Dangers of Pre-marital Sex

Marriage [is] honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. Hebrew 13:4;

This is the age that evil is gaining more prominence; people, society, culture and civilization are making frantic attempt to rationalize and create excuses for premarital sex, but, it does not matter what people seem to have generally accepted, the position of the Almighty God can never change. God’s stand with respect to sex is very clear and unambiguous; sex is exclusively reserved for married couples, a man and a woman who are legitimately married. There is nothing sinful about sex if it takes place between couples within the confinements of marriage, but according to the scriptures, God’s wrath looms over everyone who engages in sex outside of marriage unless he or she repents immediately and quit.


Premarital sex comes with a number of consequences ranging from physical to emotional and spiritual. The first danger of sex before marriage is that, those who engage in it are breaking God’s law and order for marriage. God’s order for marriage as clearly stated in Genesis 2: 24 involves leaving, cleaving and becoming one flesh. Those who contravened this order according to the accounts of the bible were either burnt alive or stoned to death! In God’s order for marriage, becoming one flesh [sexual intercourse] is to take place only after the marriage union has been properly consummated following a clear cut leaving [separation consequent upon parental consent] and cleaving [as attested to by public declaration of intention of the couples to live together as husband and wife]. Engaging in sex before marriage is tantamount to building on a wrong spiritual foundation and this may have serious negative effects on the marriage. For those who have fallen victim of premarital sex, immediate genuine repentance is required to break the consequence of violating God’s law and repair the faulty foundation.


Another danger of sex before marriage is that it opens an avenue for distrust and suspicion in the marriage union. Apart from the loss of dignity, honour and self respect the couples would have enjoyed with themselves if they had kept their bodies pure, the chance of suspicion in their marriage will be very high. It may be difficult for those who slept with each other during courtship to trust each other when eventually married. Either of them may be faced with questions such as ‘How am I sure that he/she will be faithful to me if he/she could not discipline himself/herself during courtship?’ What is the assurance that he/she is not sleeping with others if he/she agreed to sleep with me?’ These and several other suspicious thoughts can be precipitated by sex before marriage, and could result in serious emotional stress, disturbance or damage, especially during times of pressures and misunderstandings.


In some cultures, the excuse of some ladies for engaging in premarital sex may stem from family or parental pressure to get pregnant before getting married for fear of not having a child after marriage. This is unfounded and ridiculous. There should never be any form of experiment before marriage. The truth is that only God knows what lies ahead of each and every one of us. It is foolish for any lady to think she can keep a man or secure her marriage by getting pregnant before marriage. The fact is, if a there is true love, there will never be any need for pregnancy before marriage as a bait to keep the man. If a man asks you to go to bed with him before getting married, it is doubtful whether he really loves you. What he wants is a child and not you!


Your testimony as a child of God is not what you can toy with. You cannot afford to trade off your future and destiny on the altar of premarital sex. The price could be greater than you can afford to pay! Temptations to go into sex may be intense but you are to resist and keep yourself pure until you are legitimately married. There is nothing to be in a hurry for; the man or the woman will soon be yours but until then, you are not permitted to uncover each other’s skirt and pants. The dignity of marriage is when both of you keep yourselves for each other. The scripture says that God will judge all fornicators and whoremongers it does not matter what the world has accepted as norm.

What should we learn from the life of Paul? Who was Paul?

Question: "What should we learn from the life of Paul? Who was Paul?"

 

Answer: There is much we can learn from the life of the Apostle Paul. Far from ordinary, Paul was given the opportunity to do extraordinary things for the kingdom of God. The story of Paul is a story of redemption in Jesus Christ and a testimony that no one is beyond the saving grace of the Lord. However, to gain the full measure of the man, we must examine his dark side and what he symbolized before becoming “the Apostle of Grace.” Paul’s early life was marked by religious zeal, brutal violence, and the relentless persecution of the early church. Fortunately, the later years of Paul’s life show a marked difference as he lived his life for Christ and the advancement of His kingdom.

Paul was actually born as Saul. He was born in Tarsus in Cilicia around A.D. 1–5 in a province in the southeastern corner of modern day Tersous, Turkey. He was of Benjamite lineage and Hebrew ancestry. His parents were Pharisees—fervent Jewish nationalists who adhered strictly to the Law of Moses—who sought to protect their children from “contamination” from the Gentiles. Anything Greek was despised in Saul’s household, yet he could speak Greek and passable Latin. His household spoke Aramaic, a derivative of Hebrew, which was the official language of Judea. Saul’s family were Roman citizens but viewed Jerusalem as a truly sacred and holy city.

At age thirteen Saul was sent to Palestine to learn from a rabbi named Gamaliel, under whom Saul mastered Jewish history, the Psalms and the works of the prophets. His education would continue for five or six years as Saul learned such things as dissecting Scripture. It was during this time that he developed a question-and-answer style known in ancient times as “diatribe.” This method of articulation helped rabbis debate the finer points of Jewish law to either defend or prosecute those who broke the law. Saul went on to become a lawyer, and all signs pointed to his becoming a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Court of 71 men who ruled over Jewish life and religion. Saul was zealous for his faith, and this faith did not allow for compromise. It is this zeal that led Saul down the path of religious extremism.

Because of his extremism Saul might have been present at the trial of Stephen. He was present for his stoning and death and he held the garments of those who did the stoning (Acts 7:58). In Acts 5:27-42, Peter delivered his defense of the gospel and of Jesus in front of the Sanhedrin, which Saul heard. Gamaliel was also present and delivered a message to calm the council and prevent them from stoning Peter. From that moment on, Saul became even more determined to eradicate Christians as he watched the Sanhedrin flog Peter and the others. Saul became more ruthless in his pursuit of Christians as he believed he was doing it in the name of God. Arguably, there is no one more frightening or more vicious than a religious terrorist, especially when he believes that he is doing the will of the Lord by killing innocent people. This is exactly what Saul of Tarsus was: a religious terrorist. Acts 8:3 states, “He began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.”

The pivotal passage in Paul’s story is Acts 9:1-22, which recounts Paul’s meeting with Jesus Christ on the road from Jerusalem to Damascus, a journey of about 150 miles. Saul was angered by what he had seen and filled with murderous rage against the Christians. Before departing on his journey, he had asked the high priest for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for permission to bring any Christians (followers of “the Way,” as they were known) back to Jerusalem to imprison them. On the road Saul was caught up in a bright light from heaven which caused him to fall face down on the ground. He hears the words, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” He says, “Who are you Lord?” Jesus answers directly and clearly, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (vv. 4-5). As an aside, this might not have been Saul’s first encounter with Jesus, as some scholars suggest that young Saul might have known of Jesus and that he might have actually witnessed His death.

From this moment on, Saul’s life was turned upside down. The light of the Lord blinded him, and as he traveled on he had to rely on his companions. As instructed by Jesus, Saul continued to Damascus to make contact with a man named Ananias who was hesitant at first to meet Saul because he knew Saul’s reputation as an evil man. But the Lord told Ananias that Saul was a “chosen instrument” to carry His name before the Gentiles, kings and the children of Israel (v.15) and would suffer for doing so (v.16). Ananias followed the Lord’s instructions and found Saul, on whom he laid hands, and told him of his vision of Jesus Christ. Through prayer, Saul received the Holy Spirit (v.17), regained his sight and was baptized (v.18). Saul immediately went into the synagogues proclaiming Jesus and saying He is the Son of God (v.20). The people were amazed and skeptical, as Saul’s reputation was well known. The Jews thought he had come to take away the Christians (v.21). Saul’s boldness increased as the Jews living in Damascus were confounded by Saul’s arguments proving that Jesus was the Christ (v.22).

As a result of this miraculous transformation, Saul became known as Paul (Acts 13:9). Paul spent time in Arabia, Damascus, Jerusalem, Syria and his native Cilicia, and Barnabas enlisted his help to teach those in the church in Antioch (Acts 11:25). Interestingly, the Christians driven out of Palestine by Saul of Tarsus founded this multiracial church (Acts 11:19-21). Paul took his first of three missionary journeys in the late 40s A.D. Paul wrote many of the New Testament books. Most theologians are in agreement that he wrote Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Philemon, Ephesians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. These 13 “letters” (books) make up the “Pauline Authorship” and are the primary source of his theology. As previously noted, the book of Acts gives us a historical look at Paul’s life and times. The Apostle Paul spent his life proclaiming the risen Christ Jesus throughout the Roman world, often at great personal peril (2 Corinthians 11:24-27). It is assumed that Paul died a martyr’s death in the mid-to-late 60s A.D. in Rome.

So, what can we learn from the life of the Apostle Paul? First, we learn that God can save anyone. The remarkable story of Paul repeats itself every day as sinful, broken people all over the world are transformed by God’s saving grace in Jesus Christ. Some of these people have done despicable things to other human beings, while some just try to live a moral life thinking that God will smile upon them on the day of judgment. When we read the story of Paul and know what he had done, it is difficult for us to believe that God would allow into heaven religious extremists who murder innocent women and children. Today, we might see people on death row as unworthy of redemption because their crimes against humanity are just too great. Yet we live our lives in a sinful manner, expecting that God will be impressed by the fact that we haven’t killed anyone. The story of Paul is a story that can be told today—he isn’t worthy in our eyes of a second chance, yet to God he is worthy. The truth is that every person matters to God, from the “good, decent,” average person to the “wicked, evil” degenerate. Only God can save a soul from hell.

Second, we learn from the life of Paul that anyone can be a humble, powerful witness for Jesus Christ. Arguably, no other human figure in the Bible demonstrated more humility while sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ as Paul. Acts 20:19 tells us that he “served the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to [him] through the plots of the Jews.” In Acts 28:31, Paul shares the good news of Jesus Christ: “Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul was not afraid to tell others what the Lord had done for him. This verse is the very definition of Paul’s newfound life in Christ. He would spend the rest of his days working tirelessly for the kingdom of God.

Finally, we learn that anyone can surrender completely to God. Paul was fully “sold-out” for God. “I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear” (Philippians 1:12-14). Paul was in prison when he wrote these words, yet he was still praising God and sharing the good news. Through his hardships and suffering, Paul knew the outcome of a life well lived for Christ. He had surrendered his life fully, trusting God for everything. “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). Can we make the same claim?

The Happiness Chronicles: The Dark Side to Happiness?

In this three-part series, I will discuss recent research examining human happiness. Part 1 of the series considers the possibility that we could have too much happiness. 

Over the last 20 years or so, there has been an explosion of literature and accompanying research on the science of happiness. Most of this research has been devoted to understanding what makes people happy (or unhappy). In general, the research on happiness up to this point has been singularly focused on maximizing positive emotions and minimizing negative emotions. If you need an example of this focus, I encourage you to take a stroll through your nearest local bookstore, Borders, or Barnes & Noble, examining the section marked "Psychology." What you'll find is a slew of books on becoming happier.

Clearly, there are benefits to experiencing positive emotion and costs to experiencing negative emotion, and research bears this out. For one, experiences of chronic negative emotion are bad for your health. Other work suggests that increased positive emotion enhances your motivations to affiliate with and help others. Still other research suggests that having income levels that are above poverty, moderately contributes to one's happiness, though not as much as you might expect. In general, you get the picture: There is a lot of research out there suggesting positive good, negative bad.

However, recent psychological inquiry has begun to ask the question, is happiness always good? That is, are there potential costs to seeking out happiness? The answer to this question comes from a recent review article written by Professors June Gruber, Iris Mauss, and Maya Tamir. Gruber and colleagues asked the question, is there evidence suggesting that positive emotion experiences can be maladaptive? Below I summarize their provocative conclusions.

Is there a wrong degree of happiness?
Gruber and colleagues suggest that you can actually experience too much positive emotion and this can be bad for your well-being. In essence, positive emotions bring back diminishing returns as the experience becomes more intense. There is even evidence that too much persistent happiness can make a person more risky and less well-adjusted. For instance, too much cheerfulness, as rated by teachers and peers, is correlated with early mortality. In addition, high degrees of euphoric happiness are associated with increased risk-taking behavior, such as binge drinking. Other work suggests that high degrees of positive emotionality and low degrees of negative emotion are characteristics of mania and psychopathy.

Is there a wrong time for happiness?
Emotions have been called the grammar of social living, and as such, they represent adaptive physiological and motivational responses to changes in environmental circumstances. Viewing emotions in this fashion suggests another potential cost to persistent happiness: one may experience happiness at inappropriate times. For example, the authors argue that experiences of negative emotion can be adaptive in certain situations: for instance, being happy when one should be fearful or angry could slow down the physiological responses necessary to respond to the fear/anger stimuli (and by fear/anger stimuli, I mean, for example, approaching a grizzly bear!).

Are there wrong ways to pursue happiness?
Constantly pursuing happiness can lead to disappointment when one does not achieve one's goals. Thus, people who are always trying to pursue happiness, just for happiness' sake, are likely to feel worse as a result of this pursuit when they inevitably fail to become as happy as they'd like to be. In research supporting this view, people listening to a neutral music piece felt less happy when they were instructed to "try to make yourself feel as happy as possible" relative to people not given these instructions.

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Are there wrong types of happiness?
Certain forms of positive emotion can be bad for your social outcomes. For instance, hubristic pride (which I wrote about at Psych-Your-Mind) is a positive emotion that is associated with vanity and narcissism. This form of pride is associated with denegrating, devaluing, and behaving more aggressively toward out-groups, and as such, has the potential to lead to a number of negative outcomes.

Gruber and colleagues have provided some compelling evidence, in my view, suggesting that there is indeed a dark side to happiness. What does this perspective say about the ways in which we pursue happy and meaningful lives? That is a question I pose to you (the reader). In the meantime, this Psych-Your-Mind post on buying happiness might help.

Bible Lessons About Love: 5 Helpful Thoughts

The Bible is full of great verses and passages about the topic of love.  God’s love for us is a perfect example and starting place to study on love. There are also great verses about love in relation to marriage, brotherly love or friendship, and loving your neighbor. Here is a collection of some of the greatest love quotes from the Bible. What is your favorite love Bible verse? Share it with us in the comments!

Featured Bible Verse: 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.

God’s Love Scriptures

There should be no talk of love in the Bible without covering God’s love for each of us. This is the love that has led to a path for eternal life. Praise God!

John 3:16  “For God so loved the world,that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 8:37-39  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

1 John 3:1  See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Love One Another Bible Verses

Romans 13:8  Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

Galatians 5:13  For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

Ephesians 4:2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

1 Peter 1:22  Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,

1 John 4:7  Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

What Did Jesus Say About Love

Matthew 5:43-48  “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?  You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 6:24-25  “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.  “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

Mark 12:28-30   And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

John 14:21-24  Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”  Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him,  “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

John 15:9-17 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.  If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

Bible Verses About Love  for Marriage or Weddings

Song of Solomon 8:6-7  Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised.

Ephesians 4:2-3 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Philippians 2:2  complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

1 John 3:18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

Love Scripture Quotes from Proverbs or Psalms

Psalm 23:5-6  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Psalm 31:16 Make your face shine on your servant;  save me in your steadfast love!

Psalm 63:3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.

Proverbs 10:12 Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.

Proverbs 17:17  A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

Christian Love Quotes

The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread. ~Mother Teresa

The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost. ~G.K. Chesterton

God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way. He wants you to be just like Jesus. – Max Lucado

“You can see God from anywhere if your mind is set to love and obey Him”  ~ A.W. Tozer
Read more: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/bible-verses-about-love-25-awesome-scripture-quotes/#ixzz460pnTPPS