Chaste - Part I

Chaste - a small word which conjures up pictures of women medieval women clad in white flowing garments sitting by the side of a flowing brook. Most of us would probably think of her as quiet, beautiful, pure and unspotted, and of course, a virgin.

That picture, while accurate in some ways is inaccurate in others. Chaste, according to Webster's 1812 dictionary, is defined as, "Pure from all unlawful commerce of sexes", "Free from obscenity", "In language, pure; genuine; uncorrupt; free from barbarous words and phrases, and from quaint, affected, extravagant expressions."

This gives us a little clearer picture. A chaste woman is sexually pure. Most often we want to apply this to unmarried women. I wanted to point out that because Paul includes "chaste" in a list for married woman, he is affirming that "the marriage bed" is a pure and chaste thing. This will play itself out more later in the article, but to suffice for now, a married woman can still be just as sexually pure and chaste as an unmarried woman.

A chaste woman is "free from obscenity". Oftentimes, we think of obscenity as merely the words which trickle or pour from our mouths. While that is included, that is not the whole of the word. Many obscene things have nothing to do with speech. Do you dress modestly or in such a way as to not make a man do a double-take and lust after you in his heart? Do you present yourself with politeness? Sometimes a person's manners can be obscene or offensive. Are you careful to act appropriately with people. Being overly friendly (even unintentionally) with a member of the opposite sex could fall under this category as well.

Turning to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, the word for chaste is "hagnos". I love the first definition given by Strong's, "exciting reverence, venerable, sacred". I had never before thought of a person as exciting reverence in someone else. Do you inspire or excite reverence in your children and husband? When people are around you, do you help them want to be reverent and show respect properly as becomes the situation? For me, that is something I will have to continue to ponder over as it is a quite novel thought.

Strong's second definition is, "Pure" and that falls out in three sub-definitions which are, "pure from carnality, chaste, modest", "pure from every fault, immaculate", "clean".

Chaste seems to be speaking of an outer adornment as a result of an inward reality. We, as women, are modest because we believe we represent Christ. We keep ourselves free from carnality because our lives are a reflection of Him who died for us. We do not want to present ourselves as liars, or cheaters, or thieves because we do not put a blot on God's holiness or the glory due Him for which we are striving to show.

It's easy to look on this and say, well, I just have to wear a high enough neck-line and a low enough hem-line. I just have to make sure I don't use foul language or tell crude jokes. Though those things are all good and proper, they are not what this verse is speaking about. This verse is speaking about our hearts. Are our hearts so attuned to God that we would rather suffer shame for doing what's right than to let down the one person who gave Himself to us? Why are you kind to others? Is it because Christ was kind to you or because you expect them to reciprocate? Why do you give money to the church? Do you give because it's obligatory to give your 10% or do you give because you want to bless those who your Father loves?