Sexuality is a natural, God-given desire. Fed up with his timing, we may carelessly pursue sexual pleasure without his blessing. For those of us who are single and have been waiting and praying for a spouse for a long time, the danger is to doubt that God cares and to become resentful. Real happiness comes when we decide to find pleasure in the relationship God has given us and commit to making sex pleasurable for our spouse. God does not intend faithfulness in marriage to be boring, lifeless, dull, and void of pleasure. Sex is a gift God gives to married people for their mutual enjoyment. “Be happy, yes, rejoice in the wife of your youth” (Proverbs 5:18, TLB). Why should we follow God’s laws about sex? Ask God to help you change your desires and your thoughts before you are drawn into sinful acts. When you notice that you are attracted to a person of the opposite sex or are preoccupied with thoughts about them, your desires may lead you to sin, and that sin could be tragic to your health and relationships. Regard lust as a warning sign of danger ahead. To be faithful to your spouse with your body but not your mind is to break the trust so vital to a strong marriage. Jesus emphasized that if the act is wrong, then so is the intention. But Jesus said that even entertaining the desire to have sex with someone other than your spouse is mental adultery and a sin. The Old Testament law says that it is wrong for a person to have sex with someone other than his or her spouse ( Exodus 20:14). God considers mental adultery as serious as physical adultery. “But I say: Anyone who even looks at a woman with lust in his eye has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28, TLB). God wants to protect us from damaging ourselves and others, so he offers to help us when we are feeling lonely or sexually frustrated. Christians who seek to adhere to God’s commandments concerning sexuality are sometimes looked down on for being kill-joys or puritanical. Marriage is often shown as confining and joyless. In movies and on television, sex outside marriage is treated as a normal, even desirable part of life. Sexual immorality is a temptation that is always before us. The power of sexual sin must never be underestimated. When you sin this sin it is against your own body” (1 Corinthians 6:18, TLB). No other sin affects the body as this one does. 'That is why I say to run from sexual sin. God’s rules do not forbid good, clean fun rather, they protect us from destroying ourselves through unwise actions or by running ahead of God’s timetable. They may end up emotionally scarred and incapable of having an intimate, healthy sexual relationship if or when they do get married. Those who have pre-marital intercourse are giving away what God intends them to give only to their marriage partner. The partners themselves, even if they escape disease and unwanted pregnancy, may lose their ability to fulfill commitments, to feel sexual desire, to trust, or to be entirely open with one another. Some people argue that it is alright to break God’s law against sexual sin if nobody gets hurt, but in truth, somebody always gets hurt.

Sex outside of marriage always hurts somebody “But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys his own soul” (Proverbs 6:32 TLB).

It has devastated countless lives and destroyed families, churches, communities, and even nations. God knows its power to destroy us physically and spiritually. They bring confusion and tear down the climate of respect, trust, and integrity so essential for solid marriages and secure children. Sins involving sex are not innocent dabblings in forbidden pleasures, as they are so often portrayed, but powerful destroyers of relationships. Paul, in Colossians 3:5-8, recognizes the importance of strong rules about sex for believers, because sexual sins have the power to disrupt and destroy the church. Sexual sin is powerful and destructive, so it makes sense that a loving God would want to keep us safe. Why does the Bible have so many laws about sexual behavior? Is God trying to limit our sexual expression and pleasure? When we look at God's instructions, it's clear that he sets boundaries around the gift of sex in order to keep us healthy physically and whole relationally.

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