Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Middle School Camp - Wednesday Morning Session

This is a long one so please bear with me.

I have to say that I was a little apprehensive about this session. It was titled "The Battle for Sexual Purity." After hearing what Greg had to say I thought he did a great job. He used Genesis 1:27,28,31 and 2:25 for the texts he was speaking from.

Greg started out by saying "If you want to live legendary lives you need to be sexually pure." Speaking against the negativity that has become prevalent about sex he said that "Sex is great! Sex is tremendous! Sex is exciting! It is a creation of God!" God created Adam and Eve and said that what He had created was very good and then He gave them this command "Be fruitful and multiply." Only God could have created something as great as sex.

Sex has a proper place and it is within the relationship where a man and woman have committed themselves fully to one another under the institution of marriage. Outside of marriage, sex gets people into trouble. It causes pain, anxiety, stress and so on...

I Cor. 6:13, 18-20 warn us of sexual immorality. Paul exhorts the Corinthians to flee from sexual immorality which also means to flee from premarital sex. Sex outside of marriage causes more pain then pleasure.

God's desire is for sex to be experienced at its very best. He never intended people to feel dirty, guilty, cheap and so on as a result of sex.

What is sex? Sex is a progression. It starts with kissing, passionate kissing, touching outside the clothes, touching with no clothes and then intercourse. Sex is not just intercourse. Once a person starts down the road it becomes almost impossible to stop. God did not design our bodies to build up to the point of intercourse and stop. When this happens we get frustrated and become angry. Standards have to be set now so that we never go down that road until we are married.

He talked about the differences between men and women. Men are visually orientated. This is the reason why so many men have a problem with pornography. Pornography is devastating to men and actually enslaves men.

Because of the visual stimulation that God has built into men girls who dress to emphasize certain parts of their bodies will attract boys who are looking for those body parts. Girls are encouraged to attract the right kind of guys by emphasizing the inside instead of the outside. The physical should be secondary to the inside and actually reflect what is on the inside. He also challenged the guys to look girl’s in the eyes when they talk to them and resist the temptation to look at other parts.

He noted that guys reach their sexual peek at a young age (17 - 21). Girls don't reach their peek until between the ages of 25 and 45. Some guys have asked Greg why God has designed them to reach their peek before they are to experience sex in marriage. Greg's answer is "God wants to build men of character."

Girls on the other hand are touch orientated, but again, their sexual peek usually isn't obtained till later in life when they will be in a marriage. Guys need to respect girls and girls need to respect guys. By knowing how they are sexually aroused they can avoid doing things that can lead down the road (progression) of sex.

One question that Greg is often asked is "How far can I go?" Greg says this is a bad question. The question should be "How far away should I stay to preserve the excellence of sex?" He is of the opinion that teenagers should not date at all. He said the best alternative to dating that fulfills all a person's needs with out the pain and problems of sex is friendships. No where does it say that a good friendship is based upon being physical.

He ended by encouraging the teens to talk to their parents about standards and boundaries. You as parents have the most influence over your teenager. By being open with them and helping them through this period of their lives you will help you teen make the right choice to stay sexually pure until they are married. You will help them live legendary lives.

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