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Chastity – Session Ten
In this session of Walking in the Light study the characteristic of Chastity and the role it plays in our Christian life.
It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honourable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.
1 Thessalonians 4:3–7
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
Colossians 3:5
“I have the right to do anything,” you say – but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”– but I will not be mastered by anything. You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your bodies.
1 Corinthians 6:12–20
Marriage should be honoured by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.
Hebrews 13:4
Jesus famously said that whoever looks lustfully upon a woman has already
committed adultery with her in his heart, putting his finger on the reality that chastity begins with our imagination. Purity is more an attitude of mind or a disposition of the soul than how we dress or what we read. Getting this attitude of mind right is infinitely more effective than trying to limit behaviour by prohibition.
On the issue of chastity, the standards and traditions held by people of faith
vary. Some frown on dating at all while others think that sexual intercourse between a couple intending to get married is acceptable. Some feel there should be no sex education in schools at all and the “facts of life” should be discovered within, or in preparation for, marriage. Some see teenagers reading pornographic magazines as harmless and inevitable; others view it as a corrupting evil.
Perhaps a first base is to bear in mind that children learn by imitation. To call pornographic films “adult” is to make them a magnet for every growing child. The way to protect the innocence of children is for their parents, and the other adults around them, to cultivate and safeguard their own innocence of mind.
O God of life and love, who made us male and female, pronouncing all things good, we thank you for our sexuality. So fill us with your spirit of love and compassion that our humanity is always directed to behaviour and attitudes of gentleness, affirmation, and respect, giving us grace to turn away from all exploitation of others. For we ask it in Jesus’ holy name; Amen.
