Don’t Let Hollywood Teach You Children about Sex

By:  Donna Martin

Recently Mike and I rented a movie that I knew was probably not appropriate to watch.  I had seen the previews, but I wanted to see how the parents in the movie dealt with this situation.  It was supposed to be a comedy about parents who find out their daughters have made a “sex pact”.  The girls had agreed that on prom night they would all three lose their virginity.  However, their parents find out about their plans and most of the movie is about how the parents try to stop their daughters’ plans.  I was not surprised that Hollywood’s answer to this situation was a disappointment to me. Near the end of the movie when one dad finally intervenes in his daughter’s plans she asks her dad, “What’s so wrong with sex?”  The dad looked puzzled and did not have an answer for his daughter.  I felt sad and frustrated at the same time.  How many dads today are in the same situation?  Why? The answer is because many people today have no basis for why we should do the right and moral thing.  Without the Word of God in our lives, there is no reason not to sin.  If the dad had been a man of God, a man of integrity, he might have given his daughter this answer, “Sex is a beautiful thing.  There is nothing wrong with sex.  However, God planned for sex to be an act that occurs only in marriage between a man and a woman.  Sex was created for married people.  Outside of marriage sex can lead to pain, guilt, and even disease.”

Many people are deceived by sin today.  It looks good, it’s fun, but in the end it will cause misery and heartache.  As Christian parents we need to help our children avoid sin as much as possible.  The best way to do this is by reading the Bible with our children and talking about God’s plan for our lives.  As Christians we are not just honest because that’s the right thing to do.  We do it because the Bible tells us to be honest and we want to please God.  We are not faithful to our spouse just because we have to be.  We are faithful to our spouse because the Bible tells us to be faithful and we want to please God.  We need to help our children realize that God’s plan for our lives is not a set of rules meant to keep us from having fun.  Instead God’s plan for our lives is a plan that will help us live an abundant and meaningful life.  And following his plan will help us avoid a lot of unnecessary heartache.

Does that mean that as Christian parents we never sin?  Of course not, none of us is perfect and one sin is not greater than another.  However, the Bible does tell us that sexual sin is different.  In 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 the Bible tells us, “Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

Satan is full of delusions.  Arm your children against his schemes.  Talk to them about sex before they get to prom night!  Of course, our children ultimately have to make their own decisions.  Those decisions may not be good ones, but God is a loving, forgiving God.  As parents we need to exhibit God’s grace to our children.  When they fail, we need to be there to pick them up, dust them off, and help them back on the right track.

It’s not an easy job, being a parent, but BE a parent.  Your child needs your guiding hand.

The Martins are available to present “Happy Together” Marriage Enrichment Events for churches and organizations.  To schedule an event call Michael at 940-735-1515. They are certified “Prepare/Enrich” Facilitators and are available to work with couples on an individual basis using the “Prepare/Enrich Assessment.”  They publish a weekly “Happy Together” Blog about family and marriage issues.  You can order copies of their new books Dancing With Death and 366 Tidbits We Have Learned in 14,610 Days of Marriage, read, and subscribe to their “Happy Together” Blog by logging onto the Martin’s website at www.happytogethermarriages.com