Do we play with lust?
TODAY'S PROVERB: Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyelids. Proverbs 6:25
Okay. This may step on some toes . . .
We live in a world that plays with lust. Movies, television, magazines, billboards, beauty contests, posters.
And, it applies to both men and women. "Sexiest Man of the Year." "Sexiest Woman of the Year." Screaming mobs of women when the latest "heart throb" makes an appearance.
What makes a woman have heart palpitations when she sees a male star? What makes her growl or purr when she sees a handsome man on the street?
Lust.
Yesterday, we spoke about how the eyes are the gateway to the mind and spirit. It's also the portal to the body. That's why what we look at intentionally can affect us. Jesus said: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that everyone who looks upon a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
It's one thing to be entertained in the darkness of a theater, it's another thing to watch scantily or seductively clothed men and women doing who knows what--for what reason.
I've seen interviews of actors who say how uncomfortable they were "playing" love scenes. Why do they do it? For us? Because we want it?
Magazines for teen girls now introduce our daughters to provocative images and ideas. Young women who struggle with being accepted and with their body image--who attempt to emulate what magazines and fashion designers label as beautiful--are reading these pages. Taking these images into their minds and spirits.
"Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears ADONAI will be praised." (Proverbs 31:30)
I wonder. If we trained our boys and girls how to cherish and respect one another, how different our culture would be? That intimacy was a sacred thing not to be shared with strangers or the general public?
Beauty can be appreciated like a piece of art or landscape. Beauty can draw others to the Creator of beauty or take us into a place of want, desire, envy, or lust.
We should make an effort to look our best without it being an obsession. But, if our outside merely camouflages an ugly inside we've lost out on what's truly important. "Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion." (Proverbs 11:22)
As Yeshua-followers, we can demonstrate what it means to cherish others. To treat those beautiful on the inside with regard and respect. This means taking the time to see past the exterior to the heart. It's how our Heavenly Father sees us--and aren't we glad for that!
May our inner beauty draw others to the Creator of beauty, my friends.
Proverbs 6:25, Tree of Life Bible Society, Tree of Life Version - TLV #tlvbible #tlvproverbs
[WATCH Tree of Life Bible Society's CEO, Daniah Greenberg and me, Terri Gillespie, Author dig a little deeper with this proverb. Check us out at Tree of Life Bible Society, Monday through Friday, LIVE at 8:30am EST. Watch previous episodes there as well. Stay wise, my friends!]
Okay. This may step on some toes . . .
We live in a world that plays with lust. Movies, television, magazines, billboards, beauty contests, posters.
And, it applies to both men and women. "Sexiest Man of the Year." "Sexiest Woman of the Year." Screaming mobs of women when the latest "heart throb" makes an appearance.
What makes a woman have heart palpitations when she sees a male star? What makes her growl or purr when she sees a handsome man on the street?
Lust.
Yesterday, we spoke about how the eyes are the gateway to the mind and spirit. It's also the portal to the body. That's why what we look at intentionally can affect us. Jesus said: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that everyone who looks upon a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
It's one thing to be entertained in the darkness of a theater, it's another thing to watch scantily or seductively clothed men and women doing who knows what--for what reason.
I've seen interviews of actors who say how uncomfortable they were "playing" love scenes. Why do they do it? For us? Because we want it?
Magazines for teen girls now introduce our daughters to provocative images and ideas. Young women who struggle with being accepted and with their body image--who attempt to emulate what magazines and fashion designers label as beautiful--are reading these pages. Taking these images into their minds and spirits.
"Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears ADONAI will be praised." (Proverbs 31:30)
I wonder. If we trained our boys and girls how to cherish and respect one another, how different our culture would be? That intimacy was a sacred thing not to be shared with strangers or the general public?
Beauty can be appreciated like a piece of art or landscape. Beauty can draw others to the Creator of beauty or take us into a place of want, desire, envy, or lust.
We should make an effort to look our best without it being an obsession. But, if our outside merely camouflages an ugly inside we've lost out on what's truly important. "Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion." (Proverbs 11:22)
As Yeshua-followers, we can demonstrate what it means to cherish others. To treat those beautiful on the inside with regard and respect. This means taking the time to see past the exterior to the heart. It's how our Heavenly Father sees us--and aren't we glad for that!
May our inner beauty draw others to the Creator of beauty, my friends.
Proverbs 6:25, Tree of Life Bible Society, Tree of Life Version - TLV #tlvbible #tlvproverbs
[WATCH Tree of Life Bible Society's CEO, Daniah Greenberg and me, Terri Gillespie, Author dig a little deeper with this proverb. Check us out at Tree of Life Bible Society, Monday through Friday, LIVE at 8:30am EST. Watch previous episodes there as well. Stay wise, my friends!]
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