Modesty - Men and Boys
by: Jerry Price - Apr 3, 2006 - comment
“Your are…a reflection of what you wear; or vice versa, what you wear is a reflection of you. Guys who wear supertight jeans and short speedo-type shorts send one message to girls who see them: He’s sure trying to flaunt himself, isn’t he? Unbuttoned shirts and a refusal to wear anything but tank tops or T-shirts with cut-off sleeves send the same message: He must really think he’s impressing us with those muscles and those two chest hairs…Loose dress reveals a loose heart. Whatever is on the inside will eventually come out…Guys, if you’re constantly thinking about showing off parts of your body to a girl, you’ll eventually try to do just that.”
Greg Johnson and Susie Shellenburger, What Hollywood Won’t Tell You About Sex, Love and Dating (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1994), 66.
“Our bodies should be covered with modest clothing, so that we can be a compelling witness for Christ (see 1 Timothy 2:9-10). We should not strive to be the center of attention or draw our significance from special markings or expensive clothes. Our bodies were formed in the womb to be God’s servants (Isaiah 49:5). And serving God is a full-time occupation…Can a bodybuilder use his body for the ‘glory of God’? Depends. One such young man said, ‘I had to give up bodybuilding because I knew the reason I did it was to attract attention to myself, not to glorify God.’”
Erwin W. Lutzer, Who Are You to Judge? (Chicago: Moody Press, 2002), 171.
“You [girls] can help guys in their fight against lust by being aware of just how aware guys are of your body. Rarely a moment goes by when a guy isn’t aware of your body. And you don’t have to have a cover model’s body for this to be true . . . When I say that guys are always aware of your body, I’m not implying that they’re always lusting after any woman they’re with (although this is possible). I mean that in any interaction with a woman, a healthy man is aware that you’re a woman and that you have a body his sinful desires would love to lust after. A Christian man seeking to resist lust never reaches a state where he’s unaware of a female’s body. He just learns to actively choose not to stare. So a godly Christian guy really does (or really should) want to view you as a sister and maintain eye contact—not ‘eye to something else’ contact. But when you wear clothing that accentuates, draws attention to, or highlights the feminine parts of your body, it’s like wearing a flashing neon sign pointing to the very thing he’s trying not to be consumed with. Sure, guys can resist the temptation to lust, and it’s our responsibility to do so, but your dressing immodestly makes this very difficult.
“I know that talking about flashing neon signs might make this sound like a joke. But immodesty really isn’t funny . . . The way you dress can either help or hinder the men around you who are trying to resist lust.”
Joshua Harris, Not Even a Hint (Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, Inc., 2003), 90-92.
Further Learning
Learn more about: Family, Sexual Purity, Modesty