Pondering Pre-Marital Purity

If you were directed here to read about The Fault in our Stars ... scroll down to the next post :)

The teaching in the video you are hopefully about to watch -- if you click on it -- is pretty radical.   I stumbled across it recently and the simplicity of it blew me away.  Why, I wondered, was I hearing this for the first time at age 38???  I've read 1 Timothy many times ... but apparently I kept missing something or I read it too fast ... or something ... especially the purity part.  Anyway, I think David Platt is the first pastor/teacher I've ever heard expound on this verse ... and maybe this will be new and insightful for you too ...

This short video details a boundary "line" for intimacy ... "how far is too far" ... and it entails something highly uncommon, unusual, and counter-cultural.  Many will find it unreasonable, maybe even weird.  Please watch it anyway ... and you just might discover that the idea is GENIUS.  Why???  Because it is from the very Word of God.  This "line" is not based on feelings ... which are fickle.  And it is not based on opinions ... which vary from person to person.  Furthermore, it is not some arbitrary line that might fluctuate depending on the circumstances.  (No.  It wouldn't change even if you have cancer or some other terminal illness as in The Fault in our Stars.)  This "line" of purity and protection is found in the perfect and unchanging Word of God.  I feel like I should add a Hallelujah here ... so ... Hallelujah :)  By the way ... it's only a few minutes long ... you don't even need a snack ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH7SeZa6gr4

Even teens need (and often are grateful for) boundaries.  This also reminded me of a radio show I heard recently on Family Life Today where Mr. Rainey was sharing about how he would interview his daughters' suitors.  During the conversation, Mr. Rainey would tell the guy something like ... "I need to ask you to keep your hands and lips off my daughter.  She might end up being your wife ... but she might not."  Then he went on to talk about how the guy almost always seemed to appreciate the boundary.  There was no guessing; they didn't have to figure it out for themselves.

Isn't this GREAT NEWS to share with our kids??? I hope to show this to my kids (more than once!) when the time is right.  Yes, they will "really like" someone at some point ... and likely find someone they love and want to marry ... but until one IS MARRIED ... this other person ... this someone ... is NOT their spouse (and potentially might end up being someone else's spouse).

Also interesting and related ... several days ago (after this post was already done and while I was in the hesitating-to-publish stage) ... I was skimming through Facebook and noticed one of my friends liked an article about Jill Duggar (of the famous Duggar family) getting married and it mentioned how they had saved their first kiss for marriage.  So ... apparently ... this level of purity is not completely outside the realm of possibility :)

1 Timothy 5 : 1-2
Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers, older women as others, younger women as sisters, with all purity.

Psalm 119 : 9-11
How can a young man (person) keep his way pure?  By keeping it according to Your word.  With all my heart I have sought You; Do not let me wander from Your commandments.  Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.