Is Hugging a Sin? What Does the Bible Say?

[straightcurvylines]

I want to live a life of purity. I've made mistakes in the past, and I long to go back and un-do some things. The biggest thing was hugging boys/men who were not related to me.

Does hugging stir up sexual desire? Am I causing my brothers in Christ to sin?

I have pure intentions when I hug, but I am worried that my hugging might be interpreted as something more than friendly.

Are hand-shaking and eye contact the same?

 

[Nithavela]

I want to live a life of purity. I've made mistakes in the past, and I long to go back and un-do some things. The biggest thing was hugging boys/men who were not related to me.

Does hugging stir up sexual desire? Am I causing my brothers in Christ to sin?

I have pure intentions when I hug, but I am worried that my hugging might be interpreted as something more than friendly.

Are hand-shaking and eye contact the same?

Everything can "stir up sexual desires". If you want to go through life without stiring up sexual desire, buy a burka.

 

[( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]

Here are two verses that you can spend some time meditating on with Lord. My prayer is that He gives you wisdom on rightly living them out in your world. Stay blessed!

Titus 1:15 - " To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted"

1 Corinthians 8:9 - "Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak."

 

[straightcurvylines]

Everything can "stir up sexual desires". If you want to go through life without stirring up sexual desire, buy a burka.

Do you believe in the purity of dressing modestly? I want to avoid being a stumbling block for any godly men.

Here are two verses that you can spend some time meditating on with Lord. My prayer is that He gives you wisdom on rightly living them out in your world. Stay blessed!

Titus 1:15 - " To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted"

1 Corinthians 8:9 - "Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak."

Thank you for those verses. I will pray over them.

 

[URA]

Does hugging stir up sexual desire? Am I causing my brothers in Christ to sin?

If a hug causes someone to sin, the fault is in them, not you. If you have pure intentions, you're fine, although if you're bringing up past mistakes that have involved hugs, I can guarantee that the hug was not the problem, only what came after the hug. If the guy you hug starts talking dirty, don't give any more hugs. If he doesn't bring up anything sexual, you should be alright.

Pray that this piece of advice helps.

May God bless us all!

 

[HTacianas]

I want to live a life of purity. I've made mistakes in the past, and I long to go back and un-do some things. The biggest thing was hugging boys/men who were not related to me.

Does hugging stir up sexual desire? Am I causing my brothers in Christ to sin?

I have pure intentions when I hug, but I am worried that my hugging might be interpreted as something more than friendly.

Are hand-shaking and eye contact the same?

The apostolic constitutions contain "commandments to women" regarding manner of dress, etc., but nothing about hugging. Probably because a woman hugging an unrelated man would have been inconceivable in those days. It reads in part:

"And when you are in the streets, cover your head; for by such a covering you will avoid being viewed of idle persons. Do not paint your face, which is God's workmanship; for there is no part of you which wants ornament, inasmuch as all things which God has made are very good. But the lascivious additional adorning of what is already good is an affront to the bounty of the Creator. Look downward when you walk abroad, veiling yourself as becomes women."

If all these other things are to be avoided primarily to avoid stirring up sexual feelings I'm sure hugging is ruled out entirely.

 

[MariaJLM]

If people get sexually aroused by hugs then they definitely have deeper issues to address that have nothing to do with you.

 

[Nithavela]

Do you believe in the purity of dressing modestly?

Nah.

 

[straightcurvylines]

I want to make sure that I am not sabotaging someone else's purity promise to God. There's enough temptation in the world already.

 

[Messerve]

If the guy reacts uncomfortable the first time (or seems to like it too much maybe) then I would back off. I think most guys would be fine with a brief hug if you know each other decently. If you're a random stranger to him, I would say no.

I've known girls who wanted to hug you no matter who you were or if you had just met, and it kind of scared me away...

 

[.Mikha'el.]

I'm not sure why it would be?

 

[Messerve]

I want to make sure that I am not sabotaging someone else's purity promise to God. There's enough temptation in the world already.

I really appreciate your concern in this area. It's contrary to what so many people are teaching these days. Women and Men in the church should be working together to mature in their walk with Jesus and it's a pretty obvious fact that if a woman shows a lot of skin or wears really tight clothing, then she's probably going to get a lot of attention for the wrong reasons. The same goes for men. I don't think a lot of guys should wear those v-neck t-shirts when they have all this hair sticking out... It's just focusing on the wrong thing. We should not just be attracted to someone's body, but we should be attracted to their heart. And hopefully, we'd be attracted to someone who has a godly and pure heart.

 

[straightcurvylines]

If the guy reacts uncomfortable the first time (or seems to like it too much maybe) then I would back off. I think most guys would be fine with a brief hug if you know each other decently. If you're a random stranger to him, I would say no.

I've known girls who wanted to hug you no matter who you were or if you had just met, and it kind of scared me away...

What if a man doesn't communicate that it stirs up sexual things for him? Should I avoid hugging all men just to be safe?

 

[Chesterton]

Stay away from Joe Biden and you'll be okay.

 

[Monk Brendan]

Are hand-shaking and eye contact the same?

Only if eyes are the same as hands.

 

[straightcurvylines]

Only if eyes are the same as hands.

Do you think one is better than the other?

 

[Monk Brendan]

Do you think one is better than the other?

What does it matter?

Don't forget, in our culture, shaking hands and looking at each other in the eye re common, regardless of the sex of the two people involved.

 

[ilovejcsog]

;This is interesting, very interesting. Recently I fell at the store and a man grabbed my wrists and pulled me up off the ground. He put his arms around me and hugged me what seemed like forever but probably like 30 seconds. When it happened I was puzzled but decided he was trying to stabilize me. I just know it had been many years since I had been hugged and it felt good not sexual. But the more I thought about it afterward the more uncomfortable I became. For days I worried over it. I am a woman so I would say don't hug anyone that is not a close relative or friend and there is no attraction. As to handshakes and eye contact, as long as they are not flirtatious or the other person wouldn't take it wrong I can't see any harm in it.

 

[sunshineforJesus]

I have a couple of guy friends at church who love hugging and I have no problem with it.

 

[Citanul]

The only time I think it could be a sin is if one person isn't comfortable with the hug but the other one is forcing them to do it.

I've always seen a hug as a gesture that's more intimate than a handshake but doesn't go as far as something like a kiss. So it would be perfectly OK to hug people you know well.

At a Meetup group I often attend it's not uncommon for hugs to be shared amongst regulars (and sometimes the non-regulars get into the act as well). There's never been anything even remotely sexual about the hugs, and I think we'd be very surprised if anyone were to suggest that there might have been.