Let’s just say I may make some enemies on this one. I have felt God’s leading on this subject since Bible College where I took a “Counseling Women” course. Our Professor Mr. M challenged our thoughts on said subject.
Now I am by no means here to TICKLE your ears with what I think you want to hear. I am here to grow in my walk and to share my journey and why I am convicted in certain ways. So here it is…whether you like it or Not!
So let’s start at the beginning. Let’s differentiate between Christian and secular……As a believer we should NOT be putting in our minds the SMUT of secular romance novels. There is a lot of pre-marital and extra-marital affairs, profane language, and details we do not need to be thinking about outside our own husband/wife relationship (notice the singular). We should not be thinking on such things. Philippians 4:8-9 tells us that we need to think on good things and not on things that go directly against what the Bible says. Sin is sin and we are to have NO part in it!
OK so that being said, you might be thinking SOOO Christian ones are okay right? Well let’s talk about that!
NOW let’s talk about how each of the sexes gets turned on (I think I don’t need to get more obvious)!! Guys are turned on by sight, that’s why pornography is so big amongst the male species (I know some girls struggle too). But what turns on the female species..can you guess it…..WORDS. Our minds just run with words so even though the smut isn’t talked about that is where our minds run. We automatically start going down that road. Did you know that romance novels trigger the same portion of the female brain that pornography does the male brain. NO JOKE! Same emotions, same thoughts. (I know I will have lots of those who say NOT ME! Well let’s give it a little test. Pick up the romance novel you just set down and read an emotionally driven portion that ends in kissing. Now tonight when you are getting ready for bed and kiss you hubby compare the feelings…the feeling you had that morning while reading that portion of the romance novel will trigger feelings that weren’t there when you kissed your hubby that night. THAT should NOT BE!! Not to mention the dangers it has on a relationship, romance novels give the “perfect outcome” in most books. And I have seen on more than one occasion that a marriage or two or a dating relationship has been taxed because the wife feels her hubby cannot match up to the ideal of Joe Shmoe from such and such novel.
Let’s face it…it is some woman writing a book on how SHE would work out the situation. Guys are different and I am not so sure I know any guy who would think the same way about issues as the females who write these novels. Let’s be honest we should all be writing our own Romance novels….(unless you are single …..Song of Solomon talks about not awaking the heart before it is time) We should be so focused on our relationships with our husbands that these books should not be good enough. I know marriages aren’t perfect…No person is either. Husbands aren’t and honey neither are you. Truth be told you would not live up to the ideal of romance novels either. Let’s end with this. How would you like it if your hubby started reading the romance novel you just put down and expected you to keep an immaculate house, keep yourself perfectly kept and in a perfectly happy joyous mood all the time. Get the picture? 🙂
Conviction is never easy. Pray about what I said. And please be kind. Harsh comments will be deleted. This has been posted to get you to think outside the box. One more question…Does a romance novel hep you to grow in your faith? Just wondering what conversation you might have if Jesus caught you reading it when He walks in, especially that portion that made your heart race.
