http://givenbreath.com/2013/09/03/fyi-if-youre-a-teenage-girl/ So this post has been spreading around FB quite a bit, and while I shared it, I feel as though I should clarify something. I like where this mother's heart is in what she’s saying, and I definitely agree with what she’s saying, too. As girls, we need to be aware of how our attire and poses, etc. can affect a guy’s thoughts. If a dude see’s you posing in a skimpy outfit, it’s probably not that hard for him to picture you naked. I struggle with that, and I’m a girl. And honestly, even though we’re of the same gender, I don’t want to picture that. Ever. It’s really not appealing to me. But it is appealing to a lot of guys, but for all the wrong reasons, ladies. BUT here’s the thing that I didn’t clarify when I reposted this article (I blame my “I just woke up” brain for this): it’s a two-way street. It’s not all on the girls. Yes, we need to take responsibility for our attire and poses, and be aware of the messages we’re sending with them and the effect it can have. However, I believe it’s also the guys’ job to be in charge of his own mind, and learn to be diligent in keeping it pure – bouncing his eyes when he see’s something that is tempting or causes him to stumble, refocusing his thoughts when an inappropriate image appears, removing anything that could cause that stumbling (music, movies, events, photos, etc), etc. Really, it’s a two-way street. Guys aren’t exempt from being the ones that cause the stumbling (One word : Speedos), and they're not the only ones who need to be in charge of their own minds when it comes to keeping oneself from stumbling I’m a really visual person, and found that I needed to stop listening to most secular music because of where my mind was going because of it; all the images it was conjuring up. The same goes for movies and TV. There were scenes in some of the movies & TV shows that just didn’t need in my mind. And some were just straight up, “Why on earth am I watching this?” - whether it was the actual scene, or the dialogue in the scene. (Thankfully, there’s IMDB, which has a Content Advisory for most of the movies on there) And like I said, I struggle when I see girls wearing skimpy clothes: low cut shirts, short shorts or skirts/dresses, low backs, bikinis, etc. It’s really easy for my mind to go places that it shouldn’t, and I hate that. Reason being, if I see someone half-naked, that's just what happens. Thankfully, God’s taught me how to bounce my eyes and refocus my thoughts on something else if any of those images come into my brain. I still stumble, obviously, but I’m taking charge of my mind and doing what I can to keep from stumbling. I gave these things to God, and He pointed out which things were safe, and which things were a stumbling block, and the actions to take to guard myself against them. Each person is different. Some girls stumble if a guy is shirtless, others don’t. Some guys stumble if a girl is wearing a tank top, some don’t. Whatever the case, we need to take responsibility for our own minds & hearts, and our own actions. I'm going to echo myself, but again, we need to be aware of how what we're doing or posting can affect someone. "One day Jesus said to His disciples, "There will always be temptations to sin, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting! It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to fall into sin. So watch yourselves!" - Luke 17:1-3a NLT
Does that mean we should kill ourselves if we cause someone to stumble? NO! That would be ridiculous and utterly foolish, and it's definitely not what this verse is saying. But I think we need to realize that it is a big deal. Would you want images of you naked floating around in some dudes (or girls) mind? "The greatest thing a man can do for a woman is to lead her closer to God than to himself." ^ It goes for women too. What a great way to do that, by helping them remain pure and doing your part to keep them from stumbling. It's a two-way street.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
Archives
November 2016
|