Blog

by Katie Erickson

One of the questions that we at Worldview Warriors are often asked is, “What is the importance of abstaining from sex until I’m married?” Last week we finished up our writings on the book of Habakkuk, so before we start writing on Judges next week we’ll answer this question.

I can give a variety of simple answers to this question, such as that abstinence prevents pregnancy that you may not be ready for, and that it prevents sexually transmitted diseases. There are also Biblical answers, some of which I covered in a blog post a few years ago titled What is Fornication? I encourage you to read that post for more on this.

But the real root of this question is who or what you have as the authority in your life. If you are following the world’s ways, then it’s likely the fear of negative consequences (unexpected pregnancy or STDs) that will guide this decision in your life. But if you are trying to follow God’s ways in your life, the answer is to honor God.

As we wrote about a few weeks ago when we looked at how far is too far to go sexually with your boyfriend or girlfriend, if you’re even asking the question then you’ve likely already gone too far. If you’ve even thought about going farther in a desiring way, you have already sinned.

God created and defined marriage in Genesis 2:20-24. For more on what marriage is, check out “What Is Marriage? God and the Church” and “What is Marriage? One Man and One Woman.” The most important thing to note is that God specifically designed sexual intercourse for the marriage relationship, where two people become one flesh. If you have sex before you’re married (whether just once or multiple times), then you have sex with your spouse, how many fleshes have just joined together? Definitely more than two have become one, because of the way that God has created sex to work.

We honor God with our lives when we follow the guidelines that He has established, which really are based in our well being. We honor God with our body by not sinning sexually. The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:13b, “The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.”

Are you seeking to follow the world’s ways? if so, you can do whatever you want, but you should expect that there will be negative consequences when you go against God’s natural law. If you are seeking to honor God and follow His ways, one way you can show that with your actions is to honor your body and not sin sexually. God created sex to be a wonderful thing, when it stays within His guideline of a marriage relationship. It is important to abstain from sex until marriage, because by doing so you are honoring the God who created you.

This forum is meant to foster discussion and allow for differing viewpoints to be explored with equal and respectful consideration.  All comments are moderated and any foul language or threatening/abusive comments will not be approved.  Users who engage in threatening or abusive comments which are physically harmful in nature will be reported to the authorities.