and character will bear fruit In her children. I work with the Hephzibah House girls on Saturday evenings. As I listen to their questions handle their problems and study the Word for answers I see that the Bible holds us responsible as motheis for our part in helping or harming our children.
Mother, we are producing the ungodly generation. They are our fruits. We are the fruits of the last generation and this must stop! Stopping a curse can be accomplished by obeying God s Word. We must repent of what we have done. Repentance means to turn around change be different. You may now be thinking or wondering what she is getting at? The Schizophrenic Woman what has that to do with me? She must be crazy or something.
My Personal Experience
I am going to use myself as the prlme example. Perhaps you will identify or relate to what I have to say.
I grew up in a typical American home. We had pants shorts bathing suits immodest clothing televislon movies dancing lessons circuses etc. As a small child I desired to be a beautiful movle star and practiced the role by prancing and dancing all around the house. i have a clear memory that goes back to my preschool years. Even then i wanted to be beautifui. For what reason? Money? Other girls? My pets? Of course not it was for men!
The Inner Desire Of Women
I dressed for men I desired to be beautiful for men. I wanted them to notice me and I learned how to please them resulting in the character quaiitles of the Biblical strange woman in Proverbs. I knew what I was doing i was not Innocent. And I do not think any woman is innocent in this area.
A woman has an inner desire to attract men. Yet I was an ERA type woman to the core. No man would control my life! I would control his! I soon learned that i could control men with my eyes voice body movements and dress. This resulted in many personallties. i was a different personality for specific occasions and my dress fit the occasion. As I have worked with women and teens for ten years i see the same character in each female. I am not so sure any of us are really decelved deep down Inside. We know how we are but we hide behind a spiritual mask and a civilized veneer.
I am very sorry to say I won my own husband by my dress and actions. This resulted In many years of heartache for our lives. I was proud and haughty at my catch but filled with doubts and suspiclons afterwards. We were not saved until we were In our late twenties. Those early years of our marriage were a nightmarel The Lord has done a marvelous work in our lives. But you Christian mothers why are you allowing your daughter to be a strange woman a schizophrenic woman?
A Christian Mother Has A Heavy Responsibility
Perhaps you live a decent Chrlstian life but why are you allowing your daughter to live like a strange woman? She will suffer all the rest of her life. The Lord will forgive and forget but her body and mind will bear nonerasable scars. Mother you can avoid this by rear ing her properly or perhaps cleaning up your own life flrst and then cleaning hers up.
What can you say about my husband? Doesn t he have some responsibility in ail of this? Yes of course he does. But let us look at ourselves Mother. The Lord has shown me the role of the woman in the home. A mother is the primary Influence on her daughter. She will be the person you molded her to be and Dad will glow. Dad will burst his buttons with praise over a pure virgin daughter filled with Godly character if you do it God s way.
How We Dress Effects How We Live
Dress definitely effects our personality. When I wear my housedresses I feel like working on floors thai need scrubbing cooking and digging in the garden. I do not mind if I get dirty which I surely do when I really dig into a project. For church and special occasions or a precious date with my honey I wear my finest. I want to look special for the Lord and my husband. When I go shopping I try to take real care concerning my looks because it reflects on my husband. I do not want him to be embarrassed at how his wife looks but to be proud of me. I want to be different from the dress of the world. I want to please the Lord not man.
How We Dress Reveals Character
We can be dowdy and stand out in a ridiculous way or we can be sloppy which reveals a sloppy character or be so fancy we appear proud and haughty. The Bible tells us in I Timothy 2:9 that a woman is to dress in a modest way. Our clothes should draw attention to the whole being and not certain areas of our body especially areas that may arouse a man sexually. Some think that women do not really make sense. For example some women have hair dos with no makeup. The combination does not really go together. Or similarly lots of makeup and a bland or unkempt hair style is equally awkward. We ought to balance out what we wear.
I know this will step on toes literally but these new sandals with three and four inch heels are not simple. They draw a lot of attention to the feet ankles and leg. Besides beFng very hard on the back difficult to walk in and cold on the feet In the winter when there is snow and ice. We have allowed the world to dictate our styles. However common sense is laid aside for the sake of style! How ridiculous. I really admire the dress of the Amish and Mennonite women who live relatively close to our mission. They are very beautiful to me and communicate a sense of purity. mThey wear balanced simple and modest clothing.
Does it make sense for a Christlan woman to cover her body with modest Godly clothing then take these clothes off to go in for mixed swimming? That is an absolute contradiction of standards and another aspect of a feminine schizophrenic personality. If a man s eyes are filled with lust (Matthew 5:28 Proverbs 27:20) then how can we Justify the wearing of swimming apparel In mixed swimming? You may say Well I am too old to make any difference I have huge bulges varicose veins fat pockets. etc. Dear lady you are then gross in a bathing suit! if you still have retained your figure then you are attractive and you are defrauding men and you will stand in Judgement before the Lord for causing a man to stumble (11 Corinthians 5:10). If you do not care then you are In severe rebellion and rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft (I Samuel 15:23).
What Does God Say?
Deuteronomy 22:5 says you are an abomination to God if you wear the clothing of a man. Well you say we are in different times they wore different clothing and besides they both wore robes. I personally believe obedient saints have always maintained the sharp distinction between the sexes God ordered in this verse whether in New Testament Palestine or In the modern era.
The emptiness of a statement such as my pants are feminine is shown by one clear example: what if a man would say my new skirt Is masculine ?! Just how certain Christians have accepted women in pants and then pronounced it all right despite Its error can be seen in this one example. How would you react dear lady if your halrychested and hairylegged husband attempted to Justify his wearing a skirt by pronouncing It masculine?
Many and various are the arguments and excuses that I think I have heard over the years concerning this issue. Can not you see what has happened in the last twentyfFve years especially the last ten? And do not you see what the results have been? Maybe you have not connected the thread so let me share with you as a woman.
Our Thinking As Women Is Not Consistent
I am thirty-eight years old and have worn pants most of my life because I wanted to and no one was going to tell me differently! I bucked the schools 1 attended and the college where I obtained my degree. I was a rebel against the rules. My school forbade the wearlng of pants. i did anyway beiieving that I had my rights and I won the battle! One part of my thinking was correct. If I was going to wear them I would wear them where and when I wanted and I was not going to be a hypocrite about the whole matter. However today the schizophrenic personality allows women to wear pants to do certain things and yet not to other functions. Pants are an integral part of the ERA movement and the unisex movement contributing to the breakup of our homes by confusing roles and ths distinction of the sexes.
I tried something about nine years ago to see what would happen. The whole ministry was gone and I was alone in the house. So I dug out my pants and wore them for one entire day. I could not believe myself. Soon I felt bold hard haughty and unfeminine. I was very unsubmissive and I grew worse as the day progressed. As soon as I took them off I changed my personality inasmuch as I felt softer meeker feminine and gentle. I was conscious of how I walked and sat. That same year I tried something else. Those were the days of the ungodly provocative let sgo to bed look fashions. These fashions included the mini skirt.
I again pulled out one of my mini skirts and my shiny black boots and immediately I felt like a strange woman and I desired to dance and prance. Perhaps you have worn these and did not desire these things. That is wonderful but you were Just as guilty because you caused a man to lust or to attempt control over his vision.
I also see this change in children. My daughter Naomi has never worn pants unless under a maxi and that is rare. She is so feminine. The girls call her a Holly Hobble doll. Heather wore pants until she was five when we got saved. It is hard to Imagine now but she was a real tomboy. Naomi is not a tomboy and I think it is because she has been in dresses and feminine styles from her birth. I put a dress on her within two hours after she was born over her stretch sleepers and she has had dresses on ever since. Our daughters are virtuous women because we have obeyed the Lord s commands.
A woman is not submissive in a pair of pants. She becomes either bold or sloppy perhaps siobby. A woman is either attractive and causing a man to stumble or she is a slob and gross In appearance when she wears men s clothes. Neither characteristic is a Godly one.
Perhaps you are wondering how you can have freedom of movement in a dress. Then you say women have been bound for thousands of years and they ought to be allowed more freedom. Perhaps we need to be bound up? ERA has definitely won a battle among Christian women. Our ungodly dress has resulted In our unsubmissive bold masculine spirits.
Anita Bryant is a prime example of what the Bible condemns. Many times I warned my husband about this woman and could not understand why Godly men across this nation followed her. The role she played was not and is not the role of a woman who is a keeper at home. Titus 2:5 says we are to be keepers at home. How can you be a keeper at home rearing your children loving your children and your husband and at the same time leading a movement across the nation?
Older women are to be teaching the younger women how to live Godly lives cook sew clean submit to our husbands and to be the virtuous woman. This is a full time job that we might become virtuous women (Proverbs 11:16). If you have obeyed the Lord and have a large family (or as large as the Lord has allowed you to have) and have nursed them taught them daily etc. you could not be a busybody nor could you be running your church etc.
You are wondering how I got off the subject I am not. This area ties in with the pants and other men's clothing the ERA movement belng swayed and controlled by worldly styles movie stars and big leaders etc.
You Can Dress Feminine
Some say your job requires pants. If you are convicted and truty believe pants are a sin then you are sinning against God by working at a job that requires you to compromise your convictions. I would suggest that you wear feminine culottes. These are easy to make or to have made. Have them made midi length then wear long underwear or tights with boots if you are cold. We use a pattern that makes a culotte that looks exactly like a pleated skirt yet has plenty of room for movement. You can have them made for most jobs at which you work. Culottes can be worn for recreation. I prefer maxi skirts. If the sport is too active for either then the sport is not for ladies In the first place. I have so many physical problems and I have been told a lot of them are from my childhood sports. I was involved in football gymnastics, hoola hoops, roller skating on and on. I am not saying these sports are a sin but I was competitive and took a lot of serious falls trying to prove I could do anything that a man could do.
There Are Problems We Must Face
A woman that wears pants is either rebellious or ignorant. Whichever is true, both will give an account to the Lord.
It is interesting to note that as far as I can tell we have never had a girl or woman come into our program at Hephzibah House that did not wear pants. One of the greatest shocks our girls go through Is to have their pants taken away! They do not know how to walk sit or act. We have noticed that after a few weeks their outward appearance changes. They are softer sweeter and submissive. Yet inwardly they are not changed and wouid wear pants at the first opportunity. Just getting a girl out of pants changes their personality and they are not even aware of the change.
What effect do pants have on our children? Our children are being molded by our character whether we like it or not. They do an excellent Job of imitating our bad qualities. A woman who wears pants or immodest dress will produce a daughter that will have either masculine character or rebellious character or the qualities of a strange woman. That daughter will reveal this in her marriage.
Lesbianism among teenagers is common and routine. Being bisexual is common. Because we are disobeying the Lord a mother who wears pants will produce a daughter that may not have a servant spirit to men or her husband unless she wants something special from him.
The effects of a pantswearing mother. is just as devastating on a boy. He does not know how to treat a woman. His role becomes more confusing with relation to a girl.
We put men down by wearing pants. Men like to be sweet to ladies but we are not very sweet any more. As I watch teenagers in a group it is not uncommon to see guys hit girls on the arm back or legs. Then the gErl chases after him and slugs him and is sometimes offended if he is rough with her. You will be treated as you dress. I cannot Imagine a teenage boy slugging our beautiful daughter with her flowing long hair and dresses. I do not think he would desire to hit her yet he may not know how to treat her because the pantswearing unisex mother has confused his deveiopment. This results in problems in their future marriages.
Statistics indicate this is correct and believe me Christian marrlages are a disaster in many cases. The divorce and separatlon rate among Christian homes prove this as a sad fact.
Change Is Difficult But Possible
Ladies it was and is hard for me to change. i had a iot to crucify In my life. It was not easy and I am stili running the race striving to be like Jesus.Oh to be like Him! I genuinely desire to be like my precious Saviour. The position we have taken is hated not necessarily by the world as much as it is by feliow Christians. Our position does not win friends and influence people to love us. But the most important postlon in my life is to obey the Lord in all areas of my life and leave the results to Jesus.
When the Lord revealed to me clearly the sin of wearing pants I was faced with what to wear. The Lord provided In many ways. Through garage sales others giving me dresses they no longer wanted and my constant shopping I was able to pick up some things. I am very frugal and a bargain hunter. After searching many clothing sales and finding things at a very reasonable cost the year around I would pick up desirable fashions watching for patterns that could be sewn during the winter months. When we were married I did not know how to sew on a button. I have learned after I was saved that I needed to learn sewing If I truly wanted to be a virtuous woman (Proverbs 31). I have not had extra time to take sewing lessons so I purchased simple easy patterns and asked everyone I knew to guide me and they were more than willing.
Sewing is very difficult for me and a job I would gladiy give up but I do not think it is an option for the virtuous woman unless of course you can find good bargains. The Lord wants us to be wise with our money and time.
Look At Our Responsibility
Mothers and single adult women you are responsible for the molding of young girls and children. I have heard many mothers say they do not wear pants and do not believe in them but you know how It Is! Peer prossure forces us to allow our girls to wear them. No I do not know how it is! If God tells me pants are sin (and He does) then my children are not wearing them whether they do at Christian Camp Youth Group Church or Christian School. Your children need to obey; you and your husband need to let these groups know where you stand on this issue. If he does not desire to speak out then do not speak out either but pray the Lord protect your child.
In our own case we are in total agreement as a husband and wife. Our children are no longer a part of any group where the leaders sanction or wear pants. We would rather keep them home than have them infJuenced by carnal disobedient believers and I know God is going to bless us for our standards and He will with you as well.
We will not need 666 stamped on most of us. We already have the world firmly stamped and Indelibly imprinted on most Christian women today.
My dear Sister in Christ look around our daughters are no ionger pure. Oh how I pray some will stand for Jesus! I pray that some will stand for His sake and not let the world control our dress and our lives. Do not be a schizophrenic woman but a virtuous woman! Be willing to resist the pressures of the world and disobedient Christians. You will stand alone but then so has every earnest Christian since the first century.
