"Do you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have receieved from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

I think that one of the most important things in a teen's life is purity. I know this because I'm a teen girl and I sometimes struggle with this issue. But God is gracious to those who ask for His help. We are imperfect people, but we have been redeemed by God's son Jesus Christ. And with His help us teens can live a clean life. None of us are perfect, remember, "All of us has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God..." But we can ask for forgiveness when we slip up.

If you stuggle with purity, please say this prayer of forgiveness and you will be forgiven.

"Dear Jesus,
I am a Christian, but I have problems with being pure. I know that's what you want me to be, but I'm struggling. I'm sorry for giving in to my temptations and I ask for your forgiveness. Thank you for your forgiveness. Now I ask you for your Holy Spirit, so that I will beat this problem. I believe with prayer and reading your Word, I will overcome this problem. I ask for your help and guidence so that someday I will live a life of purity. Just as you want me to. Thank you, Jesus!

In Jesus' name, Amen."

Now What?

Now that you asked for forgiveness, you are forgiven. So whatever you did in the past, is no longer apart of you (2 Corinthians 5:17). You are now clean and on the road to recovery. I believe with prayer and reading His word daily, you will reach your goal. There are also several good books out there that can help you.

I think that Rebecca St. James' book "Wait for Me" is a terrific book. I was truly inspired by it and I think that it is a good book for anyone who is interested in purity. Another good book that is good for those who are interested in dating is "I Kissed Dating Good-Bye", by Josh Harris. I haven't read "I Kissed Dating Good-Bye", but I have heard very good things about it. If you haven't read these books, I highly suggest that you do.

God has reasons for wanting to keep His children pure. He doesn't want us to have heartache, unwanted pregnancies, STDs, or AIDS. He loves us so much, that He gave us rules to follow so we won't even have to deal with these. One of God's rules is not to be unequally yoked with an unbeliever (2 Corinthians 6:14-16) . An unbeliever doesn't have the same beliefs that we do, so he or she might not want to wait until marriage to have sex. That's why God wants us to wait until we are married so that we won't have heartache. Unwanted pregnancies changes your whole life. Your parents don't trust you as much; if you're in highschool, your grades might drop; you might have to give up college; and the way you look to other people will change too. Now, the common cold used to be the most widespread virus. Right now, STD is and it is because people don't want to wait until marriage to have sex.

God understands all of this and that is why He made rules for us. It's not that He doesn't want us to have a fun time, it's that He wants us to have the best time.

Purity Rings

I have a purity ring and so does my sister. Purity rings themselves don't make you pure; that what Jesus does. But I use mine to remind myself that I'm married to Jesus and not to this world. My ring also reminds me that I'm not ready to date/court yet. That I'm just learning about Jesus and purity and that I should wait until I'm older until I date/court.

Purity Rings come in all shapes and sizes. My ring is just a plain silver band with the word "Purity" on it. But there are other Purity rings out there that are more delicate than mine. They can also be gold or maybe sterling silver. It's kind of fun picking out rings like that. My ring only cost $12.00, but some rings can cost up to $100.00 or more! If you are interested in buying a Purity Ring, then I suggest that you go to your nearest Christian store and buy one. Or you can go to Factory 79 ; they have all kinds of Purity Rings and I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for.

The Great Date Wait

Most teens who are 16 years old think they are ready to date. As for me, I turned 16 in 2002 and I have no plans for dating. I will never date, because dating is of the world. I like the idea of courting better. Dating someone when you have no true commitments is not right. There will be broken hearts, fights and disagreements. I know people who have dated and had wonderful marriages. But the way I figure it, the world and it's sinfulness is not getting any better. Dating is getting more and more sinful and to me courting seems the safest. I probably could write tons and tons of things on courting and someday I will.

But as for now, God will help. He understands our struggle with purity. We just need to ask for His help daily and He will help us.