How to Teach Youth That Sex Is a Gift Worth Waiting For

The Biblical Model for Sex

The foundation of this discussion needs to center on what the Bible says about sexual intimacy. The Bible has much to say on this topic, and the verses mentioned below are more well-known and can keep the discussion from becoming overwhelming for a teen audience.

The earliest mention about this topic is in Genesis 1:27-28. It states, “So God created man in his own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.”

This verse shows that God blesses the male/female union and instructs the two to multiply.

In the next chapter, Genesis 2:24, the Bible also explains, “Therefore a man shall leave his mother and father and be joined with his wife and the two shall become one flesh.” This specifically shows that “becoming one flesh,” or sex, is only to be within the unity of marriage. 

These verses teach that from the very beginning, God designed sex to be within the confines of marriage. 

Biblical Warnings for Not Following God’s Design for Sex

With the basics of sex covered in Genesis, next, move to the warnings the Bible has for those who do not follow God’s design. 

A common set of verses in the New Testament that deal with the topic of sexual immorality is 1 Corinthians 6:18-19. It asserts, “Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

This explicitly declares that sexual sin hurts our bodies differently than other types of sin. It tells people to flee from it. That does not mean walk away in haste away from it, it means “run for your life” away from it. 

Another familiar verse on the topic is Hebrews 13:4. The author here says, “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.”

This shows that marriage is in an honorable place in the eyes of God and should be in society as well. It also gives another warning about sex being outside of God’s plan for marriage.  

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