Modesty
Mormons (a nickname for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) teach that our bodies are gifts from God, a special temple created to house our spirits. As such, they must be treated with respect.
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. (1 Corinthians 6, King James Version of the Bible)
One way we show respect for our bodies is by covering them properly. Mormons have a dress code that preserves their modesty and helps to prevent others from viewing them in inappropriate ways. The dress code is for both men and women, and so is not just a way to control women, as is sometimes claimed. Both genders are required to properly cover their bodies.
Mormons are taught not to wear clothing that is too tight or too revealing. Tops cover the chest and the stomach. Pants are not cut too low and are not to be skin-tight. Dresses and shorts are worn to or below the knee. Clothing contains at least a cap sleeve, so the shoulder is covered. Extremes in dress are avoided.
Women wear no more than one modest set of earrings, and don’t have piercings elsewhere. Men may not have piercings at all. Neither wears tattoos anywhere on the body-we don’t graffiti God’s temples.
Modestly also includes monitoring our speech and our behavior. Swearing is prohibited, particularly those words that take the names of God and Jesus in vain. A modest person doesn’t draw undo attention to himself. As the scripture verse above said, we are not our own. We should use our bodies and our spirits to glorify God, and our bodies, our speech, and our behavior should honor Him and demonstrate our respect for the gifts we’ve been given.
While minimum standards must always be met, modesty also requires us to make additional adjustments to
suit the situation. For instance, if we were to visit another church that asked for head coverings, we would cover our heads. When attending a Mormon church, members are asked to wear nicer clothing than they wear around the house. Nicer does not refer to cost. Cost is unimportant. It means that if they have them, Mormon women wear nice dresses and men wear sports jackets and dress pants. If they don’t have them and can’t obtain them, they wear the nicest clothing they have. This shows respect for God, whose home we are visiting. Appropriateness-as long as minimum standards are met-is part of modesty.
One way to evaluate modesty is to ask if we would be embarrassed to encounter the Savior while dressed as we are. Knowing the guidelines He set, we should always dress as if we might see Him that day, because He is always with us, even when we can’t see Him. Modesty is a gift we give Him and ourselves.
