“But do you see who’s being forgotten in the equation of ‘two consenting adults’? The almighty Creator of their two bodies.”
“Learning to recognize true affection can be difficult, especially if you’ve learned to equate sex with love…Do you want to demonstrate your passion for them with more than words? Then guard against sin, fight lust, and refuse to arouse them sexually.” and that came to life as I read a story posed about temptation and the closing thought “Even though there was a part of her heart that wanted me to stay, she felt my love for her as I turned my back on temptation.” That, my friends, is love–to say to your fiance, I love you too much to let evil ruin our relationship by starting us down a road of temptation and unsatisfiable lust, and as much as I don’t want to do this, I know its what’s good for you, so I will anyway, even though part of me doesn’t want to.
“God not only wants to maximize a couple’s enjoyment of sex in marriage, He also wants them to learn to trust Him *together*. When a Christian man and woman systematically deny their own physical desires as an expression of mutual faith and submission to Jesus Christ, they are laying a solid spiritual foundation for their marriage. They’re learning to fight sin as a team. They’re learning to care for each other, pray for each other, and challenge each other.”
Lawlessness vs. Legalism. To be lawless is to throw away God’s commands and live for the self, do whatever you want with no concern for righteousness, no concern for others. Obviously, that’s bad. Legalism is said to be just as bad, following rules to the letter, rather than to the intent, placing the guidance not on God, but on human rule. Yet, at the same time, we can’t throw away “rules”–like them or not.
Rules are like the yellow line in the center of the road, the analogy was drawn. “We need the yellow lines on a road even though they can’t stop a car from swerving into the wrong lane and having a head-on collision.” a vague definition of righteousness quickly leads to compromise. “You don’t need [yellow lines painted in your relationship] when you’re feeling strong and spiritually sharp–you need them for the moments when your resistance is weak and your sense of conviction dull. In those moments of weakness you don’t want to start having to decide what you should and shouldn’t do. If you make your choices then, you’ll wind up in compromise.”
Specific guidelines for your physical relationship can never replace your humble reliance on the Holy Spirit–but they can reinforce your biblical convictions”
LUST IS NEVER SATISFIED. Don’t waste your time chasing it, it will only bring your destruction. profound to think how true it is that lust cannot be satisfied, it is only replaced for a craving for more or worse or additional.
Also, sometimes we forget we need to pray every time we feel tempted for God to ease our temptation and praise him for how wonderful it is that he could give us such strong feelings (desire?) so that when we ARE married it is absolutely a wonderful gift (what good of a gift would it be if it weren’t desirable??)…and ask for patience…