It is interesting that when the Apostles wrote to Christian churches and spoke of women dressing modestly, they dealt directly with showing off wealth and unnecessary expenses related to luxury in dress.

Reading from 1 Timothy 2:5-10: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.  Whereunto I (the Apostle Paul) am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity (truth).  I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.  In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.”

1 Peter 3:3-4 then says: “Whose adorning (speaking of women) let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.”

 The principle related to showing off wealth also makes it clear, along with many other principles in the Bible, that showing off one’s body in public is also evil.  

A word that is a synonym of the phrase “showing off” is “flaunt.”

Oxford Languages’ first definition of flaunt is “display (something) ostentatiously, especially in order to provoke envy or admiration or to show defiance.”

In the normal course of life, displaying one’s body publicly is inherently ostentatious and is likely to provoke envy or admiration.  Doing so is also a key way to show defiance- especially towards God.

No one can be walking adequately in the fear of God when they are showing off (flaunting) their body and/or their wealth.

Wearing revealing clothing and/or very tight clothing (without another layer over it) contends with God’s verdict that mankind should be clothed after mankind fell into sin.  If you don’t know, one of God’s first acts after mankind fell into sin was to clothe Adam and Eve with the skin of an animal.  The fig leaves that they had sewn together were not adequate clothing, yet they covered much more flesh with the fig leaves than many cover now. 

1 Thessalonians 4:3-7 says: “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification (holiness), that ye should abstain from fornication: That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification (holiness) and honor; Not in the lust of concupiscence (forbidden desire), even as the Gentiles which know not God: That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.  For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.”

Immodest clothing, in terms of displaying wealth or revealing the body, also provokes strife.  In other areas of life, we acknowledge that showing off is not right.  The Bible warns in Galatians 5:26: “Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.” 

Opponents of modest dress will often say that we should focus on the heart and not on how people dress (as if these two focuses are somehow incompatible).  Yet dress which shows off wealth and/or shows off the body is never compatible with a heart that is right.  Don’t show off your physical assets nor your financial assets.  A right heart will follow this principle; and how we dress obviously matters in relation to that.

A lot of people dress terribly immodest, showing off their bodies and/or looking flashy- while saying they are being modest.  Some people consider anything more than being naked to be modest.  Yet our culture (and every culture to some degree) has been corrupted by sinful values and evil influences.  Renewing one’s mind by God’s Word will help one better realize the exceedingly great degree that this is so. 

These principles demonstrate why the norms of our society and of our culture cannot be the standard whereby we determine whether an outfit is modest and acceptable or not.  Everyone can see that a culture having a common practice does not make that practice right.  

Think about it: There have been unspeakably horrible things such as cannibalism and the ritualistic killing of the elderly which have been considered normal in societies throughout history.  Another example would be the cultures which have normalized sacrificing their infants to pagan gods (and of course our society has its own version of that too- sadly and horribly).  

It is also evident that mankind is not progressing morally.  Mankind’s deadliest wars have been fought in recent centuries.  There has also not been a continual decrease in violent crime nor a steady increase of peace.  The concept that mankind has been steadily evolving morally has been proven foolish- especially in the 20th century by the two great world wars and the many experiments of the practice of Leftist ideology (Marxism/Communism) which has consistently resulted in mass oppression and mass murder.  

Those who call themselves “progressives” don’t consider what they are progressing towards or they may even have a very godless, evil definition of progress.  Our society has come to accept as normal (and even label as progress) many evil things which the Word of God condemns.  One example is the acceptance of immodest dress.  Even though today it is considered normal to dress sensually in tight and/or revealing clothing, this is not right in God’s eyes nor in line with common sense. This tempts good people, while pleasing impure people in unclean pursuits. This corrupts those who take pleasure in it, while making those who practice it objects in their eyes.  And you can bet that immodest dress has always been associated with many other evils. 

To some, there is an element of defiance towards God in their immodest dress which they are extremely conscious of and deliberate in.  Immodest dress is actually very closely related to the spirit of Sodom.  Publicly displaying one’s body and being overall decadent in dress, as well as public lewdness, are utterly compatible with the LGBT spirit.  Note how the drag queens dance lasciviously in public.  They also do not wear long dresses and head-coverings.  Immodesty in society in general has emboldened and promoted the LGBT spirit.  

Are you disgusted by pride month and the LGBT agenda being constantly pushed on us?  Dress modestly and enforce modest dress in your home (if you have jurisdiction over anyone in your home).  Modesty (real modesty consistent with Biblical principles) reproves and rebukes the LGBT spirit.  To reinforce my point, just imagine an LGBT group having a modesty workshop where their members were taught about dressing in a way that isn’t ostentatious nor in any way sexually suggestive.  Besides as a joke or a publicity stunt, such a thing would not happen.

I hope that among the Christian men whom I can influence that it would be virtually impossible for anyone to cause them to fall into lust.  Yet it is also true that some people are weak and vulnerable in this area (like teenage boys).  

Consider here Mark 9:42: “And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.”  

No one should ever be causing an unnecessary battle for someone due to their lasciviousness or whatever it is which would cause them to show off their body and so defraud others.  Your immodesty should not cause another to have to fight a battle in this way, even though some will not be stumbled by you.  

Some people obviously demonstrate their wickedness in relation to how they fight against these principles and are dead set on never implementing them.  Men need to be modest themselves and love the Lord more than their wives, daughters, sons, etc. and enforce Biblical modesty on those under their jurisdiction.  How effectively this is done reflects on fathers and pastors.  Men should also not have anything in their hearts which would involve taking pleasure in showing off their wives and/or their daughters.  Women need to love the Lord more than attention, their self-esteem, their acceptance with other women, etc. and remove any attitude in their heart which would cause them to dress in a way which could cause another to stumble. 

There is coming a Day of Judgment when God will judge the world by His standards and condemn all who lived in violation of them.  No one will be able to hide behind their society nor culture then.  The norms of these should not dictate proper Christianity.  Biblical Christianity should rather dictate our reaction to these.  

If you are involved in the sin of immodesty or are in any way taking pleasure in the immodesty of others, repent and cast this from you.  Make the best effort you can to get it out of your life and read the Bible for better understanding of God’s will (which we should do anyways concerning every issue).  We ought to seek God with our whole hearts to align with His prescription for righteousness, which is His eternal moral law.  Heaven is only for those who do this and hell is for those who don’t.  God’s grace is only for those with a heart to do what He requires and to hold the lines which He has laid down faithfully in the Bible.  Flee from every evil way of the devil, take refuge and maintain refuge in the Lord Jesus Christ, walk in the truth of His Word without compromise in the midst of this crooked and corrupt world to the end, and so deliver your soul.

Aaron’s email is: [email protected]

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