I have watched the headlines this week as woman after woman details horrible stories of abuse by men.
The abuse includes everything from snide comments, groping to out right sexual assault.
My advice to men so that will never find themselves accused of sexual harassment, abuse, or assault is simple and can be found in this succinct Bible verse:
1 Thessalonians 5:22 (KJV)
Abstain from all appearance of evil.
How are ways to abstain from appearance of evil? It involves a little common sense really.
- Hug only if invited or if you are a close relative (Even if a close friend with a woman, don’t hug, especially if you are not her husband.) Keep the hug short with eyes on the face. Keep hands on the waist nowhere else, period.
- Keep comments positive and light. If you like the way she is dressed, it is okay to say that outfit is pretty on you, but don’t go beyond that and say things like wow, your beautiful smile is turning me on today.
- DO NOT FLIRT EVER WITH A MARRIED WOMAN. Don’t contact them on their social media saying things like: “Hey beautiful, I would love to get to know you better. ” This activity is sinful. You should never try to come between a married woman and the love of her life, period, end of story. She has a holy covenant with her husband and he is to be the first in her life. Your contacting a married woman in this way is akin to adultery. Remember God says if you think it you are guilty of that sin. Proverbs 23:7.
- Never treat a woman with disrespect.
- Watch what you say to her; keep all your comments above board. As the Bible says in
Ephesians 4:29
“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up,
as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”
- Never, ever, be alone with a young girl under the age of 18 unless she is your daughter, sister, or very close relative.
- Finally, the most simple advice I can give men is to treat every woman the way they would want their wife, daughter, or sister treated. Would you want your daughter mishandled, ogled at, threatened with firing or losing her livelihood if she did not provide you with sexual favors? No of course not.
What advice would you add to my list?
This post is written for the Five Minute Friday community where the word for the day is Excuse. Special note: My initial introduction and list only took five minutes to write, but I took longer to add the bullets and research related scriptures.
Also contributing to parties list on my Linkup Parties page. Be sure to check it out for great blog hops to join throughout the week.
There is definitely no excuse to abuse a women. Either the race or whatever. Men should respect women. NO matter what.
No excuse !!!! We are wonderfully created. My heart rages when children are abused and molested the most because they have no voice. Everyone can atleast say something .
Diana, I so agree.
We need to train our daughters to speak out and our sons to respect girls and later women. It starts with parents teaching their children in the home .
I guess I struggle with what people deem as abuse. I’ve had friends tell me that a man telling a woman to “shut up” is abuse, but a woman doing the same to a man is not.
Do not misunderstand me. I understand that abuse against women is real, but sometimes I think we make something into abuse that isn’t.
You have made some very valid suggestions, about not being alone with a young girl, not starting something with a married woman, minding boundaries. May I also make a suggestion? Married men shouldn’t be alone with an unmarried woman. Not for reasons of abuse, but for their own protection, and the protection of their own honour.
Annette, I so agree. I want to be clear though. I really believe only a few men are abusers. I think we need to be careful in how we approach the term abuse too. Abuse to me is when someone uses their power to demeans and threatens another person. It also involves saying inappropriate things to put down a woman and make her less than human, just an object. I think only a minority of men abuse women. We need to teach our sons to respect women and to value them. We also need to teach our daughters to respect men and to respect themselves. When women know their value and have a high self-esteem they can sense when a man intentions are wrong.
Mary Hill recently posted…#FMF: No Excuse For Abuse of Women
Your advice here is very good to prevent wrong doing, but it will not prevent the innocent from being slandered & falsely accused of wrong doing. Not all accusations are true – and it is sinful to *believe* slander against an innocent person (Biblically speaking, charges need to be brought by two or three witnesses to the same offense – not two or three different slanders against one person) . Even Jesus was slandered – we cannot prevent others’ slander by being “good enough.” I think that the muckraking in the press about 40 year old “alleged” offenses has gone too far.
I agree, but if one lives ones life above approach there is very little chance for slander. Look at Billy Graham
Mary Hill recently posted…#FMF: No Excuse For Abuse of Women
So helpful!
Great post! No Excuse
Hey, friend, it hurts my heart too, all the stories coming out. It affects so many. There is no excuse for abuse. So much healing needed.