“Know you not, that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? But if any man violates the temple of God, he shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which you are.” Corinthians 3:16-17
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (2521-24) give us some insight into the relationship between purity, modesty, our body, and dignity.
- Purity requires modesty, an integral part of temperance. Modesty protects the intimate center of the person. It means refusing to unveil what should remain hidden. It is ordered to chastity to whose sensitivity it bears witness. It guides how one looks at others and behaves toward them in conformity with the dignity of persons and their solidarity.
- Modesty protects the mystery of persons and their love. It encourages patience and moderation in loving relationships; it requires that the conditions for the definitive giving and commitment of man and woman to one another be fulfilled. Modesty is decency. It inspires one’s choice of clothing. It keeps silence or reserve where there is evident risk of unhealthy curiosity. It is discreet.
- There is modesty of the feelings as well as of the body. It protests, for example, against the voyeuristic explorations of the human body in certain advertisements, or against the solicitations of certain media that go too far in the exhibition of intimate things. Modesty inspires a way of life which makes it possible to resist the allurements of fashion and the pressures of prevailing ideologies.
Today, I will remember that I am the temple of God and live in the spirit of modesty.
Smitten With Goodness 