There is a line, unseen but nonetheless there, that keeps us safe. Crossing this line affects not only our physical well-being but our emotional and spiritual well-being too.
I’m talking about the Morality Line.
I’ve taught In an effort to help illustrate this point, I want to tell you about a friend of mine. We’ll call her Chrissie.
Chrissie was a beautiful young woman. Not a member of the LDS (Mormon) Church, she had never been taught that staying chaste would bring far more happiness than giving in to sexual immorality. Day after day, week after week, she felt pressured to give in to her boyfriend’s persistent declarations that if she loved him, she’d do this one little thing.
The day finally came when she said yes. Chrissie related to me years later there was no love in the act, only lust. It wasn’t too long after he had gotten his way that she was dumped by this man who supposedly loved her.
Since that time she joined the LDS Church, and has gotten married in the temple to a man who sincerely knows what it means to love a woman. Though her sin was washed from her soul when she got baptized, the memory of what happened to her all those years ago has never left.
It is not only the young women who need to watch themselves. One of the greatest examples I can think of when it comes to a moral young man is one named Joseph. Even though he had been sold by his very own brothers to the Ishmaelites, who then sold him to a man named Potiphar.
Because of Joseph’s willingness to serve with all his heart, he became a favorite of Potiphar’s. After a while Potiphar’s wife took notice of Joseph, and encouraged him to come and lie with her. Take note of Joseph’s response: “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”
First and foremost in Joseph’s mind was his Lord. How many of us can say the same? Joseph was willing to go to jail in the effort keep from crossing the line between morality and immorality. Can we say the same?
My friend Chrissie cannot understand why young men and young women, who have been taught the path to true happiness, give in when it comes to sexual impurity. She knows the feelings of worthlessness, of constantly feeling dirty, that is brought with it. She has imparted to others her first-hand knowledge that if you truly do love someone, you will help them keep their chastity in place, not take it away.
Like Joseph, we need to treasure what the Lord thinks about us far above what any mortal thinks, for he loves us far more than they ever could.
