This is a post to ladies, about guys, so really, it's a post for anyone.
No, this is not another post on modesty, the internet is overrun with those, and I don't feel the need to add to the dog pile.
This post is about how we as Christian ladies can help protect the Christian guys in our lives.
I am blessed to be surrounded by godly men. My father, brothers, and male friends do so much to make me feel safe in a pretty dangerous world. But even beyond that, they are gentlemen. They go out of their way to open doors for me, serve me, and just be pleasant to be around. Someday I will marry a man who will continue to be the strong person in my life, the husband, provider, and father to our children.
It's really hard to be a godly young man with a pure heart in today's world. Everywhere our fellas go they are bombarded with images intent upon stealing their hearts and minds and entrapping them in all kinds of darkness.
Men are wired to be visual, and once an image is seen, it cannot be unseen. They will have that image burned on their brain forever. I can't even begin to imagine how hard that must be for a guy who is working overtime to keep his heart and mind pure.
I have however, spent some time thinking about what I and other ladies can do to aid them in their walk and help "bear their burdens". And I have come up five simple ways that we Christian ladies can aid our men in their struggle for righteousness.
1. Think Before You Post or Repost- This covers all kinds of social media, Twitter, Facebook, etc. There are a million and one posts, quizzes, and funny memes out there, and if we could, we would share them all. But I want to encourage you ladies to look, and think before you repost something. I have often read articles and or quizzes that I really enjoyed, and would have loved to repost, but upon reflection, I realized that either the images in the particular article, or the ads on the side could easily be a stumbling block to my male followers. I don't want to be responsible for putting that in front of them, and I doubt you do either. So LOOK, and THINK before you post or repost.
2. Only Recommend Something If You Have Given All of the Facts- I'll be honest, there are a few TV shows that I watch that the rest of my family does not, simply because of the modesty issue. And while the plot, characters, and graphics of the show may be INCREDIBLE, I still wouldn't recommend them to the guys in my life. And if I did happen to mention this show to a guy who hasn't seen it already, then I would warn him about the potential problems. This may sound like you are doing his job for him, or telling him what he can or can't watch. That is not the truth at all. This is the same as if I told a friend of mine about an alternate route to take to reach a destination, but also warned him about the dangerous S-curve or potholes in the road. He can then take that information and make his own decision, but I can rest with a clear conscience that I have given him everything he needs to know.
3. Create a Safe Environment- This is likely going to apply more to the guys in your family, but it could apply to guy friends too. If you know there is a guy around, make a quick visual sweep of the room. If I am looking at articles online that could potentially have some less than decent photos on the side, I always make sure I have my back to the wall where none of my brothers can see over my shoulder. If you have fashion magazines around, just go ahead and tuck those somewhere out of sight when guys are around. And if you own a priceless Greek statue collection, well, my suggestion would be to go fabric shopping and experiment with drapery. ;)
4. Engage in a Danger Zone- Sometimes a godly guy can't help avoiding potential danger zones. Beaches full of bikinis, magazine racks at stores, billboards, etc. What you can do in this situation is give him a safe place to light visually, and engage him mentally. Point out things that are in the opposite direction, keep his eye contact, or engage him in a stimulating conversation that gives his brain something else to focus on other than the distractions surrounding him.
5. Stand in the Gap- This really is a culmination of all of the above. Standing in the gap ladies means stepping between the world and our guys and saying "NO" on their behalf. Throwing away junk mail, offering to take the remote when watching TV, or even just doing a quick screening on Netflix so that they don't get a nasty surprise. I have done all of these before, and I know my brothers appreciate it.
It isn't easy to do this ladies, I have been doing it my entire life. My mom taught me how at a very young age. I am an official spotter of potential problems in our family, I am the only sibling who knows our Netflix password, and I am the only one other than Dad who knows our cable code. I have spent countless hours previewing movies so that we wouldn't be caught off guard. I know, it's exhausting, but it's worth it.
Each man will have to make millions of choices in his life of whether or not to say no, or yes to what he will put in front of his eyes. You can't change the choices he makes, that is between him and the Lord. But for those guys who have chosen to say "YES" to purity and "NO" to darkness, we can make their job a whole lot easier.
This is a way we can bear our brothers' burdens, so step up ladies, let's engage in the battle.
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