Sex sermons stimulate conversation: Moreland sees the value of abstinence

In this day and age, it seems almost taboo to wait until you’re married to have sex.

Honestly, when I was growing up I was only taught to be “protected” before having sex. There wasn’t even the idea put into my head of protecting my body for my future husband. As an apathetic Catholic, it was more fun to break the rules and say ten “Hail Mary”s than to hold back from something that just felt natural.

As I grew older and started dating my now-husband, I learned that he was “saving himself” for his future wife.
I thought to myself, “What the heck is wrong with this guy? Don’t you want to ‘test-drive the car before buying’? Are you sick or something?”

Four and a half years later, I look back and realize that meeting that “sick” man was the best thing that has ever happened in my life.

One thing I’ve learned since that fateful day is that the world does not have patience for sexual abstinence. Pastor Charlie Granade mentioned numerous times during “Solomon on Sex” that we are literally slammed with sexual temptation every day of our lives.
It’s all over the place, from the shortcomings of the media to an aisle of Wal-Mart.

Don’t get me wrong, I realize that we aren’t the first generation to invent sex. But I think we can all agree that social standards have certainly become more lax in the last five decades.

I’ve heard every excuse as to why a person should “live in the moment” and have sex regardless of marital status, be it “coping with the poor economy” to “sex being great for weight loss and healthy teeth.”

However, the best one I have heard is that sex is environmentally friendly because of the fact that you aren’t burning fuel driving to a movie or a restaurant when instead you are home with your partner burning the renewable resource of sex. Clever.

Today’s society has made it so easy to get contraceptives while unmarried. So, easy, in fact, that once you are married, you can no longer reap the benefits of receiving free contraceptives given by women’s centers and health departments.

As a financially strapped college student who is newly married, I know how difficult it can be to afford such luxuries, which is why this system isn’t necessarily conducive to maintaining a “sex free” life before marriage.

When you save yourself for marriage, you save yourself from the emotional heartache that comes with numerous break-ups and sexual partners. And this is not to mention all of the disgusting STD’s you could contract from a partner, or the worry each month that you’ve become pregnant with the starting quarterback’s baby. Add the emotional problems with the physical risks, and premarital sex is pretty scary.

When I met my “sick” husband and learned of his wishes to abstain from sex until marriage, I was secretly turned on.

This man was refraining from experiencing one of the most unbelievably awesome bodily functions known to man until the day he married his wife.

I was in shock that there was even a human being alive on this earth that believed in this way of living, but I also wasn’t about to let him get away!

Some people might think that married sex isn’t as good as single sex. Not true! There are numerous studies done that indicate married people have better sex, and more of it.

The concept that God created one man for one woman to share an intimate relationship for eternity shouldn’t be seen as a myth but as a reality.

Charlie Granade, pastor of Ridgeview Bible Church has been presenting a three-week sermon series entitled “Solomon on Sex” to students at Chadron State. Granade gives the sermons at 8:00 p.m. in the Student Center ballroom. The series began Oct. 27 and will conclude Wednesday.