RoMANtic: Reclaiming ManhoodНамуна

START A PURITY OUTBREAK

As a man, God calls you to lead in purity. This is simply presenting the discipline you practice privately, publicly, so that it positively affects those around you. Let's look again at Joseph. 

Joseph was instructed by an angel of God to go ahead and marry Mary, after receiving assurance that she was not disloyal to him and was actually impregnated by God Himself. After marrying Mary, Joseph abstained from sexual relations with Mary until Jesus was born (Matthew 1:25). 

Notice, Joseph is married to Mary and has legal and divine permission to have sexual relations with her. Instead, Joseph chooses to abstain, sacrificing his own satisfaction and pleasure to keep Mary and Jesus pure. We need the grace of God to get to this level of selflessness. 

If you are in a romantic relationship that has not yet graduated to marriage, the woman you are courting may not be pregnant with Jesus, but she is surely pregnant with purpose. If Joseph could lead in purity and abstain from having sex with his own wife to keep her pure for her divine assignment of giving birth to Jesus, then you have certainly been equipped with the grace to lead the woman you are courting and/or will court in sexual purity. 

As married men, we are called to sacrifice ourselves in whatever way is necessary for the benefit of our wives (as Christ gave Himself for the church). As married men, the call to live and lead in purity is one of the ways we give ourselves to our wives. This is why it's much better to start practicing purity before marriage than to have to learn while on the job. When our wives don't desire sex because they feel sick, tired, or are not in the mood, we should not hold it against them or guilt them into sexual submission. Rather, we ought to show patience and self-discipline by demonstrating unconditional love for them and concern for their needs. 

Married or not, sexual purity and discipline are a must!