Bible Reading: 2 Timothy 2:20-22
Run from anything that stimulates youthful lust. Follow anything that makes you want to do right. 2 Timothy 2:22
HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT, Why do I have such strong sexual feelings if premarital sex is wrong? Maybe you’ve never asked that question out loud, but it might have danced through your mind. Don’t you sometimes wonder why God made your desire for sex so potent if you can’t do anything with it right now? Is God playing some kind of joke on you?
Not at all. Say thanks that you have that strong desire for sex-but also realize that you might have many years ahead of you to keep that desire under control until marriage. Your sex-saturated culture doesn’t make it easy. But remember: God has given you all the power you need to keep your sexual desires in line. Follow his advice in 2 Timothy 2:22.
“So if sex before marriage is wrong,” you might still wonder, “how far can you go? I mean, how far is too far?”
Most kids want someone to step up, draw a bold line, and say, “Okay, everything up to here is fine. But if you go past this point, you’re out of God’s will.” It sounds nice and simple, but it doesn’t work that way.
Actually, there are better questions to ask than, “How far is too far?” Try these: “What caring actions can I use to show my true feelings to my date?” “What actions best express how much I care about my date at this point in our relationship?” “What is honest, righteous, and best for where we are right now?” But at the same time, the Bible is clear about drawing a line when it says, “Never cheat a Christian brother” (1 Thessalonians 4:6). We “cheat” others by taking from them to fulfill our sexual desires. Here’s how to avoid that.
First, realize when you start wanting what you can’t have. It usually starts so slowly that you don’t realize it’s happening. But when you raise your own desires above what’s right and spiritually healthy, you have crossed an important line.
Second, aim at applying the command to love one another. Learn to love the 1 Corinthians 13 way-selflessly seeking out God’s best for the other person.
Third, recognize that physical affection between a guy and girl is exciting because God made it that way. And it’s progressive-one stage naturally leads to the next. Setting your standards and drawing your “lines” ahead of time will enable you to stand up in a situation that requires serious resisting and keeps you from making a mistake you might later regret.
REFLECT: What are you going to do to keep your sexual desires inside God’s boundaries?
PRAY: Ask God for wisdom and power to keep his great wedding present -sex- for the wedding.
