How Can a Christian Woman Swim Safely Without Offending God in Dress?
1) Direct Answer
A Christian woman can swim without offending God by keeping modesty, separation, and a feminine testimony. Choose private or women‑only settings; avoid mixed bathing and beaches. Wear a loose, opaque, feminine swim garment that does not reveal the form when wet, covers the body well (neckline high, sleeves at least to the elbow, hem well below the knee—mid‑calf is safer), and is not transparent, tight, split, or clingy. Do it for health or family refreshment, not for show. Keep a meek, shamefaced spirit, and if there is any doubt in the heart, don’t do it.
2) Scriptural Explanation
- The Bible says women are to “adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety” (1 Timothy 2:9–10). Modesty is not only the cloth, but the spirit—yet it does govern how we dress.
- “The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man” (Deuteronomy 22:5). So the outer garment should remain clearly feminine, not the form or style of men’s wear.
- Peter points to the hidden man of the heart, with a meek and quiet spirit (1 Peter 3:3–4). The inside life shows on the outside.
- We must not be a stumbling block (Romans 14:13; 1 Corinthians 8:9). Jesus said a man can commit adultery in his heart by looking with lust (Matthew 5:28). So we guard our brothers by not displaying the body.
- God covered Adam and Eve with coats, not mere aprons (Genesis 3:7, 21). Isaiah 47:2–3 shows that uncovering the thigh is counted as nakedness; Exodus 28:42 shows covering from the loins even to the thighs. Now notice, Scripture treats exposure of the thigh as nakedness—so coverage below the knee is a safe, clean standard.
- “Love not the world” (1 John 2:15) and “be not conformed” (Romans 12:2). Beaches and mixed pools are built for display; separation keeps the testimony clean.
3) Simple Clarifying Logic
- Water makes thin fabric cling and show the body. So choose garments and fabrics that stay opaque and loose when wet.
- Mixed settings put a woman’s body before men’s eyes. Even if her intent is pure, the effect can still stumble others and stain her witness.
- A feminine outer garment honors Deuteronomy 22:5. If functional underlayers are used for coverage, keep them under a proper, loose, opaque swim dress so the visible outfit remains clearly feminine.
- If you have to ask, “Is this too tight, too short, too sheer, or too revealing when wet?” it’s already a warning from the conscience. Better to please the Lord than to fit the culture.
4) Reinforcing Statement
Salvation is in the new birth, but the new birth shows itself. You see, holiness is beautiful when it’s simple, modest, and separate. Walk softly, cover cleanly, and keep your testimony above reproach.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
Sirs, we would see Jesus
61-1224 §100
Say, "I don't believe in holiness." No wonder you can't. But the Bible said without it no man shall see God. God's holy. If God lives in you, you're holy, too! Tell me you can go out on these parties and drink a little sociable drink. Why, the Pentecostals do that. Go out on these parties, and take them women out there and live in these places, and go down and strip yourself off in bathing suits, and go in swimming before men, when your husbands... And brothers and sisters, and so forth, and Pentecostal people goin...
Thy loving kindness
58-0228 §26
Pentecostal Christian women out on the street with slacks on. Do you know, lady, that the Bible said that "a woman that'll put on any garment that pertains to a man, is an abomination?" And little old clothes on---shorts---and you get out in the yard just when the men are coming home from work. Do you realize that's devil possession? Listen, lady, you wear these little old dirty clothes that they sell in these stores, sexy looking. You might be as pure as a lily to your husband. But if you dress like that and get o...
Is your life worthy of the Gospel?
63-0630E §48
That puts a testing time. And the Devil pretties them women, and strips them down, and set them out there, to give you a test. Men, turn your heads. Be sons of God. Women, you dress like daughters of God. Don't answer for adultery yonder at the Day. If that woman, no matter how innocent... She might have never done nothing wrong, never even had it in her mind to do wrong. But when that sinner who looked upon that graceful form of that woman, knowing he's a male; and female sex is in one glands, and one, the male, i...
Enticing spirits
55-0724 §50
Try to put his arm in, he's got to have someone to direct him in, how to put his arm in. Then when he gets his arm in his little jacket, he knows he's all right. That's the way it is with every born-again Christian. When he really gets into God, he watches his life with God's Word, and he realizes he's lined up with every bit of it. He's got long-suffering, gentleness, quietness, meekness, power, faith, love, joy, peace. He ain't tossed about like the troubled seas. He ain't worried about every little thing. He ain...
A testimony on the sea
64-0307 §57
Let me tell you. You might be just as pure as a lily to your husband---and you might be just as pure as a lily, young girl, to your boy friend---but some day God's going to make you answer for committing adultery. You're guilty when you dress like that. Jesus said, "Whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her, has committed adultery with her already in his heart." And when that man has to answer, to sinners, for looking upon you for committing adultery, who presented it to him? Think of it! You Pentecostal wom...