In 1 Timothy 2:8-10 the
Bible says that modest dress is appropriate for christian women.
Apparently this is more of a concern for women than for men because the
male has the stronger God-given visual orientation (Matthew 5:27-28; 1
Samuel 16:7).
The term "modest" comes
from an ancient Greek word which meant for the object to "avoid calling
attention to itself." Immodest dress on the part of either a man or
woman does exactly this. It calls for more than just attention to
itself. In many cases it promotes lust.
The Bible says that
originally Adam and Eve could exist together in nakedness and there was
no shame (Genesis 2:25). However, when the knowledge of good and evil
became theirs no one had to tell them that the proper thing to do was to
clothe themselves (Genesis 3:7). They even hid from God because of their
new knowledge about their nakedness (Genesis 3:8-11). This knowledge
still exists in the heart of mankind today. Even when someone is not a
christian or is not attuned to spiritual things the awareness is still
there.
In 2 Samuel 11:2 the
Bible says, "Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed
and walked on the roof of the king's house. And from the roof he saw a
woman bathing, and the woman <was> very beautiful to behold." Because of
this one incident David committed both adultery and murder, not to
mention the fact that he also tried to cover up these things. Lust can
cause us to do things that we would never otherwise do (James 1:12-16;
Ezekiel 23:1-23).
The Bible says that
outward modesty in dress allows the true, inward beauty of a person to
be more clearly seen (1 Peter 3:1-4). When we concentrate only on the
outward it is like buying a house for its paint. We may wind up strongly
disliking what we find on the inside.
The Bible gives
precedent for a husband or wife to appear desirable for one another, but
to avoid this in every other type of situation (Proverbs 5:15-20;
6:20-29; 7:6-27; Song of Solomon 1; 4; 7-8). Marriages would be stronger
and there would be less unfaithfulness if people more seriously
considered how their choice of clothing might affect others.