The above is God�s plan. It�s not promoted in our public schools. It isn�t accepted among many of our youths peers or their parents. It would be laughed at on MTV and is hardly ever (if ever) seen on any TV show being produced today.
Parents, do you want your children to be virgins when they marry? Your answer to this question will probably have a great bearing on the fact of whether they are or aren�t. Your instruction, encouragement and protection can make a tremendous difference in the decisions your child makes toward purity. Let�s consider these things:
1. Remind our youth who owns them. They were bought by the blood of Jesus ( 1 Corinthians 6:18-20), therefore it isn�t �their body.�
2. Make sure they know how far is �too far� before they ever leave for the date. In the heat of a moment is no time for a teenager to try to make this decision.
3. don't allow children to date too soon. The earlier children date the more likely they are to be sexually active. It isn�t fair to children to expect them to make decisions and handle pressure that isn�t child�s play. This is why God gave children parents�to protect them from such.
4. Teach your children how to say �no�. Many girls report they didn�t want to be sexually active, but they didn�t know how to say �no�. Let�s raise our children with backbone and conviction. The stronger spiritually they are the less this will happen.
5. Teach them God�s word; �Flee fornication.� Hold your children accountable to God�s law. A boy and girl spending time alone in a house is foolish on their part and their parents part. Many sexual activities take place between 3�5 in the afternoon among latch key kids. Parents, we are responsible for our children until they are adults.
Fathers, ... bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord ( Ephesians 6:4).
The above article appeared in the Mt. Juliet Messenger on April 17, 2005.
by David Shannon
(The first part of this article encouraged parents to instruct their children why God would say �flee fornication�.)
6. don't date fornicators. Paul encourages Christians to not keep company with fornicators ( 1 Corinthians 5:9) and to remember that bad company erodes good morals ( 1 Corinthians 15:33). Too often Christians say, �I can change them.� Dating is not an effective form of evangelism. If we want to change someone, study the Bible with them. If they don't change, definitely don't date them!
7. Love isn�t measured by sex. One says, �If you love me you will have sex with me.� That is a lie. Fornicators will not enter heaven. Love for someone is wanting what is good for them, not what will condemn them ( 1 Corinthians 13:5-6). We must teach our children the radical difference in love and lust.
8. The price isn�t worth it. It breaks our relationship with God. Separation from God to be joined to a sinner, isn�t worth it ( 1 Corinthians 6:15). Fornication steals our virginity to never return it. What is given up in a few minutes can never be regained. At any time a virgin can become a fornicator, but a fornicator can never become a virgin.
9. Fornication can produce unwanted pregnancies. Many teens who fornicate become pregnant. There are usually four outcomes and all are painful. 1. Abortion (sin) 2. Unwanted marriage (foolish) 3. Single teenage mother (difficult for mother and child) 4. Place the baby for adoption (wisest decision of all in most cases, but painful for the mother).
10. We reap what we sow ( Galatians 6:7). The spiritual consequences of a fornicator who doesn�t seek God�s forgiveness is condemnation ( 1 Corinthians 6:9-10). Sexually transmitted diseases are painful and deadly. The trust factor between spouses is usually weakened when one spouse has been promiscuous even if it was before marriage. Relationships are sought through the wrong motives by fornicators causing them to not experience pure love for the right reasons.
Parents ask, �what could I say which would encourage my children to remain sexually pure?� A lot! Let�s start talking.