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What Are Your Wearing?
What Are Your Wearing?
In the law of Moses the priests were commanded to wear very specific clothing. God deeply cared how His priests dressed. Christians are priests (1 Pet. 2:5, 9), and God cares about how we dress as well.
Unfortunately, some Christians don’t. They like to show off their body by wearing clothing that reveals too much skin and too much shape. The way women typically dress in our society is a major stumbling block for many Christian men.
God made men to be visually stimulated. For men, lust requires no emotional attachment. They lust after the body, not the person.
Mary Quant, London fashion designer and mother of the miniskirt said, “Mini-clothes are symbolic of those girls who want to seduce a man.” When asked where it was all leading to, Quant answered with one word: “sex.” If mini-clothes are seductive, how much more-so are bathing suits, which are nothing more than glorified underwear!
Ladies, try to view yourself through the eyes of a man. Before you choose to wear a certain outfit, ask yourself if it might cause someone, including your brothers in Christ, to lust.
Men, help your wives and daughters to know what clothing is appropriate. Be brutally honest. They may not understand how a man thinks, and they need you to guide them.
Sexual lust is strongly condemned in Scripture (Matt 5:28; Prov. 6:25; Job 31:1). While those passages apply to both genders, they are geared specifically toward males. Men, stop lusting, regardless of how the women in our society present themselves. Ladies, please do not dress in lustful way.
The goal is to save others, not just yourself (1 Cor. 10:32-33). Even if dressing immodestly were a spiritual prerogative, Christian women should be willing to give up their own rights if their attire might cause someone to stumble (cf. 1 Cor. 10:23-24; 8:13). Christian women can help men avoid sin by dressing in a godly manner.
The following are some boundaries of female attire. These are not Biblical limits or legalistic requirements, they are simply the honest opinion of a sincere Christian man who doesn’t want to lust.
How tight is too tight? Anything that shows a person’s exact shape. If it’s difficult to fit into, maybe that’s a hint.
How short is too short? In my opinion, anything that exposes any part of the thigh. Be careful when you sit.
How low is too low? Anything that shows any cleavage whatsoever. Anything much below the collar bones. Be careful when you bend over.
How much skin is too much skin? Any part of the stomach, the sides, the thighs, much of the back, or much of the shoulders. Don’t show any skin you'd be uncomfortable for someone to touch.
It’s not about what’s right, it’s about what’s best. Dress in such a way that is modest without a doubt. And remember, events and locations don’t change what’s modest (assuming men are around), whether you’re at a wedding, on vacation, on a date, at the beach, or at church. Dress modestly no matter the circumstance. In doing so you will be seeking not your own profit but the profit of the many, so that they may all be saved.
