Compelled by the Gospel, PPL equips Presbyterians to champion human life at every stage.
YOUTH SEXUALITY SERIES
COUNSEL FOR YOUTH
Compelled by the Gospel, PPL equips Presbyterians to champion human life at every stage
PPL YOUTH SEXUALITY SERIES
COUNSEL FOR YOUTH
By PPL Board Member Dr. Patricia Lee June
September 2019
God gives us two sources of revelation: special revelation through scripture and general revelation to the world around us - the world of science. This applies not only to belief in God, but also to many other things, including sexuality. From scripture we know that we are created male and female by God who created marriage between one man and one woman as a lifelong commitment to provide for companionship, for mutual help, for the procreation and raising of godly children; as the place for ”knowing” each other (a term scripture uses for sexual intercourse).
What do we learn from science? What are the benefits of limiting sex to marriage (1 man + 1 woman)?
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US families that finish school, get a job, marry, and then have children have a less than 2% poverty rate.
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Divorce is more common after premarital sex; Cohabitation has a higher separation rate including cohabitation followed by marriage than marriage without cohabitation.
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Children do best when raised by a married father and mother (school success, less crime and incarceration, less premarital sex, less behavior problems, less alcohol and drug abuse, less physical and sexual abuse)
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The rate of abuse is higher in cohabitating relationships than in divorce.
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Cohabitating men earn less and spend more on themselves than married men
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Married men and women live longer and are healthier
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Children are far more likely to die in abortion if their parents are cohabitating (and abortion also carries health risks for the mother and emotional risks for both parents).
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Married men and women are happier
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And, of course, sex with anyone who has had sex with someone else previously carries risk of numerous diseases – this includes oral sex and even deep kissing.
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Premarital sex increases depression and the rate of suicide
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Hormones released during sex increase bonding and trust, especially in women, even if the man is abusive to her/untrustworthy.
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Hormones also give a thrill, making sex addicting
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Watching TV shows with sexual innuendos increases the risk of young teens having sex
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The only 100% sure method of preventing pregnancy is total sexual abstinence
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Many hormonal birth control methods and IUDs interfere with implantation, starving the developing embryo. This is also true of the morning after pill.
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The rectum is designed to remove excess water from its contents. Its thin lining is easily torn if subjected to trauma such as sex and thus extremely susceptible to sexually transmitted infections.
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The highest risk years for non-marital sex, unwed pregnancies, and abortion are the college years (20-24 more than 18-19)
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Every cell in the body, except eggs and sperm, is either XY (males) or XX (females) from brain to toes and determines whether a person is a boy or a girl. When a child thinks that they are the “wrong gender”, if confirmed in their biological sex through natural puberty, 80-98% will accept their biological sex by adulthood. Those affirmed as being of the opposite gender and given puberty blockers and cross sex hormones will not accept their biological sex and will be sterile and at higher risk for heart disease. Those given sex-reassignment surgery and hormones as adults in Sweden (a country very accepting of this) had a suicide rate 30 years later of 19 times that of the general population.
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Sexual orientation desires can change over a lifetime, though not all who desire change succeed. Change is common in the teen years. There is much popular denial of these facts, but valid scientific studies demonstrate this.
It isn’t surprising that our Creator knows what is best for us and that science concurs.
A potential spouse who has the fruit of the Spirit, self-control, to wait for marriage, is more likely to be faithful after marriage, to show self-control in spending on himself, drinking, etc. If he loves you, he will want what is best for you and your future children.
When lustful thoughts/images invade your brain, whether heterosexual or homosexual, “actively think about other things." Phil 4:8
Look each other in the eye. Do not wear clothing that will incite lust in others (realizing that what is considered sexually provocative varies with culture). Do not make sexual comments or jokes. Keep to public areas. Limit touch to shoulders and arms and head and kisses to cheeks, forehead and if serious to lips. If a touch is sexually stimulating, it is a sign to back off.
While some promote oral or rectal sex as a “safe” way to avoid pregnancy, both are sex and both carry all the other risks of sex – disease and emotional fallout. God did not design the rectum for sex. It is easily torn and has a high risk for disease and other medical complications.
What if you have already engaged in sexually stimulating activities or sexual intercourse? What you have done carries a certain amount of risk and that risk cannot be undone, though repenting and ceasing to engage in more non-marital sex will eliminate further risk. No longer reinforcing the brain connections formed by premarital sex will eventually prune them. And remember I Cor 10:13
Listen to your parents. If what they tell you is at odds with what Scripture says, then you must follow God, but otherwise pay heed to their commands and advice. Most of the time they forbid actions because they fear they will be harmful to you, and they have more experience and usually more wisdom than you do. They may have made mistakes (sinned) in ways they hope you avoid. If they do not like your girlfriend/boyfriend, they could be wrong, but their vision may not be obscured by the bonding hormones produced by sexual stimulation. Stop, think, and proceed only with caution.
As you head to college, again compare what you hear from friends and professors with what Scripture says and follow God.
Sex is private, and as the Bible says, a “knowing” of each other wherein two become one. If you come to your spouse with no previous history, where this is a new thing just between the two of you, you will not regret it.
Dr. June is a practicing Pediatrician in Moultrie, GA. Dr. June graduated from Emory University School of Medicine in 1975 and has been in practice for 44 years. She completed a residency at University of Alabama Hospital, is certified in Internal Medicine and is affiliated with Colquitt Regional Medical Center. Dr. June serves as a board member of the Amerian College of Pediatrics as well as Presbyterians Protecting Life.
