The Modesty of Summer

girl in swimming pool riding a float toy

The waves crashing, the children building sandcastles, the aloe ready to relieve the sting. All things making summer tangible.

a sea bird flying passed deckchairs on a beach with the ocean in the background

I love this time of year. I love the excitement of road trips leading to the ocean and Fourth of July parades followed by brilliant displays of color in the sky. I love camping and cookouts and every other thing that just does not happen during other seasons. You know what I don’t love, though? I don’t love mosquitos. I don’t love dripping with sweat before I get from the house to the car. And I don’t love that my boys will be saturated with images of scantily clad women frolicking at the pool, beach, and just about everywhere else we go.

Now that two little lads call me “Momma,” I see things through a different filter and think of the teenagers and grown men they will become. I’m not raising children—I’m raising men—or at the very least, doing the best I can to hope the end result is two 30-year-olds I can be proud to call my sons. I wonder,  however, when did those nearly-naked women, who were once little girls, choose to showcase what is sacred for all the world to see and not think twice about it?

We all know men are more visual, while women are more emotional. Knowing this, why are so many little girls now dressing like little women—little immodest women? It is not the girls buying the outfits, it is the parents. Why are the parents not recognizing that those two-year-olds will be 12-year-olds and eventually 32-year-olds, who will have no understanding of modesty? If they are not taught to be modest now, they will not realize they are drawing the wrong kind of attention from the wrong kind of man. Hear me: I am not saying sun dresses aren’t cute, and if I had a little girl the ruffles and lace would know no end. I am also not saying girls (and women) should wear a moo-moo and be covered to their ankles. What I am saying is our culture is obsessed with sex, and little girls are not being taught the importance of treating their bodies as a gift from the get-go.

When women wearing only their undergarments are on full display in retail windows, and the songs playing in the stores are shockingly graphic, we need to be even more aware of what our children are seeing and hearing everywhere we go. Perhaps we need to be more aware of our surroundings as well, and sing the all-too-familiar words to ourselves (and our children):

O be careful little eyes what you see
O be careful little eyes what you see
For the Father up above
Is looking down in love
So, be careful little eyes what you see

O Be Careful Little Eyes (see full song lyrics)

We live in a zero-censorship society and only by staying prayerfully in tune to the Holy Spirit can we be on-guard and take proactive measures to train our children well. It is time to step up our parental game and teach these toddlers to treat the bodies God has given them with honor, respect, and purity. When you think of the type of adult you are raising, ask yourself what message you hope they send through how they dress and what type of people you hope they attract. I know this is not the be-all and end-all in terms of developing purity of heart and character of mind, but it is one very purposeful choice you can make. Remember: retailers sell things because the consumer buys them. Protect your child. Protect my child. And together, let’s do our best to protect the future men and women we are raising.

Train up a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:6

His,

Gabbie

 

Author

  • Gabbie Nolen-Fratantoni

    Gabbie Nolen-Fratantoni loves Jesus and is passionate about serving him through the arts by leading worship and writing for various ministries. She is married to Greg, her hard-working, iron-sharpening-iron spouse. They are opposite in personality but equal in dedication to their marriage and family. Gabbie and Greg are the proud and sleep-deprived parents of two active, sweet, and fun boys and one gentle, joy-filled, little girl. An Aggie and graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary, Gabbie is a small-town country girl trapped in the city. She loves getting to know people and encouraging them as they seek to know Jesus and make him known.

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