How Far is Too Far?

This is a common question among teenagers when discussing guy/girl relationships.  We all want to know what the limit of physical involvement is before it becomes “sinful”.  Yet I think that we’re asking the wrong question.  One unknown author commented: “We shouldn’t see how close to the line we can get without crossing it; we should see how far away we can stay from the line.”  God created the physical relationship between a man and a woman to be experienced only in marriage.

Paul tells the believers in Ephesus: “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people” (Ephesians 5:3).  What does it mean to have “not even a hint of sexual immorality”?  It means that there should not a trace of impurity in our lives.  We should be completely and 100% pure in the way we dress, think, talk, the movies and pictures we see, and the music we listen to.

My small group leader told the girls: “Guys will go as far as you’ll let them.  Their sinful nature wants to take advantage of a girl, so it is the girl’s responsibility to say no.”   The truth is, the further we stay away from the “line” the easier it will be for us to resist temptation.  This is why God desires us to have “not even a hint” of sexual impurity in our lives.  If we allow even a little bit of impurity to work its way into our hearts, it will be easy to go further and further physically.  Soon we could find ourselves going all the way with a guy and leaving our virginity behind.

It’s hard to be 100% pure in everything, all the way down to our thought life.  I know this from my own life.  It’s much easier to allow the “little impurities” to enter into my life than it is to keep them out.  Yet God demands that we fight to keep our purity, for our own good as well as for His glory.

If you’ve already given away your virginity, please realize that God loves you anyway.  Like my small group leader said: “When you’re saved, you become a born-again virgin as well as a born-again believer.”  God is ready and willing to forgive you and accept you into His loving embrace.  If you’re ready to take the next step and want to accept Jesus into your life, check out our “What Do I Do Now?” page.  As always, we pray that God has used this blog to touch your life.

God bless,

Sisters in Christ