Wapakoneta Daily News - Helping youth balance passion, purity
Note: check out the entire article, this is just a small part of it.
Even members of the media and popular culture are vocalizing their own views to sexual purity. Singers such as Natalie LaRue and Rebecca St. James wrote songs with lyrics describing their commitments to remain faithful to their future husbands while single, and American Idol winner Jordan Sparks wears a promise ring.
“It’s a pretty big deal to me,” Sparks said last month during an interview with a Lima-area radio station.
Katy Jackson, the youth group director at St. Paul United Church of Christ, said youth leaders such as herself and other church leaders can also help teens understand from where the idea of remaining sexually pure comes.
“It seems to be becoming more and more acceptable to be sexually active before marriage,” Jackson said.
While she attributed this mindset to culture and values perpetuated by the media, she also said the effects of a changing culture on the family structure also has an impact, leaving parents less involved in their teens’ lives.
“Parents have a bigger influence on their kids than they think,” Jackson said.
While parents can help facilitate conversation with their teens simply by being open about their thoughts — and even their mistakes — about relationships with their children, Jackson said it is also important for church influences such as herself not only to share the biblical stance on sexual purity, but also the reasoning behind that stance.
“The church says you shouldn’t have sex outside of marriage, period,” Jackson said. “I think they could do better with explaining why that is instead of just saying ‘you shouldn’t do that.’ That really turns people off.”
Note: check out the entire article, this is just a small part of it.
