I am blessed to work with two women who are Mennonites and live in an area with a solid population of Mennonites as well. The women I work with don't wear their culture's traditional clothing at work because it would constrict their movement at work, and they consider it their good clothing vs their work clothing. Like most of us, our work wardrobe is different than our personal life wardrobe.
Anyway, because of the area in which I live, I see Mennonites all around me. Of which I love and respect. I disagree with some of their traditions, but I respect their culture and how they dress. That being said, the enemy has used them to attack me with legalism regarding my standard of modesty and clothing. To be clear, my two Mennonite coworkers have never said a word about how I dress, other than that I dress modestly. In fact, a handful of other coworkers have asked me if I am a Mononite because I dress conservatively. I am flattered that people see that in me.
The 'problem' occurs when I am out in the community and I see a Mennonite woman dressed in a full-length skirt, and I am in a knee-length skirt. I wear all lengths of skirts. My husband's and my rule of thumb is if I can touch my fingertips to my thigh when standing up straight, then it's too short. Otherwise, I will wear anything from that length and longer. Every length has its place. So in my head, I start comparing myself to the other woman, who, of course, has no idea, and I start thinking that I should be in a longer skirt. Then I fight with myself and remind myself that I am dressed modestly and that I have freedom in Christ. Meaning that I'm not restricted to only wearing one length of skirt. Again, no one has ever told me that I don't dress modestly; it's simply the enemy attacking my thoughts and me learning to defend against them.
Yes, God calls us to dress modestly, and I also believe that some women are convicted differently than others. I am blessed that my husband and I have the same convictions for how I dress. Recently, I purchased a top that would need additional layers under it to make it modest, which was my intention all along. Hubby lovingly reminded me that I would need to wear something under it, and I agreed and told him he didn't need to mention it because I already knew it. But then I thought about it for a second and remembered that it is a huge blessing for my husband to want me to dress modestly and for him to remind me of his standards and of God’s standards.
Anyways, the reason why I share all of this is to remind us all that the enemy doesn't just tempt us with sin, he also tempts us with false religion. He tried to distract me by being legalistic about the length of my skirt. When in reality, there is nothing wrong with the length that I wear. Plus, I wear shorts under every length of skirt/dress.
While I was dealing with the attacks, I had to remind myself that some skirts are simply better shorter and some longer. I have a pink, knee-length one with flowers and ruffles. It's hubby's favourite. It would be way too overpowering visually if it were a full-length skirt between the pattern and style. But as a knee-length skirt, it's beautiful.
I am blessed and thankful that I have freedom in Christ to dress how I choose and that I have the option to wear all different lengths and styles. Where the Menonite community tends to only wear a couple of styles of dresses and skirts. I was chatting with one of my Menonite coworkers who is not yet married. I asked her if she would wear a white dress or a traditional black dress. The black dress is old colony style and very simple. She said the black one and then mentioned that there are too many options for white wedding dresses, and how do we “English” girls pick? I lovingly responded with the fact that she has been wearing the same three styles of dresses her whole life and therefore is not used to having more options. We had a good laugh.
I pray this blesses, encourages, and challenges you today, friend.
We have freedom in Christ, but we also have a responsibility to honour Him with everything that we do. 1st Corinthians 10:31.
God Bless
~Hannah
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