Thursday, September 8, 2016

Men are to Blame for Everything!


According to many people today, men are to blame for everything! When women wear skimpy bikinis with their entire bottoms showing and most of their breasts causing men to lust after them, it is entirely the man’s fault according to many women and teaching young women to be modest and discreet (not drawing attention to themselves) is shaming women. They tell me that men need to be taught to respect women, regardless of how women dress or act.

These people are in La La land and have made up their own rules which are foolishness. In the Bible, God usually puts nakedness and shame together. Once sin entered into the world, Adam and Eve felt shame and tried to cover themselves up with leaves but God covered them up with a coat. He knew men would lust after the nakedness of any woman they saw and that women would try to dress provocatively in order to cause men to lust after them. All of this is in His Word and this is why He commands women to be modest and discreet and Jesus speaks about the sin of men lusting (Matthew 5:28).

Are men the only ones at fault when they lust after a woman dressed immodestly? No, they are both at fault. She is held responsible, however, for causing another to stumble. Women are not innocent. Women sin just as much as men but some of their sins are different. Women generally want to control their husbands through moods, withholding sex, nagging, quarreling, etc. They are far from perfect, regardless of what our culture is teaching today through sitcoms and movies. Women are not the superior of the sexes. In fact, the Bible teaches that a wise woman builds her home up and a foolish one tears it down with her own hands. Women can win their disobedient husband without a word by being in subjection to their husbands and having godly behavior. God has given both sexes power in different ways and we ought to always use the power the Lord has given us to build up and glorify God and not abuse it in any way.

Teach your daughters a sense shame in showing their nakedness to every other man except for their future husband. We should feel shame about being immodest and this culture has lost all shame about their nakedness. Teach them modesty from the time they are young girls; never allowing them to run around naked or scantily clad. 

Women, obey the Lord in the things He has commanded you to obey Him in and leave the areas He has commanded men to obey to men. We have no ability to change our husbands or other men but we do need to be responsible with what the Lord has given us. Dress modestly and discreetly. Be known for good works rather than for what you look like or own. Build up your homes up through gentleness, kindness, and love. Always respect and submit to your husband and appreciate everything good that he does for you. Be women of honor and dignity, thus giving God all the glory. Stop listening to the foolishness of this world and begin living knowing you will one day stand before the Lord and give an account to Him for how you alone lived your life on this earth.

As Judy wrote on my Facebook page: "We should ask the question, if I was suddenly ushered into the Lord's Holy presence in heaven and the company of angels, would I feel the least bit of shame? Also, for whose glory am I dressing, mine or God's?"

Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen.
Isaiah 47:3

Behold, I am against thee, said the Lord of hosts; and I will discover thy skirts upon they face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.
Nahum 3:5

I counsel thee to buy…white raiment, that thou may be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness does not appear.
Revelation 3:18

Comments (24)

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Once again, you are right. Women need this teaching. It's not popular, but much needed. I've found that when I teach this to women, whether young or old, their response reveals their heart. A spirit of rebellion will often rear up, and that, too, has to be dealt with through truth, with love. The teachings of the world, and lack of truth taught by the churches, has entrenched wrong thinking.
Blessings and shalom,
Gail
1 reply · active 446 weeks ago
I agree with you, Gail. It's wonderful to teach women with teachable hearts!
Do you think there is a difference in how a woman dresses versus what is in her heart? For example, a woman consciously dresses to attract attention versus a woman who chooses clothing she personally likes and never giving thought to what anyone else may think.
1 reply · active 446 weeks ago
As a woman pursuing godliness, we should always give thought to what we wear. We are told to clothe ourselves with good works, not costly clothes and overdone jewelry and hair. All of our lives matter since we are either drawing others to the Lord or blaspheming His Word when we disobey what He has clearly taught us. How we live our lives matter.
I don't think the issue is "blame". Neither sex is always to blame for anything. The issue here is responsibility. Both men and women bear responsibility. Of course we should teach young women to be modest, AND teach young men to be respectful women. My teenage son knows how to pick up his date at her door and be respectful to her He knows to watch his language and keep his hands to himself. It goes both ways.

That said, I don't think all women who wear bikinis or show more skin than necessary are always out for attention from men. I admit to wearing a bikini (not, a thong) back in my teens and for a few years after marriage. I wasn't out for male attention. I was married. It was strictly to get a suntan.

So yeah, we should teach girls to be modest. Some of them choose clothes just because they like them without giving a thought to how much they're showing.
5 replies · active 446 weeks ago
If you are not a believer in Christ, then wear anything you want since you are not trying to please anyone but yourself. But if you are a believer in Christ, you need to always be careful with what you wear as the Lord commands that we be modest and discreet and not cause our brothers to stumble. It all comes down to who you want to please: yourself or the Lord.
I am a believer. I was just pointing out some girls don't even realize what they are doing when they dress leaving little to the imagination. That's why it is important to teach them. I gave no thought to wearing a bikini. All I was taught was not to bare my breasts or rear end and to sit with my knees together when wearing a skirt. I was a Christian at the time and dtill had no clue.
Yes, I agree with you, Michelle, and this is why God commands older women to teach these things. I wore bikinis as a teenager but knew full well that it attracted attention from the guys around me and I was a bit embarrassed about it. I stopped once I had children knowing I wanted to set an example for them.
Thus, the failure of...... The men not teaching the younger women in Titus 2 (jk).
It is also the men's fault for women having to get plastic surgery and starving themselves. Lol. I am constantly told from my wife that I am the cause of her having to stay thin, keep her hair and nails nice etc. like if I wasn't around she would let herself look like an ogre.
Your wife has a point - there is immense pressure out there, for women to look good. It is everywhere - on TV, in magazines, all over the internet. It is just how society is. It may have always been this way. Women want to look good - and they want to look good for their men.
Of course Christian women should have different hearts, as Lori teaches, but even for Christian women, the pressure is still there.

Also, infidelity is such a huge thing. With the pressure on women (and maybe men, too) to always look good, and the easy availability of porn, plastic surgery, photo-editing (in magazines) etc. it is so easy for women to think that unless they look good, their husband is going to leave them for another woman. A younger, better-looking woman. It doesn't matter if you would never, in a million years, cheat on your wife - that attitude is so ingrained into society that it is hard for women to escape from.

I work hard to keep myself slim after having had 4 children, and I take effort to dress well, in modest, feminine clothing that my husband likes, to make myself attractive to my husband. I *want* to be attractive to him. I don't want to give him any reason to go looking elsewhere (not that I think he would ... but as I said, that attitude is pretty ingrained in society).

Actually, most of the pressure to be thin and looks good comes from other women, not men. And it comes from within ourselves. It is not men's fault at all. But society doesn't see it that way.
We have found that we can't find a church that teaches or lives out the command for women to dress modestly. It is very difficult to raise girls in that setting. It is confusing. Going out to say, walmart and seeing scantily clad women is understandable. Gow do we teach our daughters (and sons) that Chrisian women should be modest, chaste, discreet, when in thier very CHURCH the women (young and old) are not?
3 replies · active 446 weeks ago
This is a problem, Mrs. O. My family attended a church service given by Michael Pearl years ago and I remember thinking how wonderful that all the women were dressed modestly. I sure wish churches would be more strict about it. I bet John MacArthur's church is.
What type of churches would these be, independent fundamental type?
The women dress modestly at the church I attend. Modesty is taught, and encouraged. Very few women dress immodestly. Girls know from a young age, how to dress modestly, and why.
The church I attend is a small(ish) Christian fellowship, found over most of the world. There are quite a few churches out there who still teach this. If you pray about it, I'm sure God will lead you to the right one.
Great post today Lori! Your direct approach to subjects like this has caused me to think and make personal changes. I try to dress according to what my husband advises for a certain situation or gathering because seeking his loving input has kept me from trouble on more than one occasion!
1 reply · active 446 weeks ago
Being married to a godly man is a great resource for this, Holly. Ken has only had to tell me once not to wear something since I am already a modest dresser.
Thanks very much for this blog. I have read that you mentor younger women... does this mean strictly through your blog? Do you also mentor individual women one-on-one, via email?
1 reply · active 446 weeks ago
Yes, Cyndi. You can email me at laalex2@aol.com.
I really love this post, Lori. Thank you!
Today, the media gives young women so many wrong ideas of how they should look, behave, and feel. In the meantime, nakedness is glorified as "empowerment". I've also noticed that profanity has become second nature to many.
Further, the proliferation of plastic surgery in many cases seems to be that these modern, allegedly empowered, attention seeking women are trying in vain to fill something missing inside of themselves that they will never find without Christ.
Feminism has taken away from us a beautiful God-given gift... The softness, allure, and mystery of femininity itself.

Blessings
Christine
1 reply · active 446 weeks ago
It sure has, Christine. This is a large reason so many men aren't willing to commit to marriage anymore. Feminism was supposed to help women but all it did was make their lives worse.
There is alot of societal pressure fro women to remain young looking and a lot of that pressure comes from men who want not just a good wife but a good wife who is also arm candy.

Every woman I know who has had breast augmentation surgery has done it at the urging/ demand of a husband/ finacee/ boyfriend. The only exception I know of is a woman who had reconstruction surgery after a double mastectomy.

Many men, even Christian men, want their wives to stay thin and youthful -- practically forever. I know of several middle-aged Christian men who had affairs with young women, divorced their middle-aged wives and then married a much younger woman.

There was no condemnation from their churches for doing this.

As you have often said Lori -- men are visual creatures, and what they want to see in their homes and lives is a *young*, attractive, pretty, thin, stylish woman. If the original wife doesn't remain so, they frequently look elsewhere.
2 replies · active 446 weeks ago
Hi guest,

I can't disagree with you more. I have been a part of the Christian world and church for all of my life and very very few instances have I seen Christian men walk away from a spouse because she gets overweight, or loses her looks. Men are very visual, but a warm, joyful wife who is loving towards you is far more important to us than weight or wrinkles.

I disagree too that it is men who want wives to get implants. Many times it is a mutual decision, but I doubt the Christian husbands want the breast augmentation more than the wives do in general. In most cases it is an unhealthy thing.

Of the thousand Christian couples I know or know about, I would say 99% of the husbands are sticking by their aging or overweight wives. The few I know of who divorced had very difficult or emotionally sick wives, or are Christian in name only as they rarely show any desire for church or the things of God.

When referring to Christians it is best to use the smaller subset of true believers and not the larger group who claim to be saved but are unwilling to follow the Lordship of Christ in their lives. I know of not one true Christian husband who has shown any disinterest in his aging wife and the vast majority like me fall more in love with our wives as we grow older and more connected together. Sure the fleshly appeal to youth and a beautiful body will always remain with a man, but the man who has placed his body under the control of the Spirit of God remains faithfully in love with the wife of his youth, weight. warts and all.

Lastly, for a husband to desire a trim fit wife is not wrong, and his wife should try to remain in shape, especially if he is staying in shape. This is part of disciplining one's body, and is a healthy thing for both spouses to do. To not discipline one's body is sin. That is not to say that we don't all put on 3-5 extra pounds as we age, but 20 lbs is not keeping the body under control.
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Happy Wifey · 446 weeks ago

Sadly Ken I know couples who fit Guest's description and they are men who have been in church their whole lifes; sadly even Christian men do bad unChristian things. It makes my heart hurt.
Jilly oxo
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ContentWife · 446 weeks ago

That is such a beautiful comment by Judy! Thank you!

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