Chastity is a yes

This morning I was listening to Sacred Heart Radio's new SonRise Morning Show, when I was excited to hear Brian Butler, the co-author of Theology of the Body for Teens. Brian offered an insightful analogy about why chastity is saying yes to love, more than it is about saying no. He said that when he got married he did not take a vow to not be involved with 3 billion women on the earth. Instead he made a vow to one woman, his wife. Consequently, through this vow, he was inferring that he was saying no to the billions of other women on the planet.

Brian explained Pope John Paul II's insights well with this analogy: Chastity is primarily saying yes to love and yes to God's plan for sexuality. As a consequence of saying yes to one thing, we must say no to other things (sexual activity outside of marriage, pornography, dressing immodestly, etc.). Brian was focused on his yes to his wife. Similarly, if we look at chastity as a positive virtue, our pursuit of true love in God's plan will lead us to make the no's that are necessary.