THE ATTIRE OF A HARLOT
“And, behold, there met him a woman with the ATTIRE OF A HARLOT, and subtle of heart” (Proverbs 7:10). This is speaking about a strange woman (Proverbs 7:5). A condition which predisposes to fornication and adultery is ‘strangeness’. Strange people are those whose behavior in a certain sense sows the seeds of fornication in others. The Bible didn’t say she was a harlot, but that, she came with the dress of a harlot. If you are a Christian there are certain dresses that you are not supposed to wear. A believer ought to dress decently. If you are not a prostitute but you often dress like one, then you have one of the characteristics of a strange woman. Strange women often dress in suggestive and revealing ways. It is not only the dress that speaks, but their pose also says volumes. You can immediately see they are after something. If you dare come to church with such a dress, then there is no doubt that you are strange. Some of the dresses expose half of their breasts. But a woman’s breasts are not meant for public display. I know of only two reasons why breasts were made: for breast feeding, and for husbands to enjoy! Ladies, always dress decently — do not dress in a suggestive or revealing way! Make-up helps to enhance the beauty of women, but there is a limit. At a point the make-up becomes too much and other messages are loudly sent across. Every Christian should look beautiful, but we should be careful not to cross the line into ‘strangeness’. The Bible says temptation shall surely come but woe to him through whom the temptation comes.
King Solomon wrote about a strange woman who seduced a young man and made him land in to the trap of adultery. The woman met the young man at night and she was dressed like a prostitute or a harlot. It is not uncommon today to find a prostitute on the streets being more decently dressed than some Christian sisters. This woman’s dressing is not spoken about in a positive but in a negative sense since she used this dressing to induce the young man to have sex with her, “With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him”(Proverbs 7:21). As a born again Christian you should not be the one being compared to prostitutes on the streets and you should make a difference for the better. In Genesis 38:13-18 we see Tamar seducing and having sex with her father-in-law because of dressing as a harlot.
DEFINITION OF INDECENT DRESSING
Indecency is defined as the quality of not conforming to standards of propriety and morality. A person who is indecent is one who is offensive to good taste especially in sexual matters. God has set specific standards in His word concerning how a Christian should dress. He gives us specific guidelines that govern all things in life; nothing is left out (2 Peter 1:3).
1. Dressing that causes others to stumble
“But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matthew 18:6). Jesus makes it clear that he opposes those who dress in ways that will cause one of God’s children to be offended or to stumble. A believer has to consider whether their dressing is going to distract others from serving God and if it does then they have to act in love and not wear it (1 Corinthians 8).
2. Dressing that brings shame to the wearer
“Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they SEE HIS SHAME” (Revelation 16:15). The scripture refers to a naked person as showing their shame. This is a type of dressing that brings dishonor to the wearer and causes others to lose respect of them. Today we have many Christian women who have no sense of shame. Apostle Paul advises women to have a sense of shame or shamefacedness as they select their clothing (1 Timothy 2:9). One of the ways you can tell if the clothes you are wearing are bringing shame is if you are constantly adjusting them by trying to pull the blouse higher toward the neck or pulling the skirt lower towards the feet. Another characteristic is trying to cover the exposed body with a sweater, shawl, wrapper, handbag or books.
3. Dressing that exposes the sexual organs and other parts of the body
“And thou shalt make them linen breeches to COVER THEIR NAKEDNESS; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach” (Exodus 28:42). God made it clear that the priests were to cover their private parts and thighs with breeches or special shorts. Apostle Paul states that we have to honor certain parts of our bodies that are not proper to be exposed by clothing them (1 Corinthians 12:23).
4. Dressing that is too tight
“They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with any thing that CAUSETH SWEAT” (Ezekiel 44:18). Clothing that causes a person to sweat is obviously tight clothing. Many Christians go ahead to dress in tight clothing that leaves nothing to the imagination and dishonors God.
5. Dressing that excites lust in the onlookers
“For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, … LASCIVIOUSNESS… All these evil things come from within, and defile the man” (Mark 7:21-23). Lasciviousness is defined as the tendency to excite lust, and promote irregular indulgences. This is the root of soft and hard core pornography. A woman or man who dresses in a sexually suggestive way and makes others imagine how good they would be in bed is committing the sin of lasciviousness and stirring up their fleshly lusts.