Purity Before Marriage

"Ryan and Erin are a breath of fresh air.  We hardly ever get to mentor a couple like them anymore where both were raised in families who loved God and they both have deep roots in Jesus.  Even couples in the church are usually sleeping or living together."

These comments were made to us from a couple at our church who have been giving pre-marital counseling to couples for the past twenty years.  It is a sad statement to me about the condition of the church today.

It is quite clear where the Bible stands on chastity, yet 80% of young unmarried adults aged 18-29 who self-describe as evangelical Christians have had sex. The church seems to be doing a poor job of teaching these verses and instilling a desire to be obedient to God’s Word in single Christians, and single Christians are doing a poor job of maintaining their chastity in obedience to God’s Word. {source}

God gives us commands to protect us. When we disobey His commands, we will suffer the consequences.  Yes, God will cleanse us from our sins but we will have scars.

I had my neck fused a few years ago.  A disc was pushing into my spinal cord causing all kinds of problems.  The disc has been taken out now but I still suffer from some issues from the surgery and the injury.

Sin is the same way.  It can be taken out of your life but you will still suffer scars from your disobedience, especially sexual sins for the Bible says we reap what we sow in our own bodies.  God knows what He is talking about when He commands us to flee sexual immorality.

Jennifer Moses in her article Why Do We Let Them Dress Like That? writes,  "It has to do with how conflicted my own generation of women is about our own past, when many of us behaved in ways that we now regret.  A woman I know, with two mature daughters, said, "If I could do it again, I wouldn't even have slept with my own husband before marriage. Sex is the most powerful thing there is, and our generation, what did we know?"

So here we are, the feminist and post feminist and post pill generation. We somehow survived our own teen and college years {except for those who didn't}, and now, with the exception of some Mormons, evangelicals and Orthodox Jews, scads of us don't know how to teach our own sons and daughters not to give away their bodies so readily. We're embarrassed, and we don't want to be, God forbid, hypocrites.

Still, in my own circle of girlfriends, the desire to push back is strong. I don't know one of them who doesn't have feelings of lingering discomfort regarding her own sexual past. And not one woman I've ever asked about the subject has said that she wishes she'd "experimented" more.

Be bold and teach your children truth.  They aren't animals who have to act upon their instincts but human beings created in the image of God with self-control.  Let the Word of God dwell in them richly and teach it to them often.  As they grow up, continue encouraging them in the ways of God and pray for them daily.  For with God,  ALL things are possible.

Let marriage be held in honor among all,

and let the marriage bed be undefiled,

for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

Hebrews 13:4