Name Above All Names

I know when things get frustrating, we may say "God" out of habit. But the thing is we are saying it in vain. Lets remember it's not just a name, and it's not just a saying. It's a name above all names, its more than a saying, it's more than a name.

What's the big deal with abstinence?

As the mastermind of deception, Satan's cunning myths about sexual intimacy are easy to mistake for common sense.

• "I would never buy a car without test driving it first!"
• "If we are both Christians, and we really love each other, then I don't think God sees it as a sin"
• "I'm a teenager now, so what I do with my heart and body won't really affect my life as a married adult."

DO NOT BE DECEIVED!

If you have ever wondered deep down if anyone genuinely loved you, rest assured - it is God! He knew you even before your own mother did! "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb" (Psalm 139:13 ESV). You are a custom-made piece that God formed together with His very own hands! It's safe to say, then, that He knows every system of your body, every faculty of your mind and every dream of your heart.

So, we can agree then that someone who sincerely loves us wouldn't put up fences to ruin our happiness or fun. Rather, God puts up the fences for your protection because He knows the dangers of going beyond. Take this "fence" of sexual abstinence, for example. How strange is it that even physical disease can attack your body if you commit sexual sin with someone who has had other diseased partners. According to Planned Parenthood, half of Americans will get a sexually transmitted disease at some point. You are not immune to this! Your body is designed to have one pure partner, for life, and when you "jump the fence," you might find the life-altering consequence of disease.

God designed your body as well as your mind and heart; He knows how you tick! Many physical diseases can be treated with medication, but how can you heal a broken heart whose pieces are scattered amongst partner after partner? God knows that if you commit sexual sin before you are married, the guilt, pain and memories can stick with you for the rest of your life. He begs you not to hurt yourself, saying, "Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body" (1 Corinthians 6:18 ESV).

Our hearts are like a programmable memory chip; once we have sex with someone, the memories are engraved. If you engrave a teenage boyfriend or girlfriend on your heart, then what will you do when it does not work out and one day you marry another? How can this be fair to your future mate? Do not underestimate how difficult it is to undo the memory.

I guarantee you that you will never regret respecting yourself enough to say "No" to sexual intimacy before marriage. Explain your boundaries to the person you are dating, and if he or she is not in agreement with you, let that person go. You have an incredible, fulfilling life to live with your future mate one day, and God does not want anything, especially the pain of the past, holding you back!