Guys, here’s the short version.

You’re under attack. Your very soul is in danger.

Now I’ll share the longer version.

I’m the father of three daughters, ages 17, 21, and 23. My girls are beautiful because their mom is beautiful. It may seem easy to be a beautiful girl, but that isn’t always the case.

I’ve seen my daughters spend all day Sunday getting ready for a banquet, hoping they look pretty (even as they always do), and then fly off into the sunset. Sometimes they’ve come home glowing; other times, wilting. Once my daughter’s date didn’t even tell her she looked nice; instead, he propositioned her in a disgusting way in front of his friends. “Why would you even say that to me?” she had the courage to respond. She came home in tears that night—and again the next day.

There’s a current pop song called “Boys Will Be Boys,” describing a girl’s fear of things like walking alone or hearing comments about their bodies. All because “boys will be boys.” Some of the song’s last words are “No, the kids ain’t alright.”

You are not just an object—and neither are they.

And that’s the problem. The kids ain’t alright.

Look, girls aren’t perfect and never were. They have plenty to work on too. But the simple truth is that the proliferation of pornography through computers and phones is particularly destroying the souls of our boys. Their eyes have gone dark; the culture of objectification is eating them alive.

“Dad,” one of my daughters told me, “the boys are skipping steps. They don’t even want to hold hands.”

Guys, let me share a story that may be helpful to you.

A few weeks ago, on a family vacation, we were driving in south Florida where some famous people live. One of our daughters said she wanted to drive by the house of a young Christian guy named Tyler whom she had seen on TV. Well, I could think of better things to do, but OK.

On the way, our daughter showed us a YouTube video of Tyler skimboarding in the rain in his backyard. Yes, Tyler looked very handsome and fit with his “six-pack abs” (I personally prefer the two-liter look, but OK).

“Sweetheart,” I asked, “when a girl like you sees a cute guy like Tyler, what are you thinking? Are you thinking, I want to give him a kiss or I want to touch his six-pack stomach?

“No, Dad!” she laughed. “I’m just thinking he seems intriguing, and I’d like to spend time with him and get to know him.”

Did you hear that, guys? They just want to get to know you. You are not just an object—and neither are they. You are, in fact, sons and daughters of the most high God.

“Boys will be boys” isn’t good enough. Boys will be men when they look to the same Man that girls should be looking to: the Son of man, Jesus Christ.

He will help you begin again.

Andy Nash is lead pastor at Littleton Adventist Church in the Rocky Mountain Conference of Seventh-day Adventists ([email protected]).