Often times, when I am on campus, I cannot help but wonder if some of the young women are making their way to class or to the club. But before I get myself in too deep and offend someone, I should say that I do not take for granted how far we have come in a society that for decades oppressed women.

In fact, drawing attention to this less-than-modest trend is in honor of that great struggle, not in contention with it.

In a 2004 TCU Magazine article, former TCU student Sherry Bush Smith, class of 1968, said “We could not wear slacks on campus, so we wore skirts, dresses, hose and sometimes pumps to class.”

Thankfully we have come a long way from those days. But the truth is that excessive amounts of cleavage, skirts and shorts leave very little to the imagination and I see a lot of guys lusting over and objectifying women.

I do not believe that the arduous journey to women’s liberation was for freedom such as this. On a campus with no dress code, I suppose it is fair game to wear what you want. But for myself, as a pastor, I have made a covenant with my eyes to keep them on the ground, because every woman is someone’s daughter and/or someone’s wife. And each lady deserves to be treated with dignity, honor and respect.

So, this is a call to action, not judgment. Despite the objectification of women in the media and advertising, we should rebel against the standards that our society has set and dare to be modest. We could start a radical movement among our generation in which guys have enough respect to keep their eyes and hearts pure, and ladies insist on carrying themselves as individuals who are worthy of deep-seated respect and honor from men.

According to XXXChurch.com, a Christian ministry that helps people who struggle with lust, $89 is spent on pornography every second, 72 percent of pornography viewers are men, and 89 percent of pornography is made in the United States. These statistics paint a picture of America and it reflects in our culture in many different ways.

Let’s dare to break the bondage of lust in our society by starting with ourselves. The severity of this issue has echoed across two millennia by the words of Jesus of Nazareth, Matthew 5:28, “Any man who looks lustfully upon a woman has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

Andrew Weatherford is a junior religion major and pastor of Deliverance Bible Church in Fort Worth.