Love & Sex Secrets

Let me tell you a little about the girls in our youth ministry.... they are actually amazing, really super cool girls. So cool, in fact, that it's hard for me to understand why they enjoy ME so much! Haha, that's just the grace of God in my life! But really, these are 12-18 year old girls who really get what it means to love God. The way they love the Lord is so sweet and beautiful. They are an absolutely amazing blessing to me, and I love them with all my heart. Each one is a big monster droplet straight from His magnificent sprinkler!!

That said, in our Girl's Group on Tuesday nights, the topics of love and sex often come up. They have such a grasp on the importance of waiting, and why they are called to wait, it blows my mind! I really have quite a wide spectrum of situations in the group with me, from the ones who have never had boyfriends, to the ones who have reclaimed their virginity, and have INCREDIBLE testimonies of redemption that encourage the younger girls.

I couldn't be prouder of these girls, or more in awe of who they are and Who they serve! If I had a magazine that went out to thousands of teenagers in America every month, and I wanted to put an article in there on love and sex, written by teenagers for teenagers, these are definitely the people I would get to write it.......

Unfortunately, I don't... and it's left to magazines like Seventeen and Cosmo to advise the thousands of kids who read them about love and sex.

Wednesday at work I picked up the February issue of Seventeen Magazine, a magazine for teenagers, high schoolers, seventeen year olds! Something on the cover caught my eye, so I immediately flipped to page 94 and started reading:

Love & Sex Secrets

(no one ever tells you)

Everyone is talking about it - yet so much is left unsaid.

When your head and your heart are totally

confused, let these reader confessions guide you.

In the next six pages, I found myself literally horrified at what I was reading. I found lots of advice for teenagers about how to most enjoy the experience and not regret it. I read about a teenager who gave up on trying to wait until marraige and has found that sex is a fun and pleasurable part of her relationship. One girl explained the details of how she and her boyfriend planned and got away with it without their parents finding out. Another girl and her boyfriend broke up after he moved away, but she expresses that they made a mature decision together, and she wouldn't have wanted her first time to be with anyone else. There was one small section on the last page called "Why I'm Waiting." The three reasons mentioned: "I don't want to get pregnant," "I'm waiting until marraige," and "I want to be in love."  The three sentences dedicated to the 17 year old who stated that she is waiting for marraige are the only time this idea is mentioned in the entire article. Only briefly does the article discuss pregnacy or heartache, and not even once does it mention the dangers of sex and STD's.

In the entire article, there was not a single sentence encouraging teenagers to be careful, much less to wait until marriage.

I feel very strongly about this because I'm with teenage girls constantly, and I've seen the ramifications of sex before marraige. I've seen the STD's, pregnancy's, the heartbreak and the walls that the decision builds between the teenager and her Creator. I know this isn't a Christian magazine in any way, but this type of article in a magazine for children should not be tolerated from a Christian or a secular perspective.

Whether you're a teenager, a mom, or somewhere in between I'm writing this to encourage you to take a stand with me. Write a letter to the editor, cancel your subscription if you have one, be a light to the teenagers in your life, don't allow magazines, tv, movies, or any of today's culture get away with being the only voice they hear when it comes to sex.

E-mail the editors of Seventeen Magazine about the Love and Sex segment in the February Issue at mail@seventeen.com

Articles like this are so discouraging, so much of this worldly world we live in is discouraging, but I live and find peace in the comfort Jesus Christ gives us when He assures us:

"Take heart! I have overcome the world!"

John 16:33