“It’s my right to dress however I please.” “What’s wrong with showing my body? God made it, didn’t he?” “If somebody doesn’t like what I choose to wear, that’s their problem!” “All of my friends dress like this.” What does God say about clothing and modesty? What connection is there between clothing and a life of purity?
1 Timothy 2:9-10: “I want women to show their beauty by dressing in appropriate clothes that are modest and respectable. Their beauty will be shown by what they do, not by their hair styles or the gold jewelry, pearls, or expensive clothes they wear. This is what is proper for women who claim to have reverence for God.”
What is modesty? Modesty is having a humble view of oneself in front of God. It is the opposite of boldness or arrogance. Webster’s dictionary links chastity with modesty, because chastity means moral purity in both thought and behavior. A Biblical sense of modesty comes from the desire to please God rather than advertise self. It is a genuine love for Jesus Christ rather than a glorification of self. Biblical modesty is more than a legalistic “don’t do that;” it is, in fact, an opportunity to encourage others to “show love and to do good things” (Hebrews 10:24). Therefore, a Christian woman is careful to dress in such a way that does not cause a man to sin in thought or action.
The Reason for Clothing
Why do people wear clothing? Is it to keep warm, to express personality, or to make a fashion statement? The real reason men and women wear clothes is because the Heavenly Father designed clothing for his children to wear.
In the beginning, immediately after their creation, Adam and Eve walked around the Garden without clothes (Genesis 2:25). Man and woman felt no shame in their nakedness with each other or before God. But when sin entered the world because Adam and Eve disobeyed God, everything changed! Man and woman experienced a new knowledge called shame. Even though Adam and Eve were husband and wife, they were embarrassed by their nakedness and uncomfortable with their bodies in each other’s presence (Genesis 3:7a). Ashamed of their nakedness, they quickly tried to cover themselves with fig leaves (Genesis 3:7b). Ashamed of their sin, they tried to hide from God (Genesis 3:8-11). But trying to cover themselves with fig leaves and running to hide in the trees wasn’t good enough.
Covering from God
God knew that Adam and Eve needed to be covered in more than fig leaves, so he dressed the man and his wife in clothes made from animal skins (Genesis 3:21). The fig leaves did not sufficiently cover their bodies nor hide their disobedience. God provided clothing sufficient to cover Adam and Eve’s nakedness by shedding the blood of an animal. In doing so, God provided a picture of that which would cover their disobedience. Jesus would shed his blood to provide a covering of holiness for sinful man. Jesus clothes us with garments of salvation and a robe of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10)! Even the man or woman who has been immodest or impure has hope in Christ Jesus! “God is faithful and reliable. If we confess our sins, he forgives them and cleanses us from everything we’ve done wrong” (1 John 1:9). God did not choose to leave Adam and Eve uncovered in only a loincloth or bikini of leaves. Nor did he choose to leave Adam and Eve stripped and without hope because of their sin.
The Protection of Modesty
In Jesus Christ we see that the new emotion of shame and embarrassment becomes our protection. Modesty—or a natural shyness and proper embarrassment—is God’s protection for men and women. Modesty, for most people, is instinctive. It is evidenced every windy day on any street in the country by a woman wearing a split skirt. When the wind forces her skirt to open, she will quickly react by pulling the flapping skirt closed. An active conscience can make us feel uncomfortable or embarrassed by lack of proper covering. Satan wants us to ignore our conscience (the whisper from the Holy Spirit) and throw off old-fashioned ideas of modesty. And so the world tries very hard to strip natural shyness and proper embarrassment away from boys and girls, men and women. At the same time that boys and girls are being given all “knowledge” in coed sex education classes, the fashion industry and media work to “undress” girls and women. “Do what you want to do!” says the world. “You have the right to dress as you please!” “Your body is beautiful so show it off!”
In Kretzmann’s Commentary (v1.1, p.10), we are told: “If the dress of man or woman does not cover their nakedness, but suggests or reveals such charms as have an essentially sensual appeal, then it does not serve the purpose for which the Lord intended it in the beginning, then it becomes a tool in the service of sin.” Believing that rights are more important than responsibilities and wanting to be “cool,” a young woman may unintentionally become a “temptress” to a young man who is excited by what he sees. But, even though a man may be tempted to think sinful thoughts, God wants him to be in control of his behavior and, in spite of the temptation, cover all women with respect.
God knew that after sin entered the world, men and women would look at one another’s bodies in a way different from what he intended. He knew they might be tempted to sexual sin by what their eyes see. So God designed clothes to help us keep our thoughts pure and lead us away from temptation. God knows there is danger in prideful, sexy or provocative dress and behavior. His call to modesty leads us and others away from sin and danger to a future of hope.