Devotion # 4 – The Value of Keeping Secrets
By Melissa Duriga
Dannah Gresh shares the story of her job at a marketing business, where they designed logos for businesses. It was a time consuming process to design the logos, so the company decided to hike their prices way up, in the hope that they would not have as many orders. They had been charging $1,250 and they increased the amount to $8,000, feeling sure they would decrease their business. It turned out that they received more orders! The principle that was proven was that perceived value increases the worth of something.
Have you ever heard of or experienced that long line of people waiting for the brand-new version of a game, or I-pod or Tickle-me Elmo or beanie babies? People are desperate to get such a popular item and they will pay a higher amount of money and wait a long time to get it because they think it is worth it.
Let us think about value in the form of cups. First we have the paper/foam cup, the kind that you can buy a whole pack of for a small price—a hundred for less than a couple of dollars. This is the throwaway kind that people think nothing of using once and discarding in the trash. Its value is not considered to be very high—especially by Americans. Next we look at the everyday mug, maybe a favorite one for a cup of hot tea or coffee, or that Tupperware cup for water, juice, lemonade, etc. This one has a little more value, possibly for sentimental reasons but partly because you count on it being available every day for you to use. If it broke or was damaged somehow, you would most likely not grieve too long because you have other cups you can use in its place. Now we look at the third kind of cup—a very special china cup. You store this one in a safe location so it does not get broken and you only bring it out for special occasions. It is protected and used with extra care, and you somehow feel a little more elegant when you use it. It is a special item of beauty in your life.
Just as the cups show their worth by the material they are made of, you also must be careful how you present yourself.. How you dress or act can send the message that you are a cheap throwaway, a girl of moderate value like the everyday mug, or a girl of great value, worth waiting for, like the china cup. If you make it easy for any passing guy to desire you in his mind by revealing parts of your body that are private, or flirting unbecomingly, you are decreasing your value. It is a cheap thrill for him without any significant investment on his part. Just like the cheap paper cup, easy to use once and then discard.
Have you ever asked someone to keep a cross-your-heart, hope-to-die secret for you? Perhaps it was a special surprise for someone and the timing had to be just right and you did not want the surprise spoiled. Maybe it was an embarrassing moment that you would only share with a true friend. Whatever the situation, it was important to you that it not be revealed at all or until the right time. You desperately wanted that secret protected.
Modesty is a secret-keeper. It is a protective wall around those secrets that God wants you to reserve for one man in the context of marriage. It is a china cup that can make you feel elegant and increases your value in the eyes of those around you. It allows that one man to invest in pursuing something of tremendous value—YOU! Men are created to pursue, to conquer, to earn their way, and they do this in romantic relationships. Proverbs 13:9 says “a longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul.” The working for, investing in, and earning of your love by the right man is a slow process that takes time. The reward is to be reaped after the wedding vows, and is sweet to the soul for both the woman and the man. Proverbs 5:18-19 tells a man to “rejoice in the wife of your youth. . . May you ever be captivated by her love.” One woman-one man is God’s theme, and modesty is one piece of the puzzle in helping that to happen for those who are still in the waiting stage. It is also a piece of the puzzle in keeping a marriage strong, for those who are in the married stage, because those same secrets are being shared only between husband and wife.
Forgiveness and redemption are also God’s themes. Remembering back to when Adam & Eve disobeyed and brought SIN into the world and how sin has colored everything around us, we know that there are going to be things that happen or that we choose to do that will not be according to God’s absolute best for us. God knew that would happen and made sure He was ready to forgive each of us when we repent and ask Him for that. He can take us from feeling like a cheap paper cup to the precious value of a china cup. Each one of us is of inestimable worth, of so much value that He sent His Son, Jesus, to come live on earth as one of us and to die for us, to make a bridge to the Heavenly Father for us, so that we would not have to be separated from Him.
I want to encourage each of us to present ourselves in dress and action as the precious china cup, worthy of admiration and having our beauty enjoyed but not lusted after or misused.
Prayer: Lord, it is sometimes hard to understand how much you love and cherish each one of us. It is also sometimes hard to not want the attention that immodest dressing can bring. We as women do not always understand just how a man thinks. Help us to be sensitive, especially to our Christian brothers, and not lead them into decreasing our value because of how we dress or act. Thank you for your plan for us and for your forgiveness when we mess up.
