We finished our 4 week series called "YouPick" this past week with the students. It was a blast! Students submitted questions about life, God, the Bible, relationships and more during the previous month. We jumped into four of the best questions for the month of August.
We answered some of these questions: How do I know the Bible/Christianity is true? Is Christianity a religion or relationship? What about dating and purity?
I learned so much through studying and stretching myself to understand God's Word and how it applies to everyday life. Students are exciting to be around as they hunger for truth in this postmodern culture.
Here are a few notes from last night's message:
Christian students experience pressures to trade purity for popularity. God's plan for relationships is the only way to find lifetime fulfillment and peace.
1. Guard your heart - Proverbs 4:23 “Guard your heart, for out of it flows the wellspring of life”
- I shared an illustration on the “Leeches” of life. One of those are "obsessive love" that is built upon emotion and not on a commitment to life/purity.
- Obsessive love - “perfect for me!”...."We are always happy!"..."I’ll never be happy unless we’re together forever!”
- Pornography: It destroys God's plan for a pure view of beauty. It destroys lives, marriages, and families. (Matthew 5:27,28, Mark 7:21-23).
- Emotional Porn (fantasizing for false emotional fulfillment)
2. Guard your actions
What do I wear? 1Tim. 2:9 I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety...Does my clothes draw attention to my body or my eyes?
Love vs. Lust - Love is pure and patient. Lust only takes and is never satisfied.
God's grace never quits giving and will restore and forgive past mistakes. The goal is to surrender to God all relationships and be sure that they are built upon loving Jesus.
The bottom line: Marriage is God’s ONLY provision for sexual fulfillment and it is worth the wait