A Believer’s Freedom – Nudes, Sexting, Online Violence

1 Corinthians 10:24,24 – “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.

Every believer can attest to this fact: that the tension between freedom and responsibility is daunting.
This article is going to be a little bit „out of the norm“.
Given that it’s December 10th (as of the time am writing this), and it happens to be the annual UN’s Human Rights Day, I’ll touch a base on online abuse, and digital violence against one’s will.
Though such abuses are committed online, they usually have offline consequences too.
It’s important to note that: Any form of violence can inflict emotional distress on its victim or a witness, and if left to harbor over a long period in secrecy – could lead to the worst; long-lasting terror, suicidal thoughts, PTSD, etc.

If you’ve been there or are: seek help soonest!

Let me start by posing a question: If you were to come across naked photos of yourself, and your phone number, home address, etc. going around online, How would you react?

We live in a generation where sexting and nude-photo-sharing are considered „normal“. And with smartphones increasingly becoming common, even within preteens, we might see the world embracing this habit more and more, and promoting it as a new cultural flow – a genre of personalized erotica!
Society has been teaching a lie, that sadly seems to be sweeping even the youths in church alike. Sexting and nudes sharing has been tailored to fit the false narrative – it’s healthy in dating relationships and unharmful.
There are many Christians that are too liberal, that decency seems a foreign term to them. Some don’t mind undressing in front of a camera – for an audience. Others, claim to be dressed, yet their clothes almost cover nothing. (This addresses both men and women alike.)
As a Christian, the kind of clothing people see you wearing, how does it speak about your godliness? (rhetoric)

Relationships mistakes

There’s a difference between someone invading your privacy and you giving your privacy out there. Though it might seem faint and blurry, only that it’s not.
Perhaps you are dating someone that’s a fellow Christian but happens to be quite far away from you – geographically. And out of pressure, you or they have requested that you share nude pictures of yourselves. Maybe you’ve given in to this temptation, or are about to…
Well, reflect this. What consequences are you likely to face if your texts and images, that ought to be private – landed in the hands of a wrong person? Suppose your relationship doesn’t work out and you break up – do you ever consider that you might end up being a victim of blackmail, with him/her having nude photos of you? Could this contribute to online sexual predator’s resource?
IMO for those dating Christians, if that person asks you to show them your body, yet you’re not married, they don’t deserve you. That request – ain’t anything godly about it. Most likely, even when you’re married – they will feel free to ask someone else, apart from you, to take off their clothes for them. Or will alternatively use the internet to feed his/her lust.
Date in a worthy manner, not in a way that you fuel lust.

For the married, even though lusting isn’t possible with your spouse – but having each other’s nudes on your tech stuff, you’re risking big-time. If those images were to leak – imagine the potential danger therein.

Online and offline are two diverse platforms. But acknowledging and choosing not to ignore the potential dangers of both, will go a long way for us as Christians helping to fight against tech-facilitated abuse.

Guilt by Association

1 Thessalonians 5:22 – reject every kind of evil.
In the legal world, if there’s evidence that a person that did not commit murder, happened to be involved in a circumstance that led up to the same murder- they’d get implicated and convicted as a murderer as well. That’s referred to as „guilty by association“
Ladies and gents, there’s nothing modesty in sending provocative images of yourself to one another! In fact, there’s no God-honoring way of sexting or sharing nudes, and IMHO it’s obvious that this habit a big „no-no“ for Christians.
Who do you associate yourself with? Are they likely to have negative influences on you?
For parents, train your kids to discern and make choices based on „good“ and possibly beneficial – always. Not living free with no principles.

1 Peter 1:15-16 – But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
Even in a world that’s modern and doesn’t consider purity to be relevant, always remember that our God considers purity relevant still.

Please, don’t give nor ask for his/her nudes.