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"Following is the true story of a young lady close to my heart, I hope that you are both
blessed and challenged by her story as I am" Anita
I have always loved reading. I love the
feeling of getting so wrapped up in a story that you feel like you’ve gone and
lived it. When I was a young girl, I would rummage through op shops to find
exciting stories of mystery, history and the ever popular horse stories. I
loved the prairie era and some of my favourite books were the ‘Little House’
series. Around the time I was fifteen, I stumbled across the fascinating realm
of ‘Christian Historical/Romance Fiction’. I was hooked. The heroine was always so beautiful,
courageous and smart and the hero was inevitably so brave, exciting, an amazing
leader and, of course, dashingly handsome. It was thrilling to imagine myself
making Godly, against the flow, decisions in trying times and then get swept off my feet by my hero when those choices or pure chance got me into sticky
situations. The story line is nearly always the same:
1.
Hero and Heroine are in
different streams of life
2.
There’s a chance meeting
3.
They notice each other but
won’t admit it
4.
They get thrown together by
life
5.
Affection deepens
6.
Then they’re separated by
circumstance and/or an argument
7.
Life then throws them back
together
8.
Hero rescues heroine from some
great trouble and they make up their argument if they had one
9.
They admit their love to each
other
10.
They get married or they
promise their love to each other and the author sets up for a sequel.
Pretty soon, I was getting quite used to
this storyline and I began to make more exciting endings to the stories,
moulding it to my likes and dislikes and wrapping the story around me more and
more. In reality, that’s what it is like. It’s like wrapping yourself in
coloured plastic wrap; the colour of everything you see around you is tainted
by its shade. I began to think of the stories more and more. Every walk on the
veranda became a stroll on the deck of a buccaneer’s ship, with me making up a
yet another scenario and deciding how I would feel and act if it was true. Real
life became less and less exciting and romance and boys filled my mind more and
more. Inwardly, I knew it was affecting
me, but I had no idea how deeply. It was a slow process as God began to open my
eyes to what was happening. Through my Mum and my sister, who was also being
challenged about this, though perhaps she was not so deeply affected, I was
challenged about the purity of the content I was consuming. I decided not to
read any more romance/historical fiction and, for a time, went off fiction
altogether. I had no idea how addicted I was. I would catch myself stuck in the
storyline of one of the books almost every time I turned around. Regularly, I
was strongly tempted to find one of my books and read one of the ‘exciting’
parts to get my fix. Regretfully, I gave in to those temptations more times
then I want to remember. I found it wasn’t till I threw the books in the trash
and surrendered the fight over to Jesus that I gained any ground in my struggle.
I had to face my sin for what it was and first ask for forgiveness and then for
strength. God is the only one who can
fight this fight for you and heal your mind.
I am convinced that what pornography is
for men, romantic fiction is for women, whether it be ‘Christian’ or otherwise.
I have no right to be feeling emotions for a man in some book that I should
only ever share with my future husband. How many times have I given a part of
my heart to some ‘hero’ in a book, something I would be horrified to think I
had done in real life? What passionate emotions had I enjoyed that should not
have been awakened until I get married? Romantic fiction leaves a heart and mind
that are damaged and scarred. Only God can restore a heart to purity and heal a
mind stained with memories.
Mothers, please protect your daughters
from this poison. Know what they are filling their minds with. Daughters,
please guard your eyes. Please protect your heart and mind. To this day, I
struggle in this fight. It is a lifelong battle that will continue while we are
daughters, wives, mothers and grandmothers and won’t end until we are home with
our Maker. But it is a battle that must be fought and the resulting purity
leads to a life of love that is more amazing than the most exciting romance
story.
Your sister in Christ,
Sabrina
P.S. This truth applies to movies as
well
P. P. S. If you too have fallen prey to
this war, you are not beyond repair. Your innocence may have been stolen, but
your purity is not lost. I have discovered there is a difference. We are born
innocent, but we are not born pure, for we are all born as sinners. Purity is
not our default and it can only be given to us by Christ. Purity is a journey,
not an event. As we allow ourselves to be changed by God into the likeness
of Christ, we are growing closer and closer to the ultimate purity that God
desires for us and that will be ours when we are forever in His presence in
Heaven. So, if you, like me, have been taken down by this trap, take heart and
know that being knocked down doesn’t mean you’re out. It is the same purity
that God wants for all of us and God will give all the strength needed to
attain it, to anyone who asks.
This article was reprinted with permission from homemakersscrapbook.blogspot.com.au
This article was reprinted with permission from homemakersscrapbook.blogspot.com.au
