05/30/2026
IT’S BARE SEASON
During the winter months I don’t have to worry about bare season. As the weather warms up and spring turns into summer, I begin to be bombarded by bares. When I was younger, I lived in Montana, and you had to be careful when it was bear season. These animals were dangerous and could cause quite a bit of damage to a person. We were warned about them and tried our best to avoid them. When riding the trail, it was not uncommon to sing or whistle so that any bears in the area could hear you and run away. Sometimes this worked but sometimes it didn’t, and you had to be very careful when confronting a bear. If they had cubs with them, they became very protective and would charge you. Once I had to climb a tree to escape being attacked! On another occasion the packer and I had to fire our guns to persuade one to leave us alone. Yes, bear season was a dangerous time in Montana for anyone wanting to preserve their life.
Now it’s bare season in many States and things are really no different. While living and working in the mountains of Montana you never knew when you were going to see a bear and the same holds true today. One day I was minding my own business, going to a store, when to my surprise a bare walked by me. She was baring pretty much everything she had been given by the good Lord. Since my youth, I have been warned about such bares and I have always tried to avoid them if possible but sometimes they sneak up on a fella.
The Bible talks about bare season but uses a different word called modesty. The Spirit says, “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array” (1 Tim. 2:9). The Greek word for modesty is “Kosmios” and means orderly, well-arranged, decent, modest, harmonious arrangement, adornment. Biblical modesty can pertain to either the inward or outward parts of a person. I am talking about the outward use of modesty as it refers to one’s clothing.
The wise man in Prov. 7:10 said, “And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of a harlot, and subtle of heart.” It is reasonable to suppose that the dress or lack of dress which is worn by a harlot will encourage a man to lust after her. There’s an old saying, “You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.”
Modesty is not a popular subject for preachers to preach about or even write about. Yet when bare season hits, I have no choice but to warn others of the dangers. We all know that God has blessed some folks with more in the beauty department than others. Does God care about how a Christian woman or man dresses? Yes, according to the Bible, He cares greatly. Jesus stated in Matt. 5:28, “But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” Jesus informs us that it is a sin to lust after another. But, if you are the one causing the lust by the way you are dressed, you are just as guilty as the one who is doing the lusting. Someone may say, “Well men will lust after me even if I wear a potato sack.” That may be true, but the sin will be on them and not on you.
Bare season is when one wears clothes out in public that should only be worn in front of their spouse in the privacy of their home. Usually, women do not have the problem men do during bare season because God made them differently and they think differently. Immodest dress includes clothes that are too short, too tight, too thin, and too low. Every husband knows what is modest and what is not. Since God has made the husband the head of the home, the responsibility starts with him. A man should never let his wife or daughters leave the house dressed immodestly.
I remember a story Jerry Clower once told of going to a big city and how the woman that picked him up at the airport was dressed immodestly. Jerry related that she was wearing a very tight short dress and there wasn’t much of it. He then stated what he thought. He said, “Mamma is way back there in Yazoo, Mississippi, and I don’t need no cravings flung on me!”
Bare season does just that to many men ladies. So do us and yourself a favor, and wear clothes that are modest. We all know how we should dress and there is certainly nothing wrong with trying to look good when you go out in public, but we all need to remember God sees us as well. We are to be lights in this world for Jesus, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid” (Matt.5:14). We must all strive not to sin or cause others to sin.
Bear season was a dangerous time in the mountains of Montana for anyone wanting to preserve their life. The same holds true for bare season today for anyone wanting to preserve their spiritual life. (RC)
