Saving oneself for marriage, abstinence, purity and holiness is a work of love and long suffering. It is a work of the Holy Spirit. It's love towards God and towards the potential spouse. Virginity is a beautiful thing but the enemy makes it seem like it's a burden. That being a virgin is a bad thing. "Look! Everyone else is doing it!" the enemy will use your friends and use them to pressure to give away a priceless gift.
I want to encourage those men and women who are choosing to wait to have sexual realtions until they are married to stand firm and be diligent. Sexual sin is disastrous and can hurt so many people. The wage of sexual sin is very costly. It can even cost you your life.
Don't want to get STDs? No?
Stay a virgin until marriage.
Don't want to have an unplanned pregnancy? No?
Stay a virgin until marriage.
I know that it can be very hard to suppress urges and these feelings because they are so new and so strong. But you must stay strong. It will be worth the wait.
I also would encourage those who are choosing to be abstinent to not dable with pornography. There are studies that say that watching pornography habitually causes brain damage. It also changes the way you portray people.
Porn addiction desensitizes you and hardens your heart. Sex, the act of making love, shouldn't be without sensitivity and shouldn't be done with a hardened heart. It's the most intimate you could ever be with someone else aside from your relationship with the Lord.
Any kind of sexual contact outside of the context of marriage is a sin. In James 1:14-15, James the brother of Jesus said, "But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death."
Don't get carried away with your own lust. Protect what you see and hear. The enemy will use what you like to look at and what you like to hear in order to draw you into the temptation. Not even a little bit! Do not give the devil a foothold.
It won't take much to make you fall. Ah, sexual sin, many are her victims she has cast down, numerous are those slain. Even mighty men. The likes of David, Samson, and Solomon just to name a few.
Becareful about what you think. If you have a problem with having sexual thoughts and images, immediately bring it under submission to the knowledge of Christ. Pray, confess, repent and thank the Lord for pardoning you. Blessed is the man who's transgressions have been forgiven and whose sins are covered by the blood of Christ.
With all this being said, this is why I have been qualified to speak on the subject. It's not because I was sexually pure before the Lord. On the contrary, I've been sexually immoral. I caved into peer pressure and lost my virginity when I was 17 years old. What I lost that day, I didn't understand how beautiful and special what I foolishly gave away.
I can remember the first time I saw a pornographic image. I remember it vividly, like it happened yesterday. I was visiting my cousins and we were all playing outside. They had found a secret stash of Playboy magazines. I felt excited but also ashamed at the same time. I think I was about 7 years old.
Sexual sin has created a weak point in my armor and the enemy attacks me through sex. I'm constantly bombarded with thoughts and images when I am awake and sometimes in my dreams when I am asleep.
Staying abstinent and staying a virgin isn't a sign or weakness and worthless. No! It takes great strength to resist the devil and deny yourself natural urges and feelings. Your purity is extremely valuable. It's the most valuable thing you could give to your spouse, your self.
See, people like me can't say that they stood strong. No. I am ashamed to report that I fell and I buckled under the pressure. I gave into the temptation and gave away my purity for the short thrill and short pleasure of a meaningless orgasm.
I have paid handsomely for my sexual impurity. I'm now in my 40s and I'm still dealing with sexual temptation because I opened myself up to things that I wasn't ready for. I also didn't know how to handle sex. It needs to be entered into reverently and be extremely careful with.
On the other hand, if you wait until you are married to have sex, you can say that you saved yourself for your spouse and that is an act of love!
Virginity is beautiful! Most of all, it pleases the Lord if you obey Him by waiting until marriage to have sex. He is the rewarder of those who choose to live a righteous life. But I must warn you that those who live a righteous life will be persecuted. It will come at you as peer pressure, shame and ridicule.
But you must stand firm. Know the word of God and write His word on the tablet of your heart so that you may not sin against Him. Stay a pure virgin because you love God and you want to stay pure for your spouse.
Do the right thing, not what others are doing. Don't let sinners entice you to join them and endulge in their sin. Flee from sexual sin. Run for your life! It's dangerous and deadly. It's not worth the pain and suffering that follow it.
Keep your "V" until the right time and with the right person. When the right time and right person arrive in your life, you can indulge yourself and not have to endure any kind of guilt or shame because you are doing what married couples are supposed to do.
