You are More Than the Sum of Your Parts.

We are not nearly as mature as our parents were at our age. Do you ever hear them say "when I was your age…?" While the maturation process is slowing, the age we are exposed to life impacting decisions is getting increasingly younger. It used to be that drugs and alcohol weren't exposed to kids until the ages of about 16-18, now kids are being exposed at the age of 11. It's not unusual to have young kids to get hooked on these things, and they don't have the capacity to make life long decisions at this age. We can see these impacts on our lives in so many areas. The current music, tv, movies, culture all influence us. Sometimes we are being forced to deal with things way before we are ready to. 

We live in a culture that tells us that we are sexual beings, therefore we should be sexually active. We live in a culture that challenges the church in telling people you are wrong to not be sexually active outside of marriage, in fact you are causing them to have mental issues because they are repressing this natural drive and it's making everybody crazy. Some peoples mindset is that God gave us parts and He is a brilliant designer, so we might as well use them. Tragedy results because of our decisions that rationalize, justify, and abandon God’s commands. But you are not your own. What you do with your body is a way of worship to the Lord. You are not a thing. And you are not to be used. What is His Word telling you to change? How has the Holy Spirit been speaking to your heart about an area of your life that’s out of line with God’s perfect will for your life? We are called to be Godly men and women, regardless of the situation or the circumstance. Temptation is designed to meet the desires of your heart. If you grab hold of your wants and thoughts, it will sooner or later become an action. 

Paul tells us that we are more than our desires. We are more than our body. We are more than that. Don't keep living like you are less. It's not the church that has lied to us, it's the world. We are attracted to stories of celebrities self destructing, after all "if it bleeds, it leads" right? 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 Paul tells us that the body is not for immorality, it is for the Lord. Our bodies are members of Christ. He says that we have come from God and that we are not our own, so glorify God with our body. When we get healthy in Jesus, then our sexuality lines back up. We glorify God in the way that we live. 

Someday you will meet him or her, and you'll fall like a big tree in a forrest. Will you stay for the right reasons? Will you love them enough to postpone whatever you're feeling and the desires you might have so that they can be honored and cherished? Will you pay any price for them? "Love" isn't giving in when your partner wants to cross an established boundary because you are both subject to temptation and you know God will forgive you when it's all said and done. That is not love. Love is respecting a commitment you both have made and valuing each others hearts above all else, and honoring God in your relationship and with your bodies. 

Will he not love you if you don't compromise yourself? I don't know what that is, but it isn't love. We are designed to connect, soul to soul. When you are deeply connected with another and that touching of souls holds you together, it gets deeper and deeper and stronger so that you may become one. Giving our hearts in relationships outside of marriage kills our dreams. When you aren't connected and the two souls pull apart, they rip and bleed and scar. And eventually get to a point to where the scars can't feel. In that moment when God answers your prayer and says here she or he is, the person I've been preparing for you, your heart will be so scarred over, you won't be able to feel it. That's not what God wants for you. He knows there is a moment when your soul will touch another and He wants it to be as deep and as rich and as beautiful and as bonding as it can be, with no scars. God wants what is best for you, a relationship that holds you together in thick and thin because sooner or later it gets hard. Your future spouse doesn't deserve to receive you covered in scars, they have valued your heart before even knowing you and deserve your whole self when you two decide to enter into a relationship rooted in Christ. 

Why Is Sex Outside Of Marriage So Destructive? | Tim Keller:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKdSLsGMcnA

He is holding out for you, and yes, it is worth waiting for. 

Courtney