I don't really know how to say this concept better than what is here: http://gracefortheroad.com/2012/02/03/idontwait/
I will briefly summarize and paraphrase and maybe add a bit, but it's all from (or stems from) the writing posted above.
As I read this article (and re-read..and re-read) I noticed that the only differing things in my life and that of the author are that:
1. I've never had a tangible purity ring (thank you, parents!)
2. I'm not 25.
Everything else. Spot on. Want to know what I have on my bookshelf? "Lady in Waiting". Want to know what I have in a journal, because it's been engrained in my head? I can't date until I'm "satisfied" in God. Want to know what quote I have memorized? Search for a man by searching for God. Want to know why I abstained in the past? Because I was supposed to.
Every single example. I got, I understood, I had lived. And I can bet that most girls from church world can to.
"True love waits" is a tragically misguided statement. It's saying that where you are now is not good enough. It's saying that you need to wait, just because that's what you're supposed to do. Beyond that, it's saying that you will have a "true love" and if you don't, God is not a provider. It's saying that a spouse is a prize and you can have the prize denied.
If instead I was taught that it's okay to yearn for a husband, that I'm abstaining because I love Jesus, not because I'm "waiting", that Jesus isn't a means to the end of a husband, that sex can be talked about, that falling in love with Jesus is what it's all about, things would be radically different.
Learning is hard enough. Having to unlearn and then relearn concepts is just really difficult.
I will briefly summarize and paraphrase and maybe add a bit, but it's all from (or stems from) the writing posted above.
As I read this article (and re-read..and re-read) I noticed that the only differing things in my life and that of the author are that:
1. I've never had a tangible purity ring (thank you, parents!)
2. I'm not 25.
Everything else. Spot on. Want to know what I have on my bookshelf? "Lady in Waiting". Want to know what I have in a journal, because it's been engrained in my head? I can't date until I'm "satisfied" in God. Want to know what quote I have memorized? Search for a man by searching for God. Want to know why I abstained in the past? Because I was supposed to.
Every single example. I got, I understood, I had lived. And I can bet that most girls from church world can to.
"True love waits" is a tragically misguided statement. It's saying that where you are now is not good enough. It's saying that you need to wait, just because that's what you're supposed to do. Beyond that, it's saying that you will have a "true love" and if you don't, God is not a provider. It's saying that a spouse is a prize and you can have the prize denied.
If instead I was taught that it's okay to yearn for a husband, that I'm abstaining because I love Jesus, not because I'm "waiting", that Jesus isn't a means to the end of a husband, that sex can be talked about, that falling in love with Jesus is what it's all about, things would be radically different.
Learning is hard enough. Having to unlearn and then relearn concepts is just really difficult.
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