Skin

Skin.

Why is our culture fascinated with showing so much of it?

I was reminded of this today when I went to sign in to my MySpace account and had to deal with a picture of the Pussycat Dolls. The image that appeared on my computer screen looked more like something I would see in a Victoria Secret’s catalogue or an adult magazine.

Unfortunately, we have become somewhat numb to the sexualization of our culture. We often think nothing of seeing a young girl dressed in so little clothes that the slightest wrong move could reveal the color of her undergarments.

When I go to the mall, I realize that this is a real struggle. Clothing stores don’t help us in our battle. Sex sells. Girls want attention. Boys give attention to girls who dress “sexy.”

But we are called to be different. We are called to be pure. And that means more than avoiding sexual intercourse. Jesus said, “You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:27-28) It’s not just about our physical purity; it’s also about emotional and spiritual purity.

And even if you are not tempted in that way, you have a responsibility to others to consider how you appear. Jesus also said, “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 17:1-3)

Let’s agree as a community of believers to do everything in our power to avoid temptation. Maybe that’s the way you look at members of the opposite sex. Maybe it’s the way you appear to members of the opposite sex.

You may need to change your wardrobe. It may require you to change your entertainment choices. Regardless of what it takes, let’s make a serious effort to live out the words that Paul wrote to Timothy: “Treat younger women with all purity as you would your own sisters.” (1 Timothy 5:2)

Girls, don’t make it harder for guys to treat you with purity.

Guys, don’t engage in conversations that treat women more as objects than human beings.

Let’s all work together to treat one another as the sons and daughters of the King that we are.

shine!
Jason