Note: Today is Election Day. If you haven’t voted already, I encourage you to do so. I also hope you’ll join me in praying for our country and the election today. -J.D.
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“What expressions of sexuality have you witnessed lately at your junior high?”
That’s not the sort of question I usually ask my son Troy on our morning drive to school, but I did today. He squirmed a little.
So did I.
That’s how the “Talk” with my older son Trent went a few years ago, too. I’ll never forget his reaction. I explained God’s sacred design for sex between a man and a woman and described the basic mechanics. When I finished, Trent was awfully quiet. He finally looked at me and said, “That is weird! That is really weird!”
I laughed. Ah, the innocence of youth!
But that’s exactly what made Trent’s reaction such a beautiful moment. His introduction to sex wasn’t from kids at school, television, or music lyrics. It was from me, his father.
And that matters.
I want my boys to understand sex properly. It’s a gift from God that’s designed to enrich our lives, not tear them down. But that’s what it does when we don’t understand that sex is more than a physical act. It includes the physical, but it transcends it.
Sex is a sacred expression of love between a man and a woman, and it symbolizes the profound reality of God’s love. The biblical word describing the act of sex is the same word that often refers to the spiritual intimacy we have with God.
That’s a worldview a child will likely only get from the parent and their church. Without that positive influence, the culture is free to speak to kids about sex virtually unopposed and in whatever terms it likes. And that message is rarely a good one.
Parents, I’m right there with you. The “Talk” can be awkward – for your child and for you. But don’t lose your nerve to engage your kids because you’re not sure what to say.
We’ll help you with that on our radio programs today and tomorrow with author Dannah Gresh. She’s straightforward and candid, but thoroughly biblical in her understanding of the Christian view of sexuality and of “Why Waiting Until Marriage Matters.” Tune in on your local radio station, and if you decide you want to hear the broadcast again, listen online, or download our free phone app.
And just an FYI to parents: Our conversations over the next couple of days won’t be graphic, but they will be pretty direct. You might want to occupy younger children elsewhere.
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