You can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies. 1 Corinthians 6:13b

Sarah Walsh Landini was a 20-something, unmarried Christian who abstained from sex.  But at age 23, she didn’t, and one month later she was pregnant.  “The Bible says not to do it,” she says, “but I think, for most people, they need more than that…we want to know why. And most of the time folks aren’t prepared to answer the question why.”[1]

We could simply dismiss or judge Sarah Landini for asking for more.  But God says, “Let’s talk together,” (Isaiah 1:18) so addressing Sarah’s point is important.

It all starts with our bodies and the way we view them.  First and foremost, if we choose to become followers of Jesus, they’re not ours.  Purchasing our bodies was devastatingly expensive to God.  He has the rights to them, but Jesus calls His followers to give, to surrender ourselves, to follow Him.  So, what we do with our bodies matters and it matters a lot.

As the Message paraphrase puts 1 Corinthians 6:16-20, “There’s more to sex than skin on skin… Don’t you see that you can’t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? …God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body.”

Living with sexual integrity is one of the main ways that we respond to Jesus and His grace.  The message of the cross, this way of surrender, will always be foolishness to the culture around us, but this is the way of power. (1 Corinthians 1:18)

 

Resource reading: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

[1] Banks, A. M. (2012, April 23). Facing Facts, Evangelicals Say It’s Time To Really Talk About Sex. HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/evangelicals-sex-frank-talk_n_1443062.