A teacher was trying to teach his twelve male students the importance of respecting women. To illustrate his point, he brought 13 roses to class, took one out of the bunch and gave it to the boys to handle each in turn. He asked them to touch it and feel the softness, and admire the beauty of the rose. After all had handled the flower, he returned it to the bunch, and told the boys they each could have one flower. Each in turn came forward, and took a single rose. They each took a rose which had not been handled. No one wanted the rose all had touched, handled, and admired. It had been soiled, and was no longer the pristine, beautiful blossom it had been. The lesson was obvious, and forceful. (Thanks to Laura Godfrey for the wonderful illustration).
Young men, you must respect the young ladies you court. There is nothing more beautiful than a young women who is chaste and pure. One day you will marry a girl, start a family, and cherish her and love her with the love only a husband can give to his wife. Do you not want her to come to you in purity? Do you not want the expression of love to be unique in her experience as a woman? Do you not want those who have courted her in the past to have treated her with the respect that was due her? Then you must at all times render to the ladies the respect and esteem rightfully theirs.
There is no more obscene and flagrantly disrespectful activity than treating a woman commonly. To be “familiar” with a woman who is not your wife is to act as a savage, one who is ruled by lust instead of virtue. It has caused fornication, adultery, and heartbreak. It has resulted in the destruction of homes and families; the ruination of reputations; the spread of disease; and the killing of unwanted children. It is not “the way God made us”; it is rather ungodly lust, and not fitting for a Christian man.
Young ladies, have nothing to do with a young man who does not respect you. God intended for you to present yourself a pure virgin for your husband. Hebrews 13:4 states, “Marriage {is} honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” Sexual fulfillment is a wonderful blessing from God, intended only for a husband and his wife.
No man who is worthy of your attention will act dishonorably toward you. Conduct yourself and dress yourself in such a way as to demand his respect. If you will not compromise, you will be respected, and will one day be greatly desired by a man worthy of your love.
Always remember how God has instructed Christian women to conduct themselves. In 1 Peter 3:3-4, Peter gave instructions to wives that every young woman should take to heart, “Do not let your beauty be that outward {adorning} of arranging the hair, of wearing gold, or of putting on {fine} apparel; but {let it be} the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible {ornament} of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.” He stated that the husband is to be won by an observation of the woman’s “chaste conduct accompanied by fear” (vs. 2).
Young people, God wants you to remain chaste and pure. He wants you to experience sexuality in the only context it can possibly be satisfying and proper. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, {which is} your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1).
