The Battle of Purity

Have you ever felt like you were alone? I'm sure you have, but I mean morally speaking.

As I've been growing up, there were plenty of girls who said almost the same things I do. That they would abstain from sex until marriage. "Yeah, sure, absolutely! I'm a nice Christian girl, that's what Jesus wants me to do. Besides, my boyfriend would never ask me to have sex, and if he did, I would break up with him."

That's what they all said, and I believed them. I trusted that they were going to carry out that commitment. I thought they were in earnest, and perhaps they were.

Then we all got older. Some of them actually faced those situations we talked about, but they didn't respond the way they thought they would. They gave in. They crossed that line that they made for themselves. First a little, then a little more, then a little more... finally, they end up pregnant.

I saw it just yesterday. A girl that I knew a while back walked into the salon right next door to my store, and she was obviously pregnant. It broke me heart. She's not the only one, I have lots of friends who broke their resolution. I know a guy that got his girlfriend pregnant. His sister also got married because she was carrying another man's child. Another guy I know jeoperdized his relationship with his family for a girl he was sleeping with. A couple of weeks ago, I caught a friend of mine kissing a complete stranger.

These are all people I know from way back. Kids I played with, kids in my Sunday school, kids I went on mission trips with. Some of them were the children of church staff members, not that that makes a difference.

I think about this and I wonder, is it just my generation. Are we all just bad kids? Worse than our parents? What on earth is wrong with us? But no, it's not just my generation. I've been discovering this. Friends of mine who are older women, both inside the church and out have been telling me that they "had to get married."

Doesn't anyone wait? Am I the only one doing this? Not to say that I'm perfect. I'm far from that. I've done my fair share of detestable things, and I don't expect them to be perfect either. I know that it's human and that everyone makes mistakes. I do want to help people. I don't want to judge them, or push them away just because they have a different problem than I do. Perhaps I don't have this problem because I've never been faced with the situation before.

A few years ago, I don't know what I would have done if a guy asked it of me. I honestly don't. This is a good reason for the "No Dating Till 16" rule. I guess I still don't know what I would do. I've known strong Christians who have fallen, so I'm not going to be so cocky as to say I'm sure of myself, but I honestly think that I have a better chance of passing that test now than I ever have before. I don't think I would give in. I pray that God gives me strength if I ever have to encounter that.

Anna