Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 6:9-13
Our bodies were not made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord. 1 Corinthians 6:13
BY NOW you have noticed there’s a difference between boys and girls. And you have also discovered that you are interested in the other sex.
You have probably pondered just how different you are from that other sex-physically, for sure, but in other ways as well. That’s okay. It’s the way God made you to feel. It’s how God made your body to work. It’s the physical house he made for your spirit to live in. So your thoughts and feelings about the opposite sex are no surprise to the one who designed you the way you are.
The big problem humans have, though, is as old as Adam and Eve. Remember? The first effect of Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden was that they became embarrassed of their naked bodies. Ever since, modesty-especially physical modesty-has been an instinct, even among the most primitive peoples. When two people have sex, it’s more than just clothes that come off. They also get naked emotionally. But God never intended this kind of “nakedness” to be shared with just anyone. Why? Because when you uncover yourself emotionally, you are in danger of being emotionally wounded.
That’s why sex isn’t like shaking a stranger’s hand. There’s nothing casual about sex. Breaking up with someone you have been sexually involved with is so painful because it hurts more than just your body. It’s not only your physical body being discarded. You have been rejected-all that you are.
Because sex is so personal-going to the core of who you are-it makes sense that God made sex to be enjoyed only within the bounds of marriage. Marriage gives a man and woman, who want to share themselves physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually the safety of a lifelong commitment.
Everyone wants to get more than physical. You want a deep, intimate relationship. You want to give yourself totally to someone who can accept and love you just the way you are. So when you save sex for marriage, you save more than your body. You save all of yourself for that special someone who will find in you the intimacy and love God created him or her to enjoy in marriage.
It’s a package deal. By saving this package until marriage-both body and heart-you will become a priceless gift to someone, just like he or she will be to you.
REFLECT: Why is sex more significant than shaking hands?
PRAY: God, you made sex a gift that a husband and wife can share. Help me to wait until marriage to enjoy the gift of sex.
