Thank you to Chris Brown and Pitbull for their song International Love that comes on the radio far too often. Yeah I usually flip through the radio when in the car and sometimes get caught listening to this crap. It's obviously popular or else it wouldn't be played and yes it has a catchy beat but listen the the crap that is coming out from the mic. I thought that women were fighting for a better reputation than that of a creature used for sex but so often I get the other message. Our world is so sexualized and it does nothing but tears people apart both the ones who see women as objects and the women that allow themselves to be seen as objects and toys used for pleasure. It is killing most societies in different ways all over the world. It leads to the epidemic of pornography, prostitution, strip clubs and abuse with men who want to be pleasured how they want and when they want. It's one thing that leads to another that leads to another.
I heard a sad story of a man not so long ago that was a father, a husband and a well respected man in his church and community who started to get hooked on porn but after a while that wasn't enough. Over a process of events he ended up hiring a prostitute to fulfill his urges but believe me when I say that a few years earlier I'm sure that had never crossed his mind as something he would have even dreamed of.
But it's from crap like this song, like all the American Pie movies, like everything MTV puts on it's screen, like the stupid ads of the side bar that are advertising simple everyday necessities but get people to click the ad because it has a beautiful woman on it.
I have been caught up in lots of this myself to different levels and at different times. I meet with a group every week to hold ourselves accountable for the ways in which we've viewed women and how we can be counter cultural and not get trapped. There are computer programs to help as well and the one we've chosen to use is called www.xxxchurch.com. They have a lot of great material that can help people with their addiction but people seldom if ever get over these things by themselves so find a group that can support you.
To all the women in my life, some who have allowed themselves to be sexualized and the others that have been effected less so, I pray that you will know your worth and your beauty that goes far beyond what is seen in the mirror. Esther is a great example of someone who must have obviously been beautiful to be chosen by the king to be his wife but she didn't lean on her looks to get her through an easy life but stood up for something so much more. My friend Tara Teng has won pageants that don't focus on beauty but I'm sure it's reflected somehow and yet she puts her looks aside and is fighting the global fight against human trafficking and human slavery. I have many friends who will never make the cover of a magazine that have hearts of gold and change the people around them to find hope, love and meaning far beyond what Hollywood, MTV or Chris Brown could ever promise.
To the woman that I've chosen to spend the rest of my life with in faithfulness and out of choice I pray that you would know your beauty beyond the numbers of a scale and beyond your facial complexion and beyond the multitude of comparisons around you but because you were made 'very good' our of a God that loves you uncontrollably and unconditionally. Because you have a husband that is madly in love with you for the ways in which you are a great mother and for someone with the persistence to get through all that life has handed you and that you still fight for more. I love you more and more...
I hope Chris Browns lyrics, and the like, get blocked out from your life. I hope that the words of a loving God would ring in your ears that say, "I have come to give you life and have it to the full."
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