Should Christians wear leggings? It’s a question of modesty, and modesty is not a clear-cut list of rules to follow. It’s a heart issue.
The discussion of modesty is always happening because God doesn’t specifically say, “no crop tops or leggings allowed.” And how freeing is that?
Our Savior is not a tyrant and He is not someone that punishes us on a list of right and wrong in detailed matters like our clothing. Instead, God gives us the freedom to choose our standards of modesty and discern what modesty is based on His word.
Heart Conviction
It is ultimately up to you to decide if what you are wearing is modest and honoring God before you walk out of the house each day. It is up to you to present yourself in a classy manner that brings glory to God, and not yourself.
You must recognize that your body is a temple, one that His Holy Spirit dwells in and that you have the privilege to honor God through the decisions you make. The discussion of leggings is not as simple as a yes or no answer, although I do lean particularly one way.
It is a personal conviction and heart issue that you will personally have to wrestle with.
What is your motivation behind wearing leggings? Do you want to honor God with your body? What does that look like then? When you stand before God on judgment day, you will not be judged on if you wear leggings or not today. You will be judged on your heart.
I pray that you will examine your heart when asking the question, “Should Christians wear leggings?”
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What is Biblical Modesty?
Is it a lot easier to go on a run outside in winter wearing leggings than sweatpants? You betcha. Is it easier to go to the grocery store in my leggings after working out at home than changing into jeans? For sure.
Sometimes leggings are just convenient! Is that so bad?
The Bible defines modesty in I Timothy 2:8-10 as it says, “I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works.”
Modesty does not mean that you can’t look cute or stylish. It just means that you need to consider what you are wearing and make sure it would be honoring to God.
For me, leggings are immodest because they are skin-tight, revealing more than what God would desire for us to reveal. I have made the decision to not wear leggings (unless they are under shorts, pants, or dresses).
A lot of you may argue that leggings are the same as pants, which, if you ask almost any man, they would argue that they are not. Most jeans do not accentuate the body in the same way that leggings do.
Save Your Body For Your Spouse
The aspect of saving ourselves for our spouse is lost in today’s culture and it breaks my heart. I chose to save my first kiss for my husband, and I also chose to dress modestly to honor him in past, present, and future. Those are my personal convictions, and yours may look slightly different.
God designed the private areas of our bodies to be saved for intimacy with our spouse, which should only happen after marriage. Sexual intimacy is a wonderful gift from God that is designed to honor God and bring Him glory. We don’t want to taint that gift.
Leggings are something that I personally feel invades the private areas of our bodies and does not save the mystery of those areas for our spouse. By being skin tight, they reveal too much.
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The Result
That doesn’t mean modesty stops at simply not wearing leggings. Maybe you also choose the wear a one-piece swimsuit at the beach, higher-cut tops, and slightly looser jeans.
Black jeans spice up any outfit in a classy and stylish way and are a great way to still dress modestly. Start with just wearing black jeans or joggers instead of your leggings each time you reach for them.
Modesty standards will be different for each Christian. When we surrender our lives to the Lord of the universe, we give our bodies to Him to use for His glory. When I was saved, my body became an instrument for Him to use for His kingdom work. My body is not my own but bought with Jesus’ blood.
As I consider what God has done for me, how can I not honor Him with my body?
Biblical modesty is examining our hearts, realizing that our bodies are not our own and that honoring God with our bodies is a calling we should long to respect.
A Man’s Perspective On Leggings
I made the decision to never wear leggings in public because I wanted to honor God with my body. I heard some really great messages in youth group and in my Christian school that encouraged me to focus on modesty and I am so glad I did.
I also learned that God designed men to be super visual. That is why so many of them struggle with pornography and lust. When men see something that is immodest, it is so easy for them to fall deeper and deeper into sin.
Related Post: How To Handle Finding Out About A Porn Addiction
I’m not a man so I try to educate myself as much as I can in understanding how deep a struggle this is, especially for men chasing after God with their whole hearts.
This podcast episode by Dale and Veronica Partridge has recently helped me gain a better understanding of this struggle. Check it Veronica’s blog post here and the podcast episode out here:
In that video, they link to this article, which can also be extremely helpful when it comes to understanding a man’s visual inclination to lust.
While men do have to make the decision to look away from immodestly dressed women or advertisements, it is also the woman’s job to dress modestly to help her brothers in Christ. It is a two-way street.
I just ask, for all the godly Christian men out there seeking to honor God, that you would help them with one of the biggest struggles they face.
God gives all of us a clear definition in Matthew 5:28 on how important it is for us all to avoid lustful actions saying, “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
With such a serious instruction from God, wouldn’t you want to do everything possible to help men walk in the calling that God has called them to?
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If you feel any sort of conviction when reading this post, I just pray that you would take time to be alone with the Lord. Ask Him why He has placed this question on your heart, “Should Christians wear leggings?” and what He wants you to do about it.
Modesty is a conversation that you need to have with the Lord. Start with opening up your Bible. Read Scripture about Biblical manhood and womanhood. See what God calls us to in His word and listen for His voice.
I also encourage you to ask an older and wiser Christian man, perhaps your dad, a brother, or a relative, what they think about leggings. Is it a struggle for them when they see women wearing leggings? Is it something immodest in their opinion?
And if you don’t have someone like that in your life, then I encourage you to see what the big names in the Christian church have to say about modesty, like John Piper and John MacArthur.
Leave a comment below and share your thoughts! And thanks for reading!
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Thank you for taking the time to respond to my wife’s blog post. I find it necessary to intervene and respond to you given the tone and language used in your response. I would love to go into a deeper theological discussion with you about some of the above statements, such as being a Christian or how God made us. I’m sure we would both be able to learn and grow from it. However, I don’t see this platform the appropriate time or place for such a discussion. A common phrase that rings true at this moment is, “major… Read more »
[…] Should Christians Wear Leggings? […]
Pretty ironic that this post is about modesty when it’s bombarded with bikini ads that are the complete opposite of the message stated.
Hi Megan, thanks for reading my blog! Google tailors its ads to the consumer, so I have no control over what ads they are showing you. I hope you enjoyed the post!
Oh, I certainly did. Google just needs to adjust its algorithms!
Agreed (:
I remember back in the 70s when women wearing jeans to church was deplorable jeans in church what a uproar that caused ,some churches wouldn’t even allow women in if they were wearing jeans. now legging I think the Christians and churches should worry more about getting people coming to church or God (if church is not your thing) then what they wear, If your not judging others on what they wear , why on earth did you write this blog for then ? How many times did you write in here ” this way I don’t wear legging ”… Read more »
Thank you so much for taking the time to read and respond to my blog post, Scott. I wrote this blog post to show my convictions on this topic in hopes to encourage others to listen to the work of the Holy Spirit in their own lives. I also wrote it to show why I came to this conclusion and how I deal with the different societal responses. I Samuel 16:3 is one of the reasons I choose to not wear leggings, which says, “Man looks at the outward appearance but God looks at the heart.” God cares about my heart and when He convicts… Read more »
I agreed so much with your blog post up until you started getting into the “men are more visual” part. That’s not really true. And there’s a reason that Jesus emphasized that the man is to pluck out his eye if it causes him to sin, because it’s his fault! As you said at the beginning, there is no instruction in Scripture about leggings or crop tops. And the Timothy passage is about decorum in church services. I think you were spot on in the first part, though. It’s your personal choice. If you don’t want to reveal your form… Read more »
Hi Ken, thank you so much for taking the time to read my post, hear my heart, and share your thoughts! I agree it comes down to our own personal convictions. Could you elaborate more on your disagreement with men not being more visual? I am curious about your supporting research and thoughts.
Basically, there’s no real evidence for that. If it’s the case, it’s because it’s culturally conditioned. Anthropologically, humans in general are highly visual and oriented toward a hunting lifestyle. How men and women are visually stimulated varies, and varies from culture to culture. But the idea that somehow men are more helpless here and can’t help themselves if they see the female form is derogatory. If a woman is dressed in a way that is within the general taste of social convention (that is, she’s not doing something that is clearly provocative in her given culture), than in a general… Read more »
Thanks for the info and links, Ken. I will have to look into this further!
You’re welcome!
Thank you so much for writing this. My husband and I just got finished having a discussion about men’s views on leggings and he made me think back to 10 or even 20 years ago what would people think of the women that wear leggings. In all honesty they are amazingly comfortable and I love them. On the other hand they aren’t modest and if my body is really a reflection of God that it’s disrespectful to my husband to wear them bc they don’t really leave anything to the imagination. Everything has been so normalized by society that we… Read more »
Thank you for sharing your thoughts Shanita! Your heart of Christ and His kingdom is evident. Well said – we must always consider the implication of our choices and California is a perfect example. If something is acceptable in the culture we must weight it against the Word of God. Just like you said, we need to set the high standard that Christ calls us to for the next generation!
Why not wear leggings with a top that covers the butt . Win win.
Hi Linda, thanks for the comment! I certainly like to wear leggings or tights under dresses and I think a long top could be a very similar option. However, I would be careful that it is still modest when you are bending over. I hope you enjoyed the post!
No, it’s not ‘based on the heart’ .. otherwise people would be walking around naked saying that their heart doesn’t condemn them in what they do. It’s called modesty, and if you’re a christian, you SHOULD VERY MUCH have a dress code. And you should AVOID WEARING UNCOVERED LEGGINGS AT ALL COSTS. They are unbiblical and sinful – just like your motivations for wearing them. 😉
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Hello, would you wear a long tunic, a long and loose shirt, or a skirt (I guess a shortish skirt) over leggings? If yes or no, why? If your bottom is fully covered, is the fact the leggings are right around your mid legs or calves immodest? Curious for your opinion.
Hi Emily, yes I would do that…it is the tightness around the upper leg/butt area that is immodest in my opinion. Thanks for the question!
I’m in the non-legging-wearing mom group and definitely in the minority. I agree with you and think they show my exact shape. There have been times I really thought they looked good and that’s exactly why I didn’t wear them out. Nothing wrong with being counter -cultural! My husband loves me in them and that’s who sees them:) he sees the most of me and I don’t care who argues, that’s something special and something I feel has benefited our marriage in other areas. Strong reactions are bound to come from this, just keep doing what you feel God has… Read more »
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Jess!
Hi. It is probably okay to wear leggings under a skirt or dress if you work at a place where you have to climb stairs all day?
Hi Angelique! I personally think that is a great option and is modest.