I wasn't always a Christian. Now I'll admit that if you were hanging out with me before I became a Christian you were probably into something you shouldn't have been in to. I lived by no one else's rules but my own, and did whatever I wanted to do whenever I wanted to do it, not thinking about others, the consequences, or the future. Most of all, I did it all without thinking about my relationship with God. Up until I was 28, if we were talking about God, it was me smashing on Him or even blaming Him for whatever was happening in my life. I can remember a few conversations I had with people who believed in God and they left our conversation pretty upset. Well, things have changed. The truth is I am not the person you remember. God changed me. I want to tell you how. I really want you to listen because I think it will open your mind to something that has been there all along that you just haven't been able to see. Today, for part 1 I want to talk about sex. No, not Salt n Pepper, but the act of. I destroyed God's intent for what a healthy sexual relationship should look like. I didn't go to church as a kid, and if I did I would have gone to Catholic Church. I am unfamiliar with the way Catholic Church operates and the values and morals that they try to pass along to the common people. I can't tell you that if I went to church that I would NOT have had sex before I was married. I can't. What I can tell you is that I did have sex before I was married. My first time was my freshman year of high school. It was my first real relationship where I actually cared about someone besides myself. I had friends that were "going out" with girls just to have sex, but I knew this girl for a long time and I always had a crush on her. We dated for 6 months before we had sex. From there...it all went down hill. I was a pretty popular kid and people knew my name and knew me for other reasons...that we will talk about another time. I eventually ruined my first relationship and every other relationship because of sex. To me, that was the only reason to be in a relationship, and that attitude was the reason I could not make a relationship work. For a long time...I was an idiot.
Here it is. In January of 2009, I gave my life to Jesus Christ and had a public baptism. I was baptized in front of 1,000 + people at a church in
Back to the sex talk. Like I said earlier, I destroyed God's view of sex. There are no excuses. Now that I'm married, and I have children, and life has now got a hold of me with both hands, personally, my sex life has changed. It has more meaning. Sex before getting married had no meaning. It was a mindless action that was done just to be done, because that's what society told me. Think about this for a second. If you don't have sex, and you stay a virgin until you get married, wouldn't that add to the magic of being with the person you want to spend the rest of your life with? Wouldn't it make the first time even more meaningful then just having sex to have sex? I couldn't tell you. My wife and I had sex before we married. It was still very memorable, and I remember the first time like it was yesterday, but we didn't do it the way God intended. I told you earlier that I have no excuses, well, I guess I lied. I feel like I need to explain myself. I wasn't a believer before I got married. I was still living by my own rules, still doing whatever I wanted, still drinking a lot, still doing a lot of things I shouldn't have been doing. I never really thought about all of this “waiting to have sex” stuff until I decided that I wanted to give my life to Christ and start living with a greater purpose. So, I was baptized, I declared to the world that Jesus was my lord and savior and I went on everyday after living with new direction. And now, I feel like I missed out on 1 of the most meaningful, beautiful, pure acts that God intended for mankind. So, where do we stand as men and women, has young men and young women? It's up to you. God gave us the ability to choose. It is up to us as men and women, as young men and young women to obtain as much information as possible about the things we have to make decisions on. Obtain information. Let me say that one more time because this is where I failed. GATHER AS MUCH INFORMATION AS YOU CAN BEFORE AN IMPORTANT DECISION, any decision at that. Giving your virginity to someone is the most important decision you will be faced with as a young man or woman. Once it is gone, there is no getting it back. You will remember the first time for the rest of your life. Why would you not want that memory to be with the person you decide to spend the rest of your life with?
I received an email today and in that email there was a link to nationwide report. The report said that
Now here is my opinion, I don't think Rhode Islanders have given up on God, I think have given up on church. The early church in the Bible was not formed in big, high peaked buildings. It was formed in small groups that usually met in someone's home. In these homes relationships were formed, people prayed for each other, information and knowledge was shared so people could have support in making the difficult decisions of life. Does that sound like a group you would like to be a part of? It does to me.
When faced with a difficult decision, seek counsel, obtain information, and pray. I promise that God is listening.
No comments:
Post a Comment