Journey of Love – Behaves
For me, that word “behave” conjures up visions of my mom,
when I was a kid, threatening me with punishment if I did not do as she
told. What would that have to do with
love? The very first part of 1
Corinthians 13:5 tells us in modern translations that love is not rude or does
not behave rudely. That could be taken a
number of ways so I looked up the meaning of the original word there and it
literally means that love behaves itself sexually. That is to say, love waits for marriage to consummate.
Years ago, I heard a wedding sermon speak of sex outside of marriage
being like a screen door on a submarine.
When you don’t have that commitment and you dive into such intimacy, you
threaten to sink the relationship.
Marriage provides a water tight seal.
That is not a very popular idea today. The reasoning on the subject ranges from “if
it feels good do it,” to “we need to find out if we are compatible.” You should know that sex is the deepest form of
intimacy and when it is taken outside of the commitment of marriage, that
intimacy is weakened. In other words, in
order to have the strongest marriage, such intimacy needs to be reserved until
after the wedding.
For those of you who say that is impossible, I can say that,
while it is not easy, it is quite possible.
Janet and I have been committed to purity from the beginning. Because of that, we have set ourselves up to
succeed in this area. I have also gone
into every dating experience of my single life with that same dedication. I look forward to a more intimate marriage
because of it.
For those of you singles, I strongly recommend a dedication
to purity. Go into every dating
experience sharing that dedication. If your
date does not have that same desire, move on to someone else. In the meantime, take advantage of the time
to get closer to the Lord.
For you married people, first I would say, keep that
intimacy within the marriage. That is to
say, steer away from porn or anything else that would seek to satisfy that
intimacy outside of each other. If you
need to, seek counseling. I can tell you
from personal experience, do not wait until it is too late. Trust me; counseling is much cheaper than
divorce!
Now, when I admonish you to “behave yourselves” you know
what I mean. ;-)
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