The Definition of Modesty

After a wonderful evening discussing the topic of Modesty, many of us discovered a little bit more to the topic than we originally thought when it was first brought up.  

What is the first definition that comes to mind for you when you think of modesty?  Is it the way people dress, or possibly their attitude?  When asking a couple people their thoughts on modesty here were their responses... (Check last week's post for a couple more responses...) 

1. To be humble, but I think you can direct modesty at someone else more than you can humbleness.  You can be humble yourself, but you can be modest to others.  You could say kind things to them or you could even downgrade yourself (in a good way) to help someone else.

2. Modesty came into effect when Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil...  Children are less modest because they don't know any better.  We as adults should be practicing modesty (in all definitions of the word), for we now have the knowledge of good and evil...

3. Someone pointed out that in the early 19th century (the time of Mr. Darcy and Ms. Elizabeth Bennet), men and women weren't allowed to spend that much time together... Especially alone.  While men are drawn in by women's appearance, women are emotional and sensitive to touch.  During that time period, the British, seemed to have honed in to the knowledge of what caused men and women to desire to do things they shouldn't do.  Thus, they just got rid of the temptation completely by setting standards and ways of life with extreme boundaries. This provided modesty in both forms of the word (dress and character), by making men pursue women in an honorable fashion.

Let's check out the definitions of Modesty:

Modest: 1. Having or showing a moderate estimation of one's own talent's, abilities, and value

2. Having or proceeding from a disinclination to call attention to one's self; retiring or diffident (see synonyms at shy)

3. Observing conventional proprieties in speech behavior or dress

4. Free from showiness or ostentation; unpretentious (see synonyms for plain)

5. Not offensive to sexual mores in conduct or appearance

6. Free from pomp

7. Marked by meekness or modesty; not arrogant or prideful

8. Marked by simplicity having a humble opinion of yourself... Essentially humble and self-effacing

*Other words affiliated with Modest(y): homely, ordinary, plain, inexpensive, unexceptional, simple, quiet shy, humble, frugal,, blushing, self-conscious, meek, bashful

Modesty: 1. The quality or state of being unassuming or moderate in the estimation of one's abilities.

2. The quality of being relatively moderate, limited or small in amount rate or level.

3. The state or quality of being modest.

4. Reserve or propriety in speech, dress or behavior

5. Lack of pretentiousness; simplicity

After reading these definitions aloud... We discussed how negative the world has made modesty appear and sound.  Almost all of the synonyms for modest* were words that you wouldn't want to represent...  The world wants to make people think that their way is the best, and they will do anything to "prove" it to you...

Next week's post will include the scriptures we discovered while researching the topic of modesty. I look forward to hearing your favorites as we continue on in this study!

Blessings!

~ S*