A Good Gift Worth Guarding
God is not embarrassed by the way He made us. He created man and woman, gave them to one another, and looked over all He had made and called it very good (Genesis 1:31). In the garden, before sin came into the world, the first husband and wife had nothing to hide from each other or from God: they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed (Genesis 2:25).
Our world has made a mess of this gift. We live in a hypersexualized culture, one that measures a person's value by sexual appeal and overlooks almost everything else about him. Advertising, entertainment, and the phone in every pocket teach the same lesson: you are worth what you look like, and other people are there to be used. Scripture gives a better answer. Your value comes from God, who made you in His own image.
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”GENESIS 1:27 · KJV
Churches have sometimes failed in the opposite direction, speaking of this subject in whispers or not at all. That silence leaves young people to learn about it from the world. God's Word is not silent. It speaks plainly and modestly, and that is how we will try to speak here.
This study is written for a church family, and it stays modest. Still, you know your children. Read it first, decide what they are ready for, and go through it together when the time is right. It is far better for them to hear these things from you, with an open Bible, than from a screen.
God invented the intimacy of marriage, and He gave it to one husband and one wife. Everything He forbids here protects something He calls good, and everything we have broken here, Christ can forgive.
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For Deeper Study
- The Purity PrincipleAmazon Randy AlcornA short, plain book on why purity is always the wise path, useful for teens and adults alike. Evangelical.
- Finally Free: Fighting for Purity with the Power of GraceAmazon Heath LambertA Gospel-centered guide to leaving pornography behind, by a Baptist pastor and biblical counselor. For adults.
- Sexual Detox: A Guide for Guys Who Are Sick of PornAmazon Tim ChalliesA brief, frank book for men, best for adults and older teens. Reformed; we differ on election.
- Rid of My Disgrace: Hope and Healing for Victims of Sexual AssaultAmazon Justin S. Holcomb and Lindsey A. HolcombFor those who have been sinned against and those who walk with them. For adults. Written from a Reformed perspective, which differs from ours.
- Foxe's Book of MartyrsAmazon John FoxeThe classic Protestant record of those who died for the faith, from the early church to the English Reformation.
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God's Design for Marriage
Marriage is God's own design: a lifelong covenant between one man and one woman, made before Him, that joins two people as one flesh and pictures Christ and His church.
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