Staying Pure...For Her
Introduction
By Travis K. McSherley

Jason looked out of the corner of his eye.  His beautiful girlfriend Brittany had her gaze fixed on the movie on the television screen.  It really didn't matter to Jason what the characters on the screen were doing; he hadn't been paying attention to the movie since it began.  He slowly turned his head toward Brittany.  She removed her eyes from the movie and they landed in Jason's.

Two hours earlier, Jason was on his way out the door of Brittany's house.  He knew he shouldn't have accepted the invitation to watch the movie at her apartment at this late hour, but it was just a movie, wasn't it?  Jason's conscience begged him to just keep walking out the door, but Brittany's soft smile drowned out any second thoughts.  As they sat down and cuddled on the couch, Jason still felt a little uneasy about the situation.  The twenty year-old Jason was a Christian, and he was confident that he would keep his virginity until his marriage (most likely to the woman on the couch beside him).  He feared, though, that the same judgment that kept him at Brittany's apartment might overpower him again.

And with each passing scene in the movie, the temptation pounded Jason like a hammer.  He continually studied his potential future wife, wondering if, under her seeming concentration to the screen, she were desiring him as much.  When their eyes finally met, the dam broke and the passion flooded both of them.

No one was around to prevent the young couple from giving up their purity to these lustful desires.  Their parents were hundreds of miles away.  The counsel from their pastors and teachers had been stuffed to the back of their minds.  And their own plans and boundaries had been overwhelmed and had given way to the desire of the moment.  The couple's hands, lips, and thoughts began to run free; but Jason finally stopped and looked for a moment into Brittany's hypnotic brown eyes.  Then he kissed her cheek, stood up, and walked toward the door.  "I love you," she called after him, her eyes beginning to water at the sin they had so nearly committed.

The power of the flesh is a powerful and sometimes frightening thing.  Even Christians (maybe especially Christians) must constantly be on our toes to guard our hearts from being overtaken by lust and greed.  Fortunately in this story, Jason was able to confront his lustful passion before it was too late.  Sadly, couples and singles all over the world, and specifically the United States, are being encouraged to give into desires for physical intimacy.  "If it feels good, go for it" seems to be a powerful motto for our age.  However, Paul repeatedly repeals this way of thinking, stressing that lustful thinking and lustful desire and lustful action contradict the teaching of the Holy Spirit.  "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would" (Galatians 5:17).  When we are feeding our own wants, we lead astray from the masterful plan God has set forth for our lives.

Now, I don't mean for this to necessarily turn into a big "wait till marriage or else" lecture.  I certainly encourage everyone to wait, but the point of this particular series of articles is to encourage you to wait for the right reasons.  Many books are out there that talk about the after-effects of premarital sex and the disasters that follow.  Here, however, I want to share why I'm saving myself for marriage and hopefully get everyone (men especially) thinking about all sides of the decision and why it is so important to resist these powerful temptations.  That said, we now return to the situation with Jason and Brittany.  Looking at the end result through the eyes of the world would lead one to ask: why did Jason leave?  If they loved each other, why didn't they go ahead and express that love?  If they were under the heat of passion, why would he stop?

Very legitimate questions I'd say.  While Jason could have suddenly realized the risks of pregnancy and diseases and emotional scarring, somehow I don't think those things were going through his head.  More likely, he suddenly remembered the reasons he remained a virgin in the first place and he sacrificed his passion and desire to remain pure.  It is a sacrifice too, isn't it?  As a single, it is extremely difficult at times to stay pure in heart, mind, and body.  So why do we bother?  Well, there really would be no reason to bother sacrificing that desire, unless we think about what a sacrifice is.  Whenever we make any kind of sacrifice, we give up something that is valuable to us, in this case a desire for physical intimacy.  But why do we give it up?  For our own gain?  I surely hope not.  When we make a sacrifice, we give up something for someone else.  And in relationships, that someone else is actually at least two persons: the girlfriend/boyfriend and God....

Jason smiled through his tears as he walked out of the apartment.  "I love you too.  That's why I'm going home."
 

Note: The characters, Jason and Brittany, used in this article were fictitious, as was the hypothetical situation described.