Do Those Shorts Hurt?
I get it… summer is in full swing and it’s HOT outside! However, the temperature outside does not give anyone the sanction to undress and walk around in public in an immodest and nauseating display of “fashion.” But here is what I don’t get; a few weeks ago my family and I went to the mall on Sunday afternoon to buy some golf shirts for Father’s Day when we saw a mother and her children walk past us and her daughter (who couldn’t have been more than 14) was wearing a pair of jean shorts that were so short and tight that her thighs were bulging out from underneath. I looked at my wife and asked, “Do those shorts hurt?”
How unfortunate that men (young and old) are subjected to such indecency simply for the sake of “comfort.” How sad it is that we have gone from the shame of nakedness in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:25) to no shame at all. At camp this summer the elders at Rolling Hills said that the dress code was to be strictly enforced. And it was! If we don’t do this ourselves the same thing that will (and in many cases has) happen in our homes and in the church.
The Bible still says that women are to “adorn themselves in modest apparel” (1 Timothy 2:9). Exodus 28:42 gives us a good indication of what that means: “from the waist to the thighs.” To do otherwise is to be brought to shame in the eyes of those who see your immodesty (Exodus 32:25). The idea that one can dress in an immodest manner and is not responsible if another looks on you to lust is ridiculous! If you cause someone to sin, you sin! If you dress modestly and someone looks upon you to lust after you then your hands are clean.
Now that being said, I want to say a few things from a man’s perspective because 1) I don’t want you to dress in such a way as to cause me to sin, and 2) I don’t want you to sin, knowingly or unknowingly.
- If the top shows your cleavage, or is so tight that little to nothing is left to an evil imagination… it is immodest!
- If the material is so shear that the color or pattern of your underwear is clearly identifiable… it is immodest!
- If the apparel is so tight that you have trouble breathing or is squeezing you to death… it is immodest!
- Bikinis, midriff shirts, miniskirts, and yoga pants are immodest! If you don’t understand why ask your husband or father!
The fact is no one has to be both immodest and uncomfortable just because it is hot outside. If we truly love God and want to please Him we will put what He wants above what we want. No matter how hot it is outside hell will be much hotter and there will be no relief! Dress to impress God and be faithful.