Fighting for purity!

What's the first thing that comes to your mind when I say Im going to talk about fighting for purity? Sex? Drugs? Alcohol? Well, yeah...all of that! But I do want to speak about one in particular...sex and respect. Don't freak out...I'm not getting too detailed here! haha. But, I am keeping it real!

SEX! Its such a big thing in our world today! Is there ANY TV show that doesn't in some way promote sex or promiscuous behaviour? I used to think that Home and Away and Neighbours were great because they are so tame and nothing like that would happen! So I thought...but this week I saw an episode of Home and Away where a couple slept with each other for the first time and they're only 15/16 years old! Another character on Home and Away is single and pregnant and doesn't even know who the real dad is!

This is the stuff we let into our loungerooms and worse...into our minds! This is the stuff we're watching and condoning! We watch a movie and think how lovely it is that two people develop an attraction for eachother throughout the movie and then end up sleeping together...some don't even get as far as getting to know eachother! They go to a club and gaze accross the room at eachother and 'sparks' fly and they leave together and go home and have sex...after meeting for the first time! How lovely!! NOT!

We have completely and utterly downgraded what sex was created for! God created it to be something WONDERFUL between a husband and wife who are so in love with eachother and have publicly committed their lives to eachother under God! People say all the time that they love eachother and that's why they do it before marriage! I don't doubt that people love eachother who are not yet married...I would hope that people do get into relationships for love (although, the sad reality is that most people dont!!) but the only way you will know for sure that you are together forever is to have that ring on your finger...and thats when you are united as one! When you give yourself away you are giving away a piece of yourself that you will NEVER get back again! The only person who should have that part of you should be your husband or wife!

Now, this is not to tell all you people out their who have not kept yourselves pure that you're bad bad people and that there is no longer any hope for you! I am also not writing as someone who hasn't been there and done that! I haven't always been a Christian! I've gone further than I should have...I've foolishly and freely given away parts of myself that I can never get back!! Do I regret it? Yes! Do I live with that regret? No, not anymore! I have dealt with it and God has shown me His AWESOME grace!

God showed me that when I gave my life to Him I gave Him all I had left! I was a pretty big mess when I gave God my life! I had destroyed and given away so much of myself...but God COMPLETED me again! He renewed me TOTALLY and made me whole again!! I won't ever get back what I gave away...but instead, God has renewed me making me a NEW person, with a NEW and fulfilling life! EVERY part of me was made NEW!!

So, if that's you, then let me tell you...there is STILL hope for you! Don't feel like you can't come to God with that stuff! Cause you can! He wants you to! He wants to renew you and give you a FRESH start! He wants to make you WHOLE again! No matter WHERE you've been!

The other thing I wanted to talk about with purity is respecting yourself in how you dress! I see SO many young girls wearing clothes that hardly cover anything! Even Christian girls who are thin enough to wear a mini skirt that reveals everything the minute you sit down and cross your legs! And this is not me speaking as someone who wishes I could actually get away with wearing that sort of stuff if it actually fit me...haha...but this is serious stuff!!

Turn on the news...how often do we hear stories of girls being raped or in some way sexually assaulted or abused or harassed? We get so angry and disgusted at that...but what fuel are we giving them?! There are some really disturbed people out there! There are people on the prowl! I don't say this to freak anyone out, but ITS REAL and you need to know and be aware of this stuff because you just don't know who's out there...so you need to protect yourself however you can!

Ok, girls...this is for your information! Boys are HORMONAL!!! I know I know...crazy huh? I mean, who knew?! Yes, girls are hormonal too...but we handle it better (just slighty more moody)...its the truth...not trying to be funny here! Boys see a girl and it's their natural instinct to look! If they see a girl wearing a mini skirt and a shirt that's tight enough to be mistaken for paint on your chest then their hormones are gonna go wild!! Now, this is not to say that all boys are oogling pigs who wolf whistle at any passing chick! But they still can't help but look! The thing is what happens next! For some it turns into lust and a very wild imagination and it ends there! For some they control it and move on. But then there are those who just don't know their boundaries and anything could happen! It could be a sleeze who grabs your butt! It could be someone who stands so close you can feel their breath on your face and they try to get close to you! Then there are those who don't know how to control it...and they're the ones who end up famous...with their faces on TV as the person who raped and murdered a young girl in a park!

Girls, I can't stress this enough...you are ALL beautiful...no matter what shape or size or what boy you have hanging around you...God created you AMAZING!! God doesn't make junk! He thinks you are just stunning!!! So, you don't need to plaster your face with loads of make up, wear the shortest skirt you can find and paint on your shirt everyday! There are so many nice clothes out there that are respectable and are still fashionable or trendy or whatever it is you're looking for in an outfit! Trust me, they make it with sleeves, high enough to cover your clevage and also long enough to cover your knickers!

I'm not saying this to be harsh or anything like that! Im saying this so that you're aware of what's out there! Don't give these disturbed people the bait they're looking for! And have enough respect for your Christian and non Christian brothers to dress decently so that they don't fall into temptation or sin! Have enough respect for yourself to be a bit more modest and not attract the wrong kind of unwelcome attention!

Guys, I don't want to let you off the hook by saying that it's all just natural and bound to happen and you can look at girls in lust cause its normal! That's not true either! Something to think about...when you see a hot chick and tap your mate and say 'Hey dude, check her out!!' 1. Are you respecting her? 2. Are you respecting yourself and your own purity? 3. Are you respecting your mate and his purity? 4. If it was Jesus sitting next to you would you ask Him that? Yes, hormones are natural...but you CAN control it!! When you see a 'hot' chick you can choose not to look or not to disrespect her by devaluing her as a person and oogling over the size of her chest or the length of her legs!

Guys also hold alot of control...now, I was tossing and turning on whether I should tell you this or not incase you took advantage of it or got a big head or got on a power trip or something...but I believe my readers hold a certain level of maturity and can deal with it...guys, girls tend to fall for you guys REAL quick...they meet a great guy with a great personality, he's funny, sweet, attractive...everything shes ever dreamed of! She is no sooner declaring to atleast one of her girlfriends that she's met 'the one' and that she is so besotted with him, heck, before long she's declaring the big 'L' word!! (ok...not ALL girls will be like this...bear in mind, I am generalising!)

So, this is where guys get the control...most guys are pretty dense and don't notice when a girl is interested...it's hard to believe...but its true! Girls try to do EVERYTHING to drop hints...but guys just dont know how to read those hints! You have to tell them straight out...sometimes more than once! So girls will do anything for the one she loves...she will run around for him...she'll get him anything he wants or do anything he wants...this is where I tell you guys to handle this with the utmost maturity! You have 2 options based on your own feelings!

Do you like/love her? If so and you've picked up on her feelings...(or even if you aren't sure you have...take a risk) TELL HER!! For goodness sake...put her out of her misery! If you ARENT interested...TELL HER!! For goodness sake...put her out of her misery! DONT flirt with her! DONT play on her feelings for you! DONT do ANYTHING that would even remotely suggest that you have feelings for her..because trust me...girls get confused about boys and their feelings VERY quickly! And if she is really in love with you then she will pursue it and she will fall deeper and deeper in love and will be utterly CRUSHED and DEVASTATED when you reject her! Respect her enough to talk to her about it!!

Ok...final words...a summary!! GUYS AND GALS...fight for your purity...don't give yourselves away at the drop of a hat..save it for your husband or wife...AFTER youre married!! Don't dishonour yourself, your fellow brothers and sisters or, more than that, GOD...by dressing in less than youre worth...and finally, DONT DONT DONT play on eachothers heart felt feelings! Respect your brothers or sisters enough to be straight with them and not fool around with emotions!

BE PURE, friends!

Your sister in Christ

FIGHTING FOR THE CAUSE!!

Jodi