Chastity, many people when confronted with the word, think of it as merely being about sexual abstinence but that’s only a very small part of it and not in every case. Every person is called to a chaste life, however the call to abstinence itself depends on marital status. Chastity is the guardrails that protects ‘eros’, which is the fuel that drives us to fulfill our life’s mission. If our call is to the married state and to procreate, then this divine force will pull us to our mate for that intention. But it has other purposes as well, since bearing children is not the only way designed by God to be co-creators with Him. All of humanity is called to this Divine partnership in one way or another, but most notably through our creativity functions. So Chastity, permits us to honor God’s plan for creation by allowing us to love and respect ourselves properly in line with who and whose we are, and then love others in the same manner. The enemy often distorts and misdirects this creative force in many ways. It is put there to bring together those who have a job to do in common and is meant to inspire His children towards a common goal for His purposes (with parenting being the best example) not towards each other to become stagnant there. One looks outward together and moves the individuals forward, the other at it’s most benign merely blocks the path and immobilizes.
The answer then is to channel this powerful force and use it for God’s purposes. This great passion is from God, but what we do with it is up to us. Just as sinfulness often starts in the mind, chastity has its roots there too. Our thoughts and visualizations should be well attended to. It is a powerful tool that can be easily misused. We should be using our mind’s eye as a path seeker, leading our way to God’s will. “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” (Philippians 4:8) The Power of Positive thinking and the ‘name it and claim it’ people often get a bad reputation from fellow Christians but I think they are on to something. Our amazingly generous and creative Father has set many powerful tools at our disposal, and the mind is certainly such a one. It can be a powerful aid in pursuing our God given talents and putting our gifts to use. Eros is meant to rocket us to our destinies as Christopher West says when discussing ‘Theology of the Body’, and he goes on to tell us that there are three choices when addressing our passions…that of the stoic, the addict, or the mystic.
So go ahead dare to reach higher as the mystics did, ask the Lord for direction in every area of your life and with His guidance start setting out the very particular path that the Lord has set out for you. Start small maybe, don’t let negativity and self doubts get in the way, visualize what the Lord is asking of you and start taking the required steps towards pursuing your calling.