Ladylike Dignity

Notes taken from the podcast by Leslie Ludy entitled, “Ladylike Dignity”:

“The other day I was in a coffee shop observing a college aged girl who’s known for being an outspoken Christian.  She was sitting with one of her guy friends and they were sipping lattes and catching up on life.  The girl was attractive and her personality was outgoing and funny.  But there was something about the way she carried herself that seemed jarringly unfeminine.  She was speaking and laughing so loudly that everyone in the coffee shop could hear her entire conversation.  She was sharing deeply personal things like a recent struggle with overeating and insecurities about her body image.  Nothing appeared to be sacred in her life.  Her deepest fears and struggles were placed on display, not only for her guy friend but for anyone who happened to be within ear shot.  After a few minutes, she shifted in her seat and made a crude comment about her back side hurting; she said it in far more graphic terms.  She didn’t seem at all embarrassed to be making a crass remark so unashamedly in front of a guy.  She sat haphazardly in her chair, slurping her coffee, straddling her stool in a very unladylike way, and the more she talked and carried on, the more her joking became crude, her laughter became obnoxious, and her words became gossipy and critical of others.  There was no feminine mystique, elegance, or grace in her bearing and yet she claims to be a representative of Jesus Christ.

In today’s world, this girl’s behavior seems harmless and even normal by most people’s standards, but as I sat there watching her out of the corner of my eye, I began to realize just how far from Christ’s intent this “normal” version of femininity really is.  Ladylike dignity isn’t supposed to only apply to fictional characters in Jane Austen movies or Cinderella stories; words like enthralling, enchanting, breathtaking, stunning, delightful, and noble should be the description of every set apart Christ built young woman.  It’s God’s perfect design for each of His royal daughters.  God created us to shine with royal beauty, not to dazzle with a self promoting beauty, but to be a sparkling reflection of the stunning beauty of our King.  When Christ overtakes a woman’s life and transforms her from the inside out, she becomes truly feminine, a picture of elegance, grace, and loveliness blended with sacrificial, selfless devotion to her King.  She becomes a true lady, carrying herself with poise and confidence, yet deflecting all attention away from herself and toward Jesus Christ.  She’s enchantingly mysterious, holding her inner life sacred, guarding her heart with quiet tenacity.

I must admit, I don’t always represent this standard of ladylike nobility.  It’s all too easy to become careless and sloppy while surrounded by a culture that holds nothing sacred, but the more I continue to build my entire existence around Christ, and allow Him to transform every aspect of my femininity, the more I know I’ll be shaped into a true lady, a true reflection of His glory.  True feminine beauty is not a complicated formula involving hundreds of rules to remember, and it’s not something that requires spending two years at finishing school or being groomed as a beauty pageant queen, it’s the natural byproduct of a young woman who has emptied herself, given up her own life, and allowed God’s Spirit complete access to every dimension of her inner and outer life.”