“Our willingness to wait reveals the value we place on the object we’re waiting for”- Charles Stanley
Bold.
I cringe at that word. I’ll tell you a funny, and embarrassing story. I remember going to this water park called “super splash” when I was in middle school, living in Missouri. On this particular day, I was swimming with my best friend, Caity. These older middle school boys(probably 8th or 7th grade) asked me a question and after I responded, started making fun of my “squeaky voice”. They were in their group laughing at my little kid voice. I swam over to my friend and she asked why they were looking at me, laughing. I shrugged it off like it was no big deal. But my friend was livid. She demanded me to stand up and yell “My name is Meaghan and I like the sound of my voice!” So after 30 minutes of arguing with my friend I finally gave into her stubborn personality and stood up on that platform of embarrassment (the concrete ground next to the pool). First I whispered it “my name is meaghan, and I like the sound of my voice.” I sounded just like the girl from pitch perfect. NO JOKE! Caity was not pleased with my shyness and kept pushing me until after like the 10th time I finally yelled out loud “MY NAME IS MEAGHAN AND I LIKE THE SOUND OF MY VOICE!!!!” Everyone in the pool stared at me and those guys stopped laughing. It was probably the most terrifying experience for my little 6th grader self. Let’s just say, my personality is the OPPOSITE of loud. I guess by now, it’s also not shocking the my biggest fear is being the center of the attention. I will go take my place to my corner now, thankyou very much.
But lately God has been doing a work on my heart to be bold about my standards in relationships. As I’ve opened up in the past about my standards, my number one response is “You’ll never find a guy that will be willing to wait to kiss until marriage, meaghan” or my favorite “Your future boyfriend is going to be whipped!” I also love seeing the faces I get when I kindly explain to people I refuse to date a guy that isn’t a Jesus follower too. It still boggles my mind as to why these concepts are so bizarre to others. Guys that love Jesus and have high standards most certainly exist. I refuse to lower my standards for the basic fear of ending up alone. I would much rather be alone and single than be lonely and married but I digress. However what I have struggled with is speaking up for my beliefs without fear of what others response may be. I’ve recently noticed a very relaxed approach to purity among people in the college setting. It’s not that we don’t want to be respected or to wait until marriage; we most certainly want that. But what we don’t want even more is to ‘miss out’. Some of us are quote on quote “fomos”.
We allow society to convince us that the call to singleness is the same as the call to loneliness.
Whatever your standards may be, don’t ever settle for the fear of loneliness or the fear of not “fitting in”. The Lord honors those who walk in integrity. Choosing purity requires we give up something. But it also promises blessing far beyond what we could have imagined. We give up our desires, trusting that loving our sister/brother in Christ in innocence until our wedding night will be worth more than anything a quick satisfaction with our fleshly desires could offer. You may not fit in with the ‘in’ crowd and you may, as well get made of for being “a bible thumping prude”. I’ve had many people laugh at me for my standards, but let me just say my future husband is NOT going to be laughing in my face on our wedding night when I tell him “You were worth the wait”. As Paul explained it in Galatians ‘I do not live to please people. For if I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ’. Living in purity should be something we, as God’s children, are more than proud of. Not proud, as in we’re prideful and think we’re better than those living in sexual sin. But prideful in that we know we are set apart for a greater calling. We unabashedly know who we are in Christ and that our worth is equivalent to the blood of God’s only son. Wherever you are right now, don’t be ashamed of the standards God has placed on your heart. Let’s take the stance to stop being who the world wants us to be and be who God has called us to be. So I’ll end with this; are you standing at the edge of the pool faintly whispering your standards where no one can hear you, out of embarrassment or are you loudly proclaiming God’s calling to purity with the intentions it will bring hope to other people and lead them to Christ? If you are in a spot right now where you’ve made mistakes, the good news is, it’s never too late to change. You are always worth love and respect, despite your decisions in the past. Christ died to give us all second chances.Take courage, dear heart. Be bold about your standards. Your worth it!
I love this video of Moriah Peters. You should watch it!
exsistfortheone 