Chastity as Worship

A right view of chastity also means that we view ourselves with dignity, regardless of what other people say about us or do to us. Just because that man yelled a sexual remark at me from his car window does not mean that I am a sexual object. And just because someone abused you sexually does not reduce you to someone’s sexual outlet or make you “damaged goods.” You are cherished and beloved of Christ. Others will sin against us sexually, but it doesn’t change our worth. Our personal failures don’t change our worth, either. As sinners, we will lust in our hearts, objectify with our words, and act foolishly and selfishly with our bodies. But in Psalm 139, we learn that we are each “fearfully and wonderfully made” by God. Our desires, so often twisted and broken by sin, can make this hard to believe. But our sexuality was God’s idea. The desire for intimacy and companionship can be traced all the way back to the Garden of Eden, when God saw that it was not good for Adam to be alone.