Thursday, July 4, 2019

Women's Responsibility to Dress Modestly


Yesterday we looked at how adultery begins in the heart.  This is most certainly true, for both men and women, and if you have not yet read that post, I encourage you to do so.  But we Christian women have a GREAT responsibility in how we dress, so as to not try to stir up the lusts of men.  We cannot dress in immodest clothing and then state that it is not our fault if men look with lust.  Of course it is our fault if we do this!  We don't control what the men do, but we certainly have a responsibility to dress in a way that is not drawing attention to ourselves and revealing things that should be kept private. 

And to the ladies who say that their husbands want them to dress in a provocative way, let me be forthright with you:  It does not matter!  If your husband wants you to dress this way outside of the privacy of your own bedroom, then he is in sin, and will have to be dealt with by the Lord in this area--hopefully sooner, rather than later.  But it must be said, our husbands can never give us commands where the Lord God has already given us a command, and He has commanded us to be modest in our apparel.  We must obey God rather than man, and you must respectfully decline if your husband asks you to dress in this way, either out in public or even at home in front of your children.

Now, we will turn again today to a straightforward quote from A.W. Pink to give us some much needed direction in this area:

  By clear and necessary implication, Christ here also forbade the using of any other of our senses and members to stir up lust.  If ensnaring looks be reprehensible, then so much more unclean conversation and wanton dalliances, which are the fuel of this hellish desire.  Again, if lustful looking be so grievous a sin, then those who dress and expose themselves with desires to be looked at and lusted after--as Jezebel, who painted her face, tired her head, and looked out of the window (II Kings ix, 30)--are not less, but even more guilty.  In this matter it is only too often the case that men sin, but women tempt them so to do.  How great then, must be the guilt of the great majority of the modern misses who deliberately seek to arouse the sexual passions of our young men.  And how much greater still is the guilt of most of their mothers for allowing them to become lascivious temptresses.
~A.W. Pink, from Sermon on the Mount

I must also add, in case you are wondering, that indeed men also have an obligation to dress modestly. So if you are raising boys, please do teach them this as well.

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2 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing this. Modesty & decency are far more attractive than immodesty.

    ReplyDelete

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