05 Apr Unrealistic Expectations?

She was out with a man with whom she enjoys spending time.  Together they watched what initially seemed like a “harmless” movie.

She was embarrassed by the scantily-clad females in the trailers and didn’t even notice the men on the screen at first.  But then the feature began and, mid-way through the  movie, the thought struck her, “I am comparing the two-dimensional, fictional man on the screen to the real man sitting beside me.   That’s not fair or right!”

How can she get to know the man sitting beside her when she’s so enthralled with the men on the screen ?  Her ability to invite has been corrupted.  While it’s still early in this relationship, she can look back on past dating experiences, where self-protection has crippled her from being an ezer and treating these men as brothers in Christ.   She has placed unrealistic expectations on men and used that as an excuse  not to engage in relationship

How many times have we watched a movie and thought that the six-pack abs we see on the screen are the “norm”?  Where are we replacing the men in our lives, real image-bearers of God, with falsified images found only on a screen?

Father, forgive us for not respecting the men in our lives and placing unrealistic expectations upon them.  Let us see these men as you have created them, as your image bearers, and brothers or spouses in Christ.

Please join us for Ezer: A Conversation About Sexuality, April 20 and 21 at the Pelham campus. Click here to register.