Biblical Foundations: Purposes

From chapter 1:

Sex is a gift from God—a frequently misunderstood, misused, and squandered gift, but a gift nonetheless! Our sexuality can be a tremendous blessing when that gift is understood through the Word of God and lived out in submission to him.

When thinking about sex education, many parents focus their goals too narrowly and negatively on avoiding sexual promiscuity, sexually transmitted infections (STIs; sometimes STDs for diseases), pregnancies, abortions, and so forth. While it is good to protect children from the damage that illicit and irresponsible sex can cause, this goal is too small, too limited, and too narrow. Why only prevent the negative? Why not give children something profoundly positive when discussing sex and sexuality?

Our ambitious but reachable goal is to equip and empower children to enter adulthood capable of living godly, wholesome, and fulfilled lives as Christian men and women, whether as Christian singles or Christian wives and husbands. We want to prepare them to become the kinds of

• single adults who, whether single for a substantial season before they marry or for their entire lives, live full and meaningful lives as sexual persons with loving, deep family relationships and friendships, or
• married adults who can have deep and meaningful marriages filled with spiritual, sexual, and emotional intimacy, as well as loving, deep family relationships and friendships.

Sex as God intended allows a child to live as a mature and healthy single person before marriage (or instead of marrying) and to one day give the astonishing gift of his or her very self to another in marital union. Healthy sex education is about preparing children to protect this gift wisely and to give this gift rightly—to be able to love and trust enough to commit their whole selves and futures to another and to God. If we as parents prepare them in this way, we protect them too!

From Chapter 2:

Our ultimate goal is to shape a child’s character so that the child will glorify God in all areas of life, including sexuality. We are preparing our children to resist sexual temptation, but beyond that, we desire them to be godly persons who understand and cherish their sexuality.

We should aspire to more than scare kids into abstinence by pounding on the dangers of sexual expressions outside God’s revealed will. We can aim for something beautiful for our children: spiritual and sexual maturity and integrity. Are you willing to sacrifice and work hard to provide the best for them? If your answer is yes, then let’s move forward on this journey of intentionally shaping and nurturing your child’s godly sexual character.

Some content taken from HOW AND WHEN TO TELL YOUR KIDS ABOUT SEX, by Stan and Brenna Jones. Copyright © 1993, 2007, 2019. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. To purchase books in the GOD’S DESIGN FOR SEX book series, go to www.navpress.com.