On the topic of dress

[handy]

Oh, I think if more women were honest, we would admit that it's not all that difficult to understand what you're saying. We have been conditioned by years of preaching that "women are not as visual as men and don't respond in lust the way men do".

Well...maybe I'm just not as saintly as most, but I'll admit to needing to reign things in when a drop-dead hunk of a guy goes by. Maybe the true issue is that women can hide the "affect' better than men can.

But, if those thoughts are triggered, and even trigger "effect", but are reigned in and put a stop too, then things were stopped at the temptation level.

If a woman dresses seductively knowing full well that in doing so she instigates lustful thought in others, is she not causing others to sin?

Absolutely she is. But, the sinner still bears responsibility.

She has sinned for being seductive. He has sinned if he allows her to seduce him, instead of stopping the thoughts instead of running along with them and sinning.

 

[handy]

Just to clarify further...

Our bodies respond to sexual stimuli...and the first stimulus we tend to have is the visual body. God made our bodies to respond to that...

OK, so a response happens.

I don't think the response is sin and it certainly isn't adultery.


Sin comes in when we allow the response to continue further into lust, instead of looking away and taking thoughts captive.

It becomes adultery when the sinner focuses that lust onto the object of desire, rather than repent of the lust.

 

[JudyC]

Rape is to do with power, not lust. It rarely has anything to do with what the woman is wearing. Recently an 80 yr old was raped nearby, by a young man. That is not lust, it is wanting to hurt.
Christian men are meant to school their mind as well as their actions. Looking is not necarily lust, it is what you think when you are looking.
If you are thinking along the lines of 'a thing of beauty is a joy forever' then that is not lust. If you are thinking that you want to bed her it is.
So clean up your mind, hard work I know.
Cheers
Judy

Rape has everything to do with lust.

What is lust? A greedy, unholy desire for something.

What is rape? A greedy, unholy desire for sex.

Children, Women, and Men are raped. It has everything to do with lust.

Which is preciously the point. A woman wearing a tent and a bag over her head can be raped because a man has lust in his heart for sex.

 

[theLords]

Rape is to do with power, not lust. It rarely has anything to do with what the woman is wearing. Recently an 80 yr old was raped nearby, by a young man. That is not lust, it is wanting to hurt.
Christian men are meant to school their mind as well as their actions. Looking is not necarily lust, it is what you think when you are looking.
If you are thinking along the lines of 'a thing of beauty is a joy forever' then that is not lust. If you are thinking that you want to bed her it is.
So clean up your mind, hard work I know.
Cheers
Judy

As I said it is a combination of many factors. Lust is one of them, as is power.

 

[mrroy1937]

Lets get real here. Women dress according to what they want to portray. And what of her body language, the look on her face, etc. I used to attend church in which this family had a teen age daughter. She came to church every Sunday morning with a bare mid drift. My imagination couldn't quit on that one. I would have sat down and talked to her about what she wanted to convey to others.

So, girls need to understand that guys are wired visually and it's on look mode 27/7. So dress accordingly.

 

[reba]

Men dress they way they for the same reasons.

They wish to look cool, impress
they want to look rich
they want to look sexy
could be to show some power

 

[theLords]

Men dress they way they for the same reasons.

They wish to look cool, impress
they want to look rich
they want to look sexy
could be to show some power

I agree. Men need to take responsibility for themselves, and women need to take responsibility for themselves as well.

When we stand before God we stand before God alone giving account for our lives. No one is going to dare say "But Lord I only lusted in my heart because she had a mini-skirt on!"

That story about the teenage girl in the mid-drift. That's 100% on her father and mother. They are responsible for her before the Lord.

I'm reminded of Nicky Cruz's book. He once stated how his first sermon he preached about proper attire and appearance to a small church of prostitutes and gang bangers. Needless to say a short skirt wearing prostitute walked out. Later as Nicky drove home the Lord called him to repentance for his judgemental sermon.

That mid-drift bearing teenage girl is screaming for attention. She's not finding it at home (as Daddy and Mommy allow her or even pay for her to dress that way) so she's going to find it somewhere else.

We should be quick to pray for those we deem as wearing/having inappropriate attire.

What a difference it would make if instead of thinking lustful thoughts we began to realize that the person we are lusting over is someone's baby girl or son or husband/wife. If we began to pray "Lord, bless them with your love and mercy" instead of thinking about how great they look in their clothing.

 

[Danny63]

That's rite when we stand before the judgment seat, we sit there for us not for someone who caused us to sin, they will be dealt with but we will be dealt with for our own only.

First of all if the girl who was not dressed properly or to sexy was not saved, then why is everyone worried about how she should conduct herself, lol she has no worries she is not saved (hypothetically) that we know of so the issue of how she dresses or any other girl out there for that matter. When talking about a girl at church, then sure the subject comes up, do not cause your brother/sister to sin, but still it comes rite back to you Wip, You can not like Mike said earlier help but look, I mean if there is writing on the tush I am looking to see what it said, it is just human nature and that is that. The trouble is what do I do with that look, what do you do with that look? If that sexy girl with the see through top walks by, of course you notice, but the sin is not the first notice, the sin is when you take the next step it is when you start to stare and look a bit longer, start to fantasize a bit, or wait until she stoops over to get an even better view that is when it is a sin.

The first look is no sin, what you do after that first look can get you in trouble wit da big Guy.....

 

[reba]

Could be the girl who has the bare tummy..... Could be her parents were SO very happy to have EVEN attend church. I remember well when i was teen. Could be the parents were hoping for support with this teenage rebellion. Could be she was just a little ____ and needed to be kicked_____could be her parents just dont care

 

[elijah23]

We are all familiar with Jesus' view about adultery, "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Matt. 5:28

So, I am a man and I am attracted to women. If a woman dresses seductively how can I help it but to look at her with lust in my heart? She has coerced me into a sinful thought before I could even react and now I must repent.

Not that I'm trying to shift guilt, as I know the guilt is mine, but is it just as sinful for women to dress in a manner that invokes men to sin?

It is up to the woman not to dress seductively and up to us men not to look lustfully on a woman. If a woman dresses seductively, it makes our job harder, but it is still our responsibility not to look lustfully at her.