Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Why the Sex Books?

Kathy and I are hosting a True Love Waits Banquet this Friday night at our church. We are really looking forward to spending time with the teens and their families. So, I have been doing a lot of reading on the subject of sex and purity.

The approach we’re taking isn’t “Just Say No To Sex” before marriage and then have them all sign purity pledges. Instead, I am going to speak on purity for the whole family. Purity isn’t just about sex, it’s about trusting God to help us keep our minds like a child.

How can we expect our junior high boys to not look at porn on the internet if dad is doing it all the time? Why is that important? God will forgive dad for his problem, but it isn’t just his problem. He is leading a child down the same destructive path.

So, I am challenging the parents to look their kids in the eyes and say they will do their best to run their house and lives with purity. Mom and dad will fail at times, but the family needs to know that everyone is trying and trusting Christ.

It’s time to stop making excuses.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi JB

Gee I find your site interesting. Well worked with the youth and presently as I write this I have 20 youth in my back yard around a fire, playing guitars and jimbays, just having fun.

We are surely interesting beings. I have always seen it like this. I explained to the kids/adults.. lol that the commandments were meant to serve us. We were not meant to serve the commandments. What I mean is that when we follow them they help us. So same with the purity thing.

It all comes down to trust. We know what is right and what is wrong but it is when we let go and lean on the beloved. I shared this story with youth. A young dad takes some kids out for dinner. A couple of the kids look younger than 13 so he tells the waitress they are younger so he pays less. Now I know this guy and he loves God and is a good man but what happened is that he doesn't completely trust God with his money. He is not a bad person. He is just learning. Like all of us.

Hope the banquet went well.

Lori

JimmyBob said...

Hi again, Lori! That's great to hear you work with youth. It's an awesome responsibility. My wife and I love it and tremble at it. You never know what's going to happen in a week!

Yes, the banquet went fantastic. We had delicous Italian food and the Holy Spirit led me to do something different than a "Purity Pledge." I had everyone (mom's and dad's included) work on a "Purity Plan" for 2006. I created a worksheet that asked why they wanted to commit to purity and what specific things they needed help from Christ with. Many of them really took it seriously and were thoughtful in their answers. We prayed over the finished worksheets and committed all of the plans to God.

And I really like your statement about the commandments serving us. I had not heard it like that before, but it makes wonderful sense when you think about it. All of God's precepts are there for our benefit, to lead us to greater things.

Thanks for posting.