Purity

Every quarter, the Southwest students take roughly 10 classes. The wives meet Monday nights for their own set of courses. This quarter our class was about how to teach Bible class and it was very helpful. We were all required to create our own lesson and present it to our classmates and teacher. I taught the high school girls age group and I chose to teach on purity.

Purity is something I really care about. I wish everyone held marriage and sex up to be as sacred as God designed it. I’ll try not to get too lengthy, but I want to share some things that I taught.

Statistics about Americans:

1. According to the latest census, the average age of the American man’s first marriage is 28.4 and average woman’s first marriage is 26.5.
2. According to the book “American Sexual Behavior”, in 2002 the average age for men and women to lose their virginity was 17.
3. According to the Center for Disease Control, in 2009, the estimated number of diagnoses of HIV infection in the 40 states with confidential name-based HIV infection reporting was 42,011.
4. The CDC estimates 1.2 million people in the U.S. are living with HIV infection. One in five (20%) of those people are unaware of their infection.

God planned for sex to come only with marriage.

• From Genesis 2:18, 21-25 we learn that God created Adam and Eve for each other and each other only.

• 2 Samuel 11 and 12 tells us the story of David and Bathsheba and the consequences they faced because of their sin.

• Hebrews 13:4 “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.”

According to this last verse, are we supposed to sleep with someone before we’re married? No. Are you sinning if you do? Yes.

I’m grateful that God plainly laid out his plan for marriage and sex for us. He knows what is best, so I do my best to follow his design.