Women’s magazines make a living off of disclosing secrets about women and men. Today, another secret will be revealed that may open the eyes of many Christian women and help arm them with knowledge and empathy.
The refrain we often hear from Christian women who dress immodestly is that men aren’t supposed to be looking anyway because of their commitment to God. This logic is dangerously naive.
When a man becomes a Christian he does not cease to be a man with all the passions and sexual drive God gave him. The desire to look at attractive women is still instilled deep in his being and that will not go away when he exits the baptistery. This makes him a male, not a pervert.
The secret that needs to be revealed, to help Christian women, can also help the guilt of Christian men giving them the power to grow in these matters.
Ladies, Christian men have a love/hate relationship with immodesty.
As fleshly men with inherent passions, they desire women sexually and love attractive, immodest women because sex is on their minds all the time.
In our sex-saturated society, men deserve a respite from immodesty when they are among their sisters in Christ. When women in the kingdom are also immodest, men can’t get away from it. It would be like a woman on a strict diet being surrounded by chocolate every where she went.
While men crave beautiful women, Christian men also hate immodesty because it threatens them spiritually. They know lust is sinful (Matthew 5:27-28; Job 31:1) and they wish all women would dress modestly while desiring otherwise. The conflict can be intense.
Christian women often do not know the battles that men face. The fleshly and the spiritual are in constant warfare for dominance in their hearts. Fleshly men just surrender and indulge whenever possible. Yet, Christian men must keep fighting the dragon. They don’t win all the battles, either, and the wounds can be painful.
When will Christian women understand and empathize? When will they start helping men in their struggles? When will they stop fighting against the hearts of godly men?
Do Christian women love Christian men? If so, please express that love by being modest. The enemy is Satan and if we can help each other go to heaven, it will all be worth it.
by Richard Mansel