I had a nightmare just before waking up this morning. In my dream I was screaming at a man, someone I know, out of frustration and hate. I woke up asking myself why I felt so strongly about him?
In Matthew 5:28, Jesus says, "But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
This is the crux of my response to this man for when he looks at me (in real life), his gaze wanders to rest at a spot lower than my throat. Whenever I notice this, I feel violated. I am not a body part! The gaze is inappropriate and causes a rise of negative emotions in me and makes me want to throw up.
There is nothing right or good about lust be it a furtive look or indulging openly in pornography.
And guys, we can tell when you look at a woman with appreciative disinterest or with lustful intent - in a glance. So please, please, look at every woman as you would look at your mother, your sister or your daughter, with deep respect, for she is someone's mother, sister and daughter and deserves better.
As women, what can we do? Do we go around dressed in concealing bourkhas? Is that the solution? While we can never go back to JPII's original nakedness where we can be "naked without shame", we can dress with modesty and common sense.
There is nothing wrong with a woman who takes pains to look attractive or cultivate a charming personality for beauty is a feminine birthright.
But with that birthright comes a responsibility, to teach those around us, especially men, to treat us with respect.
This comes not only from the way we carry ourselves, but from the way we respect ourselves and our bodies in our choice of dress and behaviour.
Although we cannot never completely eradicate lust from our lives, we can make a stand against it by rejecting it in our lives, and teaching others to do the same.
In Matthew 5:28, Jesus says, "But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
This is the crux of my response to this man for when he looks at me (in real life), his gaze wanders to rest at a spot lower than my throat. Whenever I notice this, I feel violated. I am not a body part! The gaze is inappropriate and causes a rise of negative emotions in me and makes me want to throw up.
There is nothing right or good about lust be it a furtive look or indulging openly in pornography.
And guys, we can tell when you look at a woman with appreciative disinterest or with lustful intent - in a glance. So please, please, look at every woman as you would look at your mother, your sister or your daughter, with deep respect, for she is someone's mother, sister and daughter and deserves better.
As women, what can we do? Do we go around dressed in concealing bourkhas? Is that the solution? While we can never go back to JPII's original nakedness where we can be "naked without shame", we can dress with modesty and common sense.
There is nothing wrong with a woman who takes pains to look attractive or cultivate a charming personality for beauty is a feminine birthright.
But with that birthright comes a responsibility, to teach those around us, especially men, to treat us with respect.
This comes not only from the way we carry ourselves, but from the way we respect ourselves and our bodies in our choice of dress and behaviour.
Although we cannot never completely eradicate lust from our lives, we can make a stand against it by rejecting it in our lives, and teaching others to do the same.
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