A kind soul asked for a reflection on this passage, and I hesitated, because I am not qualified to speak on the Scriptures.
Then again, who is actually qualified to speak on the Scriptures?
I can only speak for myself. I can only hope that God is with me.
The words of King Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him:
"What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my vows?
"Give not your strength unto women, nor your ways to that which destroys kings.
"It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:
"Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.
"Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.
" Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more."
—Proverbs 31:1-7
I am a recovering drunk and junkie.
I am not a recovering adulterer or fornicator, though it is not for the lack of trying. If I had been far more handsome and rich, the women would have come just as easily as the booze and the coke.
Let me thank God for not giving me perfect hair or a chiseled chin.
An unhappy man is always a grasping man, and he reaches out for anything else as a substitute for the formation of his own character.
He fails to see how his own acts are sufficient in themselves.
What makes for a king? A man able to rule.
To rule over what? There's the rub.
The fool craves a dominance over others, when all he really needs is to dominate himself.
The wise man views himself as his own kingdom. As they used to say, "An Englishman's home is his castle."
And there is no worse way to sell yourself than surrendering to the desire for sex.
Lemuel's mother has it right: lust, luxuria, will kill you. It is within your power to love a woman, and it is also within the very same power that love can be perverted into a lust.
What do you desire from her? Note how that is already the wrong question. What is is you desire for her?
If you love her, you will be happy to let her be, and wish the best for her. If you lust for her, you will obsess to no end.
A king doesn't necessarily have to be celibate—he only needs to be chaste. The difference is lost in our world of instant gratification.
((Sighs heavily in NFP))
ReplyDeleteOn a less factitious note...yes. I think chastity is the secret to a healthy and happy marriage. I've been married less than ten years, so I don't have a ton of personal experience, but what I've seen of my own relationship and others' certainly bears that out thus far.