Dressing with Temple Standards

     I feel a great love for the several beautiful girls and young women in our Lewis family.  My most fervent hope is that they are being raised from their very infancy to value their own wonderful gift of womanhood.  As I recall, a part of this learning was central to Grandma JoAnn’s critical instruction to her daughters, as she trained them to achieve their highest life purposes.  This was concerning modesty of dress.  I recall Grandma JoAnn teaching her daughters that from their early childhood they should FOLLOW TEMPLE STANDARDS in the way that they dress. 
    I give praise to women and girls who dress modestly, which seems to me is a way for them to express their conviction and security in the unique and sacred expression of crucial womanly values, helping them to safe-guard these marvelous gifts regarding their own womanhood and of their family life, which includes the ability to bear children and to be a significant nurturer of these children and also of other persons in a Godly way.  I also praise men who support and value and live these standards.
    The world uses exceptions to the above to attract attention, admiration, or to message their rejection of family values.  Also, this standard seems to fly in the face of the Hollywoodish culture in our country and popular mass media that even gives praise to women for their daring in violating these standards.
    I am very grateful to have the privilege to wear the sacred temple garments of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  To me they are symbolic of much that is important in my own personal faith and serve in a sort of sacramental sense as a strong reminder of significant promises I have made to my Heavenly Father.  Here are specific instructions from the Church regarding the wearing of the temple garment:
    “When you put on your garment, you put on a sacred symbol of Jesus Christ.  Wearing it is an outward expression of your inner commitment to follow Him.  The garment is also a reminder of your temple covenants. You should wear the garment day and night throughout your life. When it must be removed for activities that cannot reasonably be done while wearing the garment, seek to restore it as soon as possible. As you keep your covenants, including the sacred privilege to wear the garment as instructed in the initiatory ordinances, you will have greater access to the Savior’s mercy, protection, strength, and power.”  (General Handbook: Serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 26.3.3.2)
    I recall a couple of recent occasions when I was hospitalized for heart treatments and how lost and uncomfortable I felt not being able to wear my garments while being treated medically and how grateful I was when I was able to put them back on.  I felt whole again.
    Along with these other blessings, our temple garments also serve and provide us with standards for modesty in dress (both male and female).  They suggest, whether or not we have reached the age when we will make our temple covenants, that we should normally wear clothes that the entire midsection and private parts of our bodies be covered, including:
    1 –most of the upper chest and the upper back 
    2 –the shoulders and perhaps at least a slight part of the arms at the shoulder level
    3 –legs to the knees (the skirt length) or at least lower mid-thigh (for shorts, but knee length may be better)
    Also, we can assume that these clothes should not be so transparent, flimsy, or tight so as to reveal specific details of a person’s anatomy. 
    Regarding the many children and especially the beautiful girls and young women in the Lewis family, my fervent hope is that they are being taught modesty in dress in a way that was expressed by their Grandma JoAnn as a part of being trained to achieve their highest life purposes.  This is, that from their early childhood they are being taught, encouraged, and assisted to FOLLOW TEMPLE STANDARDS in the way that they dress.  I pray that we make that instruction a priority.