I get it.
You love her. She is the sweetest and lovliest person you have ever met. You love the way her eyes dance when she sees children playing in the park. You love her independence and fire.
You love him. He is so strong and handsome but also a gentleman. You love his passion for God and the way he tries not to crack his knuckles around you so you won't cringe at the sound.
I also get dorm situations. The opposite gender is only allowed in the dorms on certain nights. You need time together, and that usually means hanging out in the lounge. You also love each other and want to express that love with more than words.
But now I need you to get something.
I need you to understand why you making out in the dorms really bothers me.
I don't mean the kiss goodbye when you walk him to the door. I don't mean the couple snuggled on the couch watching a movie, his arm around her shoulders.
I mean the two of you facing each other on the couch, lips continually together. I mean the times when she finds herself on your lap, when you are entwined and it takes a moment for me to determine who is who.
This bothers me for a reason I just now understood. It is more than my own morals. I am willing to put my personal convictions aside, realizing that I have different standards than others. In Christ we have freedom and I need to follow my conscience and let others do the same, because often we will be different. But if it were only those things, I wouldn't be writing.
No, today I realized it is something more.
When I see you in the lounges kissing, snuggling, and your bodies entangled in ways that make me feel uncomfortable and look away, it causes me to stumble.
I just now realized that when I see you seriously making out, my mind starts to wander to places it shouldn't. It wanders to fantasies in my head. Ultimately, it makes me discontent with my life and my lack of a relationship. It causes me to long for and imagine things that God has not given me.
Yes, I need to look away. Yes, sometimes, I should even leave.
But I am also asking you to be considerate of the people around you. Please help me not to stumble. Please see me as your sister in Christ who does not want those impure thoughts, who does not want to be discontent with the wonderful life God has given me.
"So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us not pass judgement on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died."
~Romans 14:12-15, ESV
