Summertime: Modesty and Swimsuits
Posted By Jacque on May 31, 2008
So, it is summertime. What can Christians do about swimsuits?
*This post originally contained The Letter From A Christian Guy About Modesty. I posted the Letter separately, because it may not be appropriate for all eyes, ears or hearts. Guarding our children’s thought lives is important to me, so I wanted to make it one step harder for them to stumble upon it*
Ask my girls and you will find out that the topic of modesty is not just a fly-by-night issue with my heart, but it is near and dear. I was a very provocative teenager. I intended to be. Many girls -and women, for that matter, do intend to be – provocative.
Some young ladies who claim to be committed to the LORD intend to be noticed, and express it by their immodesty. The letter, Modesty: A letter from True Christian Guys is written with all of the reasons women need to understand about their indulgences in immodest clothing from a man’s point of view.
However, as very important as that is… we need to understand that, if this is so spiritually repulsive to men, then God ~ Jesus, well, need I say more? Do you want to have your Holy Saviour say the same words to you as this young man is? I don’t.
And, if I could add a few more thoughts, I would say to DADS – please do not say “I don’t care,” or “It’s none of my business what my daughter wears,” or “Oh, but isn’t she beautiful in that, though?” or “Well, she has to make those decisions herself now; she’s old enough.” OR-God forbid…”Her Mother will take care of that!”
Even if your daughter is old enough, she needs to know what you think – especially in the area of her Virtue. And, even if your wife doesn’t mind or even wants to take care of their modesty training, encourage them both anyway. Moms can talk all day about some things, and a lot of topics are well-received by daughters. I have found that, my daughters especially, as much as they try to receive the clothing issue in love from Mom, Dad has a grip on their hearts in this area that they want to be held by. I believe it is a man’s God-given authority and responsibility to help his daughter in this area, if it is an issue.
I have also found that clothing is an outward expression of the spirit. Is it an undeniable issue in today’s culture? yes. Is it a touchy issue? it can be. Is it a telling sign of rebellion or submission? I believe so. In boys or girls. This is why we must train our children from birth.
We must speak and act in a holy manner. Christians sometimes take liberties, because we do not look at them in a holy manner. We look at them through our own experiences and desires. Everything is a matter of worldliness and holiness. Everything.
Daughters… you should be willing to receive Dad’s and Mom’s instruction in every area of your life, whether it pertains to something personal or not. Just as the LORD’s ways are higher than ours, they have a larger understanding of the world and its insatiable desire to get you in its grips than you do.
Trust them; believe them; love God through them. Even if – or especially if- you think they are wrong. You need to make yourself do as they say, and do it with a love for God. The only way you can deny this rule is if they are causing you to sin. Having you wear clothing you don’t like (if you don’t like it) is not causing you to sin. Your reaction may be sinful, but that is your choice. Like I said: Trust them; believe them; love God through them.
You will be a better young lady for it, and you will thank them when you are married. You will rejoice and praise them when you stand before the throne of God.
Actually, the swimsuit question was rhetorical. I guessed that, after the Committed Christian Guy made several references to the effects of bare flesh on a male mind, it would mean that swimsuits, by nature, are immodest. And, I, personally, cannot understand the bare flesh leading to other thoughts to keep under subjection, because I have never really thought past the bare legs and chest associated with
I do believe that modesty is not just being concerned with what someone else thinks. I believe God built each soul with a spirit that wants to be holy and flesh that wants to be, well, hellish. So, that is our decision… holy or hellish.
It’s funny that I just saw a program about this on PBS History Detectives last night after I had posted that entry. It spoke of how these little itty, bitty eyeglasses, with pictures on them, called stanhopes,coming out of Europe in the 1800’s with pictures of scantily-clad or nude women were banned in some countries. It brought up the subject of modesty and the question of why some nude pictures were immodest – or pornographic- and some were considered art. So, almost a century later, with the “free-to-be-me hippy era”, we had to make legislation for those who couldn’t discern it for themselves.
I think when morality and what is modest and what is not was actually legislated in the ’60’s or 70’s (which is not included in the program transcript for some reason), that was the point at which our (we, as a culture) idea of modesty changed. Even if it had changed before, we then had someone who had defined modesty for us, so, even if we felt that something was immodest, we had a law that said otherwise. The definition of modesty was, at that point, being legislated by men, instead of by convictions (from God or the Holy Spirit).
That is where the modest moral Christian today loses sight of what morality is – we let someone else define what modesty is or is not – usually culture, or Hollywood or our children’s friends… and we would rather go along for the ride, instead of thinking about it and seeking the Truth for ourselves (forget about taking a stand and establishing morality and holiness).
So, by definition of modesty… in the holy sense of the word, can a swimsuit, which bares all but… can it be modest? I don’t mean a comparatively modest swimsuit (one compared to the -I heard a description recently from a comic- 2 potato chips and a band-aid – swimsuits). After all, why compare an ideal like Holy Modesty with something of such a low standard on the modesty scale?
Matt loves to go to waterparks. I hate it. He loves the fun of the rides. I hate seeing it all. I hate my children seeing it all. My 14 year old daughter. My 11 year old son. My 8 year old daughter. Amanda, at 18, and Jocelyn, at 17, already have their minds set on the matter, and the thought of going to a flesh-fest just makes them cringe. Me too. In addition to the fact that I don’t want the Littles to grow up insensitive to it.
It is a balancing act in this world. We rarely take our children to the grocery store anymore in the summer for this very reason. Eric constantly averts his eyes to mine whenever someone with it all hanging out walks towards us. It is just the way it is, but do we have to partake of it? The balancing: we cannot step away from the world and people who need the Lord either. We cannot be prejudiced against them. We cannot feel superior to them. I am talking about protecting our children from sin. I am also talking about Mrs. So-n-so who wears a mini-skirt and low-cut blouse and sits in the front pew at church or teaches our children’s Sunday school class…
Lots to think about. Lots to consider. Lots to pray about. Tomorrow is June 1st!
blessings!
Subscribe to Walking Therein by Email
This article originally Posted HERE. Read the comments.
Similar Articles
Thank you for visiting! Please be sure to see my right sidebar and give what you can to the Gleaning the Harvest widowed and single-parent home school families. It only takes a moment and is safe to donate through Paypal.
Comments
4 Responses to “Summertime: Modesty and Swimsuits”
Leave a Reply
Please note: Comment moderation is currently enabled so there will be a delay between when you post your comment and when it shows up. Patience is a virtue; there is no need to re-submit your comment.
Not even getting into Christianity or religion of any kind I want to know how it is that the clothing designers have morphed the bathing suit style for men and boys to be below the knee “shorts” which are very very baggy, yet the girls and women continue to be basically forced to wear skin tight bathing suits. It is even hard for women who are senior citizens to find suits which are not the same style as for women in their 20s.
I like the Land’s End bathing suits sold as separates. My bottoms used to be shorts and now I wear the skirt style that is sewn to the bathing suit piece underneath. They call it a tankini but the top fully covers the body and some necklines are high, but they are sleeveless.
I continue to be annoyed that boys and men’s bathing suits are the polar opposite of skimy and revealing while the mainstream design for girls, teens and women of all ages are very revealing.
It also doesn’t look right to put very young girls in styles that are meant for doing things like flattering the legs with high cut sides. Also too many times the skimpy suits for girls who are below teen age end up not fitting well and end up revealing their private parts as they do active beach and pool play, which is REALLY a shame and just not right. I’d like the bathing suit designers to explain why the toddlers and little girls are basically only offered suits intended more to make grown women look sexy.
[Reply]
Just a little vent here: at our church we have VBS every year and there is this 1 certain lady who teaches a class, every year, and granted she is a pretty lady but how she dresses makes me cringe! Tight shorts, spaghetti strapped, low cut shirt..UGH!!! I dont know if I’m the only one who notices it or not..I’ve been tempted to bring it to the pastors attention but I truly don’t to start a ruckus. Any thoughts??
[Reply]
Very timely post. It does make me cringe when I think back on my younger days and my lack of wisdom in dressing. Ick. I like to go swimming, but not when others are around. We usually go to a local reservoir through the week and there is usually only a few other people there and spread far apart on the beach. Getting modest swimsuits is a challenge, but can be done. Unfortunately, those cost more.
[Reply]
Beth, I would DEF say something about the woman. I would talk to the Pastor. Pray first of course and be sure your heart is right and not condemning. Even if you get flack for it. I would stand for it. I’ve done it before. It wasn’t well accepted, but my leadership knows where I stand on it. I would NEVER say anything to the woman though. Just pray. If God opens the door and she ASKS you, you could give scripture references.
[Reply]