My dear boys, there aren't words for how much love I have for you. Neither of you is aware of what is currently happening with Miley Cyrus and her poor choices she made this weekend. For that, I am grateful and I am doing my job as a parent.
This girl made a mistake and it's a mistake she can never get back. The world in which you will grow up and live in doesn't give room for mistakes and forgiveness. Not for celebrities, and not even for little boys who live in the middle of nowhere.
There will be girls down the road that will try to catch you eye by acting like Miley did. Don't just turn your eyes away out of respect for the human being inside that display of eroticism who is being abused and degraded. Pray. Pray for all you are worth.
Pray for the person who is being driven to these acts of behavior by whatever means they found themselves in this position because one only comes to that point out of desperation. Desperate for money, for fame, for glory, for attention.
Pray for the other people witnessing it for they need to learn to keep custody of their own eyes and hearts, even the men. Especially the men. Because men have purity and chastity too and it belongs to the wife they will someday marry. Images you see in your youth can never be unseen. They can harm your marriage before it ever begins because you will hold your wife to the things you have seen. She should not need to be desperate enough for your love that she will degrade herself for you.
Pray for the parents of the person who is doing these things. Pray that they have the wisdom and the words to help him or her away. Pray that they can find a way to help that person fill their need so they are not driven to such acts. Whatever that need is, it can be fulfilled without this kind of behavior. It is not necessary.
Pray for me. Pray that I will continue to have the strength to resist these things and to help keep my own home as you remember it in your childhood, a haven from this kind of sin. In return, I will continue to pray for you as you fight these battles.
Pray for each other. Encourage each other in purity. Men are told this is "normal" and "okay". It's not. Pray for each other and help each other grow in love and faith, not debauchery and excess.
And if you fall from grace, go to confession and seek
forgiveness. Get back in grace with God and know that you are loved by
Him and by me.
I raised you to be men who follow God's word and callings in your lives. God calls you to be pure, to guard your eyes and your heart for the woman who will someday unlock them with a key God has already given her. Even when it's not easy, even when it seem like there's no point in trying to remain pure, think of that woman and of how much she will mean to you someday. Think of your own daughters. That woman is someone else's CHILD. Think of your own sons to come and how much easier it will be to help them remain pure if you remain pure yourself.
This isn't just about a moment of gratification. It's about a lifetime of pure love.
