Through the month of March, I am inviting you to 31 Days of Purity—thirty-one days of thinking about and praying for sexual purity. Each day features a short passage of Scripture, a reflection on that passage, and a brief prayer. Here is day seventeen:
Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father,younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.
(1 Timothy 5:1-2, ESV)
As men, we are trained from a young age to objectify women, to see them not as people created in God’s image, but as objects who exist for our pleasure. As we battle for purity, we trust that God begins to transform our minds, our hearts, and our view of women. It is a wonderful relief when the Lord extends his grace and we begin to see growing evidence that we are putting to death this sin of sexual immorality. Every victory is a victory we ought to celebrate. Yet one victory is not the end point in our quest for personal holiness. The Lord does not call and empower us to merely put off sin, but he also calls and empowers us to put on righteousness.
It is one thing, a very good thing, to stop looking at pornography. It is another thing, a much greater thing, to have the Lord transform and restore our view of women. Apart from his grace we will continue to view women as objects—only this time, they will be objects to be avoided instead of objects to be consumed. The Lord’s aim is much higher. He tells us to view younger women as our sisters in Christ, and older women as our mothers in the Lord. Let us pray that the Lord would transform our view of women, and see them with His eyes.
Father, I thank you for the gift of women. They are fearfully and wonderfully made to uniquely reflect your glory. It grieves me that our culture views your daughters as nothing more than sexual objects. It further grieves me that I have been guilty of joining in this. Lord, captivate my heart and transform my mind in such a way that I view the opposite sex correctly. Let me treat younger women as sisters with all purity, and let me treat older women as mothers with all dignity. Stir up in my heart a deep and holy love for my sisters in Christ. Amen.
What Now? Consider joining our 31 Days of Purity Facebook group. It is optional, but you will find it a good place to go for discussion and encouragement. (Note: that Facebook group is for men only; here is one for Women Supporting Men).
Todays devotional was prepared by Mike Leake. Mike is associate pastor of First Baptist Church of Jasper, IN. He and his wife, Nikki have 2 children (Isaiah and Hannah). Mike is the author of Torn to Heal and regularly blogs at mikeleake.net.
