Ahh Summertime! The lazy days of sun and swimming at the pool provide ample opportunity for young women to reveal far too much of their bodies to eyes that are more than willing to look.
Yes, this is about modesty, a virtue that is fast disappearing from our world. I don't consider myself a prude by any means, but I do think modesty in clothing of all kinds is in short supply.
When I was in the store a little earlier today I took a look at the summer clothing line and was as usual, amazed that women will pay good money for clothes that are at the most a quarter yard of material, shorts so short they nearly expose the rear-end of the wearer, tops so tight and thin with straps that are in all the wrong places that wearing undergarments is not only impossible, but would look foolish. It seems the clothes are designed to maximize sex appeal of every female between 9 and 69.
This does not even begin to address the swim suit issues! I was thrilled to see there are still a few tankinies out there for the more sane among us, but for the most part, what passes as a swimming suit is actually less material than most underwear!
I have great sympathy for my friends who have daughters and have to find them appropriate clothing for summer (or anytime!) because it is clear that there is little to choose from.
I have three sons and we have taught all of them to avoid looking at young women who flaunt their bodies. We have taught them to value modesty in a young woman and to look at what lies beneath the exterior package.
Clothes not only can reveal your body, but what we wear is also a revelation of what is going on inside, in the inner man. Our thoughts, beliefs and desires take place in the inner man, what the Bible refers to as the heart.
- God looks at the heart. 1 Sam. 16:7
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
This means that what goes on inside is what God is most concerned with. The world promotes the idea that a person who is dressed in the latest fashion has an edge of some kind, they are "with it" and "in vogue." People who think that way consider themselves somehow superior to the person who is dressed in modest less-revealing clothes.
Please understand, what a person wears can be a reflection of their spiritual life and condition. In fact the less polished person may be a spiritual giant and be living a life of sacrifice for the sake of others (James 2:1-5). The scantily clad woman is revealing much about her heart.
- Clothing reveals something about the person including character. Deut. 22:5; Jer. 52:33; Matt. 22:11; Pro. 31:21-22; Rev. 17:4
And behold, a woman comes to meet him, Dressed as a harlot and cunning of heart. Proverbs 7:10 (NASB)
“You took some of your clothes, made for yourself high places of various colors and played the harlot on them, which should never come about nor happen. “You also took your beautiful jewels made of My gold and of My silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself male images that you might play the harlot with them. “Then you took your embroidered cloth and covered them, and offered My oil and My incense before them. Ezekiel 16:16-18 (NASB)
Clothing sends a non-verbal message about you. A woman who dresses in clothes that are too tight, skirts too short, tops to skimpy she is revealing an aspect of her character. It tells others who see you what you think about yourself and about your body.
What many young women (and some older ones) see as comfortable, fashionable and chic are revealing heart attitudes and character flaws. Often I am amazed that women do not realize their clothing choices reveal a prideful or lustful heart and their desire to be noticed.
To the Christian, our clothing reveals the spiritual as much as the physical. Christian women are not to put the emphasis on ourselves, nor draw attention to ourselves by the way we dress. 1 Pe. 3:1-4; Matt. 22:37-39, Lk. 9:23.