To the Glory of God with the Guys – Purity Part 8
“Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.” ~ 1 Corinthians 7:1, 2
The last thing about purity that is on my heart is this matter of physical touch. The Bible is pretty clear about this – God does not want a man touching a woman unless he is married to her. The same is true for a woman, not to touch a man except her husband. Why does God say this?
Look at what verse 2 says – “…to avoid fornication…”. Physical touch leads to fornication. Really, Mrs. Lois, that’s a pretty broad, definite statement. Then why did God put this in the Bible? He is trying to give us guidelines, girls, to help protect our physical purity. He is trying to clue us in that being comfortable with guys touching us is not healthy. Remember how we talked about being desensitized? If I as an unmarried girl/woman don’t mind guys touching or handling me, even if they’re not doing so in a “sexual” or suggestive manner…what will I do when some guy who I’m not married to DOES do that? Will I shrug it off like all the other times a guy has touched me?
God does not want you to get to that point. He is trying to help you realize that it is better for you not to touch guys, and guys not to touch you, because it leads to physical sin. Guys love to touch girls. And, if a girl lets a guy touch her in a non-sexual way, and she doesn’t say anything, pretty soon, he will try to touch her in areas that he has no business touching.
But that’s ridiculous! The guys I hang out with are not thinking that way about me! And I certainly am not thinking about them like that…they’re all goofs anyway. I would NEVER do something like that!
Oh girls – that’s where the danger lies. In thinking we can handle something. In thinking we can keep the power of sexual drives under control. In thinking we would never do something like that. The Bible states it very simply: “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” ~ 1 Corinthians 10:12
But where are we supposed to draw the line? How do we really know how far is too far? God didn’t leave any room for doubt. He said “touch.” I would rather take God seriously on this one and just not let guys touch me, rather than come up with my own definition of what God really meant by “touch.”
I maintained this rule for myself of “no touch” growing up, girls. I can speak from experience. Do you know what I found? Guys did not mess with me. Guys respected me. Guys would go out of their way to hold the door open for me when they would not do so for other girls in my youth group. Guys treated me like a princess.
And I was happy! I did not long for a guy to slap my shoulder or hang all over me. I did not need to hug a guy to feel emotionally secure. I did not even touch Bro. Josh until our wedding day – even though we were engaged for 8 months! Why? Because I trusted God’s judgment more than I trusted my own.
This post is longer than usual, I know, and I hope that some of it makes sense to you. It is a “touchy” subject (no pun intended! :) because non-sexual physical contact between guys and girls is so “normal” in today’s world. A lot of good, Christian people would probably think I am going overboard with the whole “no touch” thing. But I am not trying to be a fanatic about a personal preference – I am truly trying to show you what God is saying to us in His Word. Keeping our hands off of guys and keeping guys hands off of us is a huge, helpful step in maintaining our physical purity long-term.
Scripture Reading for the Day:
Proverbs 2
James 4
Touch- Definitely something I struggle with..
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