The Fig Leaves Weren't Enough

What if I told you that in the beginning of time mankind has struggled with modesty would you believe me? The issue with modesty is nothing new. When I typed in the word "modesty" in the search engine on the internet, about 15,600,000 results came up. That tells me two things. Either people are trying to understand the meaning of modesty. Or people are writing about modesty because immodesty is an issue.

If I were to tell you that in the beginning of time God never intended for nakedness to be wrong would that give you the freedom to walk around with no clothes on? God created the body. The body is beautiful. His first intentions for mankind was to walk in freedom unclothed. But what happened that made something so beautiful to be the downfall of so many?

When Adam and the woman's eyes were opened after they sinned (disobeyed) they realized something.....

"Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings." Genesis 3:7

After looking at just one fig leaf, I wonder how many fig leaves did it take to cover their naked bodies. The Scripture doesn't say they covered their whole bodies. It says they made themselves coverings. What did they cover? For you and I when we clothed ourselves each day, the first thing we do is cover our private areas. Even with our private areas being covered, still we are not fully clothed.....

After God spoke to the serpent, the woman and Adam, He clothed them.
"Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them." Genesis 3:21.

Mankind was in a fallen state. In our fallen state, God knew that we needed help in clothing ourselves. Remember we tried before with the fig leaves, but the fig leaves just weren't enough. We were still exposed. Imagine how He felt as He was making tunics to cover up something so beautiful. But left uncovered, He knew that mankind would self destruct.

That brings us to the day in which we live in. Many of us today have chosen to clothe ourselves. We no longer feel that modesty matters. We are told if it looks good then flaunt it. Let us not forget we (mankind) covered ourselves in the beginning and it wasn't sufficient. Although you may have the body and want to flaunt it, as Christian women, we need to go back to the beginning.

Imagine Adam waking up after being in a deep sleep and seeing this beautiful woman. Maybe Adam experienced a physical change that occurred in his body because he preached his first message in Genesis 2:23, And Adam said: "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man." That man was excited by what he saw.

It's amazing to me that they were both naked and were not ashamed.

Many men today are ashamed because they are physically responding to seeing images that are not meant for them to see. Especially in the church. Men can work in an office setting and not get as enticed as they do as when they attend church. In the office, there's a professional dress code which applies. When you start to work for a company they will give you a company manual. Most company manuals have a "dress code" section. As Christian women we have a manual, the Bible. In it there's a dress code for us.

"In like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works." I Timothy 2:9-10.

I'm not saying that a woman should not look good. I'm not saying that looking frumpy means you've finally arrived and now you're dressing modestly. No. What I am saying is that we as Christian women need to clothe ourselves properly and wear sufficient clothing like the ones God made for Adam and the woman.

Being in a fallen state, we can't lean on our own understanding of what being properly clothed means. We have to turn to the Bible. Just covering certain areas does not mean you are fully clothed. We can cover our breast, but leave the cleavage open. That's not being fully clothed.

The next time you get dressed ask yourself, "Am I just covering myself like Adam and the woman, or am I fully clothed?" Remember the fig leaves weren't enough.