{A post by Yours Truly}
This has been a topic long on my mind and in my prayers. For months now, I've been working on drafts of this post, and I couldn't quite seem to grasp the right words. It is a blunt topic, even given in love, but one that we, I myself greatly included, need to hear.
I'm sure that most (if not all) of you are familiar with the term fangirling.
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| The definition of "fangirl" via Pinterest |
Fangirling is simply something we pass the time with by pinning pictures, writing blog posts, emailing, having fun imagining conversations and situations, feeling our hearts go pitter-patter, etc. We create fandoms and fall in love with them so much that we're willing to do whatever possible to further their growth. We squee and gasp and facepalm and shriek and drool.
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| Thank you, Sully, for the demonstration. |
That's what a fangirl does. It's fun! We're nuts, and we love it! But while fangirling itself is, on the surface, a harmless pastime, it's sadly the gateway to bad things.
Please note that I'm not entirely bashing fangirling altogether; there's just a certain type of fangirling that needs to be brought to light.
And that's the fangirling that revolves around men, actors for the most part. They play in films/shows/whatever and they bring our fandoms to life. What's wrong with that? Nothing. It's when we allow ourselves to become deeply obsessed when we start treading on dangerous territory.
When we fangirl over a picture of our favorite actor and imagine a dream wedding with him at the end of the aisle, we just gave a piece of our heart to him. When we drool over his bulging muscles and plan our kids' names, we are no longer keeping our hearts whole. With each new picture and actor and fandom, our affection grows, and our hearts we give away in tiny pieces to each new obsession. And what will we have left to offer our husbands when we spent our waiting years by handing off pieces of our hearts to different actors in the name of fangirling? That's when fangirling no longer *is* real fangirling.
That's when it becomes lust. And we have fallen into impurity.
As Christian girls, purity is something that we claim to be of great importance. Keeping our heart solely reserved for one man is our desire. We pray about it with our parents, we pin great purity quotes on Pinterest, we email each other with encouragement. Our lives are sheltered under our parents' roofs, and we are confident nothing can compromise us.
Yet, purity involves so much more than that. God says, He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much. (Luke 16:10) We're so preoccupied with the big picture of purity that we don't realize that we might be failing in the little things. Even in as something as small as fangirling.
Purity is keeping yourself wholly for our husbands. For one man. And that includes keeping our hearts, minds, and souls pure. Let's not give away pieces of our hearts to strange men; let's be careful with our obsessions. Let's not hand the leftover crumbles of our hearts to our husbands. Let's keep our hearts pure and WHOLE for the one man God has for us.
Let's be pure in the little things.
God bless!
I agree, Kiri! Everyone needs this reminder every once in a while.
ReplyDeleteVery, very, very true. I request "the highest of fives" as we say on Pinterest. ;) This has been on my mind for a while. Even though there is no in-person relationship with these characters/actors and they don't even know most of us exist, there is definitely still an element of giving away pieces of our hearts. I am 100% guilty of this. I even think sometimes of my future husband and what he would think if he saw some of my fangirling pins on Pinterest, or long blog posts about Mr. Thornton from North and South. Even though there was never a real relationship with some of these people, I definitely have poured emotion into them. Thank you for being brave enough to put this together as I am sure many girls will not agree with you, but know that there are those who do, me included!
ReplyDeleteThis is something I needed to hear. While it's very rare for me to fall for actual actors themselves, I fall far too easily into "fictional crushes". And though these people aren't real, it is still giving a little piece of my heart away. Sometimes I forget that however silly these fictional crushes are, they're still wrong to have. Thank you for this reminder!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this! While I don't obsess about marrying a certain actor or character, I do tend to obsess over thinking about the things I've fallen madly in love with - tv shows, books, movies, etc. This has been on my mind a lot lately and you hit the proverbial nail on the head! Yes, the highest of fives to you!!
ReplyDeleteAlso, thank you so much for putting this blog party together!!! I really enjoyed reading all the posts and writing mine - this was definitely an encouragement!!!
-Eowyn-
*claps*
ReplyDeleteI've noticed this too, and try to keep it in check when it comes to myself- like Eowyn said, I tend to obsess more over the actual show/book.movie than particular actors (and yes, I do tend to "fangirl" over quite a few things!), but that isn't really healthy either. Definitely something I've noticed in my own internet circles- a much-needed post!