The Duggar family has some very strict rules for their children.They don't want their children to kiss until their wedding day. They only want the girls to give the men they are courting a side hug. If a young man wants to court their daughters, the man has to ask Jim Bob. They are never allowed alone when going out together until marriage. They must always have a chaperon.
We had fairly strict rules for our children while they lived under our roof. We taught them about purity and what God required of them. However, all of our children were out of the home by the time they began dating their spouse. When our children were in high school, we encouraged them not to date at all. We wanted them to wait until they were old enough to marry and then date to see if they were the one. What they did after they left our home was between them and God. We trusted them as they were all walking with Jesus.
This worked well for us but I can sure understand the even stricter rules the Duggars place on their children. It is protection for them and none of the children seem to mind the rules. When they talk about them, they explain why they have these rules and seem happy about them. Boundaries are always for our protection and I believe children feel protected with boundaries, but only if they don't have a rebellious spirit.
Many think kissing is innocent, but it's not. When you are married, you sure wouldn't want your spouse kissing another woman on the mouth. It definitely gets the motor running which can always be dangerous. So waiting until the wedding would absolutely help in the purity department and the Duggars are doing everything in their power to help their children remain pure until the day they marry which is what God desires according to these verses ~
For this is the will of God, that you should be consecrated {separated and set apart for pure and holy living}: that you should abstain and shrink from sexual vice, that each one of you should know how to possess {control, manage} his own body in consecration {purity, separated from things profane} and honor, not in the passion of lust like the heathen {I Thessalonians 4:3-5}
The Duggars take these verses very seriously, unlike most Christians, in our society. Many think the Duggars are way too radical in today's society but I don't know. They seem like good rules to me if measured against God's Word and His desire for us to be pure.
They are very careful to base all of their decisions on God's Word and not on society, something we all should seek to do. I would have loved a role model like them in my life when I was growing up and then raising children.
