31 Days of Virtue: Day 25

... to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. Titus 2:5

I believe in this verse pure refers to sexual purity. In other versions a word often used is chaste which means "refraining from sexual intercourse that is regarded as contrary to morality or religion; virtuous." To be virtuous women, we must be pure; we must be chaste; we must refrain from any immoral sexual relations. These would include premarital sex, polygamy or sexual relations outside of your marriage, homosexuality, and many others. These relationships only lead to harmful consequences. They are dangerous roads which we should not even look down, much less walk down. 

To stay pure we need to keep our eyes on the Lord, not at what looks good in front of us. We need to get this idea of having whatever we want, whenever we want out of our minds. And we must be patient. Anything worth having will take time and effort. Remember you are not alone in this struggle against sin. And because it is a struggle, we need to keep God and His will in the forefront of our minds and nothing else. 

"Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things." Colossians 3:2

Archive of 31 Days of Virtue: 

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

Day 14

Day 15

Day 16

Day 17

Day 18

Day 19

Day 20

Day 21

Day 22

Day 23

Day 24

31 Days of Virtue: Day 14

The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.  1 Corinthians 7:4-5

This can definitely be a sensitive subject and one that I've never touched on before, so I won't be spending too much time on this today. But I think it is something we need to look at if we are to continue on this journey of learning about being a virtuous woman.

First, I would like to point out that it is important, with any verse you read, to read the verses around that particular verse. You must know what context in which the author is writing. That is the same with these verses I am using today. You can't take one without the other.

Paul writes that we are not to deprive each other except by mutual consent. We can't deprive each other because we do not hold the power and authority to our own bodies. Our husband have that authority. I think it is important to point out here that it is not only the wife who does not have power and authority of her own body; it is the same with the husband. When we said "I do", God gave that authority over to our husbands and vise versa.

I chose these verses because I think as virtuous women we need to come to terms with that fact. We aren't giving up a freedom; we are trusting our husbands to care for us and protect us in our sexual relationship. Let me say that again: we are trusting our husbands with our bodies. Not our boyfriends; not our neighbors; not the person we just met. Sex is reserved for those who are in a monogamous marriage. We can still say "Not tonight", but only if our husbands agree.

I urge you to not deprive your husband what is rightly his, and don't threaten to deprive him. That will only hurt the relationship.

Archive of 31 Days of Virtue:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13