Bible Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8
God wants you to be holy, so you should keep clear of all sexual sin. 1 Thessalonians 4:3
WHAT WOULD you guess is the number one pressure on a girl to become sexually active? If you guessed guys, you’re wrong.
The greatest pressure on a girl often comes from her own girlfriends. If you find yourself in a situation like that, remember there are some things you can give away only once. Your virginity is one of them.
Don’t sacrifice the things that are eternal on the altar of the immediate. Translation: Don’t give away something you can never give away again to some guy-who buys you a lousy hamburger-just because your girlfriends are pressuring you. The next time they hassle you, shoot back at them what one young woman said to her friends: “In five minutes, I can become like you. But try as hard as you can, you can never again become like me.”
And guys, you might feel pressured to get sexually involved with your girlfriend by friends who say things like, “It’s natural when you’re in love.” It’s also natural to burp in public. But do you do that? No. Not everything natural is proper in every setting. Some things offend others. And to get sexually involved with your girlfriend, even if she wants to, offends other people and breaks God’s laws.
Think about how your actions would affect her parents if they ever found out. Or her future husband. Or what about her future children? Your actions would hurt them deeply. What are you going to tell her dad when he comes banging on your front door? “But, sir, it was the natural thing to do”?
When the Bible talks about love, the first characteristic it mentions is patience. First Corinthians 13:4 says, “Love is patient.” Real love can always wait to give. Lust, however, is different-it can never wait to get. If your boyfriend or girlfriend is pressuring you to have sex, he or she might have confused lust for love.
You don’t have to put up with the pressure. Your boyfriend or girlfriend may insist that love is his or her motivation. Tell your boyfriend or girlfriend that true love waits. That puts the pressure back on him or her, where it belongs.
You may feel embarrassed or uncomfortable sharing with God your thoughts and feelings about sex. But if you recall, he invented it. Nothing you can think, feel, or do about sex will embarrass him, and he stands ready to help you deal with the pressure you feel in this area.
REFLECT: How would you answer someone who said that sex before marriage is the “natural” thing to do?
PRAY: Tell God your concerns about sex.
