Tuesday, June 14, 2011

10 Reasons Why Men Should Practice Custody of their Eyes

Top 10 Reasons Men Should Practice Custody of the Eyes

Written by Marcel of Aggie Catholic

As a follow-up to Top 10 Reasons Women Should Dress Modestly, I give you the following:
Thanks to The Ironic Catholic for the suggestion.

Top 10 Reasons Men Should Practice Custody of the Eyes

10 - It helps teach discipline.
Men should discipline themselves to be in control of their passions and not allow passions to control them.

9 - It avoids the near occasion of sin.
To avert your eyes when you feel tempted to use a woman lustfully is a good thing.
“But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” -Matt 5:19.

8 - Custody of the eyes builds up chastity.
Chastity helps us to properly order our sexuality. If we do not have custody of the eyes, it means our sexuality is dis-ordered toward objectification - not love - and needs to be healed.

7 - It is what every gentleman should do.
No woman who respects herself wants to be lusted after or looked up and down. No real gentleman would dishonor a woman by doing so.

6 - It helps a man to see the whole woman, not just parts of her body.
When most men see an immodestly-dressed woman, their brains automatically start to objectify her. Thus, men need to be able to see the truth about who a woman is - not just to break her down into objects he can use for his selfish pleasure.

5 - It avoids scandal.
Think of King David. If he would have practiced custody of the eyes he might have been able to avoid much worse sins - adultery and murder. Now think of what happens when a man is caught in a lustful look toward a woman.

4 - It helps fight off temptation.
Men suffer from sexual temptation frequently. To have custody of the eyes helps a man to fight off an even stronger temptation of lusting after a woman after he ogles her.

3 - It helps our sisters not feel objectified.
If for no other reason, we should witness to the dignity of a woman by controlling our passions.

2 - It is a virtue we should chase after.
It is related to chastity, modesty, and temperance.

1 - It focuses us back on more important things.
"Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides." - Matt 6:33

Christ should be our first priority. Honoring the height of his creation (our sisters) should be the second. We should be third.

4 comments:

Shirley said...

It must be hard for men; the lack of modesty in women and the way society accepts near nakedness in public (certain pop stars come to mind) and has this as "the norm" so that teenage girls are dressing like hookers just to go to school. Modesty, in men and women, can help bring morals and values back into families and the world. I think we are at one of those historical stages where empires collapse under the weight of their own sins.

tony walsh said...

The "norm" seems to hjave crpet in to the attendance at Mass!

Tony said...

i Think you are so right, you live in darkness when you live in lust. A man will never find happiness with his wife if he lusts after her and not consider her personality, God help us to have pure eyes and pure hearts, Tony , Co. Galway Ireland

Alan Urdaibay said...

Unfortunately, human psychology can be perverse. Thinking too much about custody of the eyes will have the opposite effect, as anyone who has followed recent research in psychology will know. My aunt, a Catholic nun, was not allowed to bathe naked lest it lead to impure thoughts. Of course, having a bath in your underwear was a constant reminder of the impure thoughts she was not supposed to be having. So, how about looking at people normally?