A Letter to Our Teenage Sons Who Try to Treat Girls With Respect

DID YOU KNOW?

What’s not right is indulging that temptation.

So it’s OK to be tempted. What’s not OK is indulging that temptation. This is where men who want to honor women have to work hard at building good habits—even when you are really tempted not to. Just like you don’t have to rudely indulge in the temptation to eat everything on the dinner table just because you’re hungry, you don’t have to rudely indulge your sexual thoughts. If you want to grow in maturity as a young man who honors women and honors God in your thought life, this is when you have to practice NOT maintaining your gaze, NOT fantasizing about the female in view, and NOT letting your imagination run wild.

Here’s the key: There’s a difference between being tempted and acting on that temptation. So be willing to fight. We’ll get to the how in a bit. For now, know that, like all males, the difficult reality is that in today’s culture you will be tempted visually every day. But you have the power to make good choices in how you handle it.