PURITY…Really?! (by Jennifer Maggio)
GUEST BLOG POST BY Jennifer Maggio. Each month, we will be posting a Guest Blog entry from leaders around the country with a passion for purity and teens. Watch for it the last Friday of the month. You are in for a treat with the lineup we have. Enjoy!
I am rarely a fan of television talk shows, but was flipping through the channels the other day and happened upon a talk show doing a piece of the now-popular “Purity Ball”. If you are not familiar, Purity Balls are held in hotels around the country, whereby a daughter in her early teens is escorted by her father to an evening event with music, dancing, a nice dinner, etc. The ball ends when the daughter takes a pledge to live her life purely and presents this pledge to her father, who also commits to help her in that journey.
As is the case with most media today, this talk-show host and much of the audience was tearing to shreds the guests who had signed the agreement and attended the events. I was infuriated. Comments such as “Purity isn’t a reality in 2012.” “Sex outside marriage is not wrong.” “Abstinence doesn’t work.” were followed with an eruption of applause from the audience.
The truth is, that is the feeling of most of today’s anything-goes society. Although 80% of the country identifies themselves as Christians, sex outside marriage has become a common occurrence and is glossed over as an event of little consequence. And, if I’m being totally transparent, I would tell you that I, at an earlier point in my own life, felt the same as most of the studio audience that day.
At 13 years old, I was the only virgin I knew! Everyone around me was having sex. I held out as long as I could, and mostly due to peer pressure, I became sexually active. For me, it was a horrific, embarrassing, and shameful experience. I resolved I would never do it again, but peer pressure persisted, and my relationship with the Lord dwindled. Before I even knew what was happening…..I was pregnant 4 times by 19 years old!
So the question becomes, does purity really matter?
- I would say that to the 51% of babies who are born to unwed mothers today who live in poverty, it matters.
- I would say that to the 13% of teens who will contract a sexual transmitted disease this year, purity matters.
- To the 22% of babies who were aborted last year (and to their moms), it matters.
- To the 15+ million single moms in the country, many of which are unwed single moms, purity matters.
- To the 500,000 teens who attempt suicide every year (many due to failed sexual relationships & the emotional distress that accompanies them), it matters!
The reality of sexual purity is simply this: Our Heavenly Father loves us more than we could ever know. His desire isn’t to deprive us of a life full of joy, fun, excitement, and happiness. Just as a parent’s desire isn’t to deprive their 4-year-old child of fun when disciplining them for running into the street after a ball, God knows what is best for us. When we wait and do things in his timing, his way, the long-term blessings far exceed any temporal joy.
Our January Guest Post comes from author and friend, Jennifer Maggio of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She is passionate about helping single moms and is considered one of the nation’s leading authorities on single parent and women’s issues. She is a critically acclaimed author and sought-after speaker who has appeared on more than 100 radio and television programs. You can find more information about Jennifer’s ministry (The Life of a Single Mom Ministries) by visiting her website at http://www.jennifermaggio.com.
Thanks Jennifer for sharing your heart for purity. You’re right, purity really does matter.