Christianity and Modesty

To say that something, a house say, is modest is to say that it does not deserve attention. What I think is true and what I think Christianity says is that this is what modesty essentially is in all its senses. The essence of modesty is that something does not or someone believes that she does not deserve attention. A person of modest means is a person whose living quarters, profession and lifestyle do not deserve attention. Similarly, a person who dresses modestly does not want or thinks that she deserves or at least acts as though (I don't think there can be false modesty with regard to dress) she does not deserve attention for her dress. A modest person then is one who believes that she does not deserve attention. Thus, it is very much the same as humility which on the Christian conception is to be disposed to put God's will above one's own thereby recognizing God's superiority and one's subjection to God. One who does this obviously does not think that their own self deserves much attention; God is what/who deserves the attention. As far as I can see, modesty and humility are, in all the important respects, the same.

On the Christian account both humility and modesty are subsumed into temperance which means that they are to be understood as traits of resistance i.e. resisting temptations to sin. To be humble/modest is to resist the temptation to be proud, to elevate one's own interests above those of God. This is of course something to be resisted because the proper place of humans is to be God's subject and thus to do his bidding. Thus, humility/modesty is the opposite of pride, one who is humble/modest obeys God's will.

It is important to note that one who is doing God's will and is only concerned with doing God's will (as only doing God's will because one thought that it would make him look good to others is really to just be acting on the basis of his own interests which are to look good) is not interested in attention. They see themselves as an instrument for God's will and as it would be foolish to think that it is the scalpel rather than the surgeon that deserves attention so too is it foolish to think that the person rather than God deserves attention. Thus, the humble/modest person will shun undue praise and attention because it is not he who is important or at all deserving.

I think that this is what modesty really is all about.