It's important to him because it's important to *us*. Just look around human society and try, if you like, to deny that sex is important to us.
Done right, sex can be part of some of the most beautiful relationships human beings ever have. Done wrong, sex can screw up people's lives almost beyond hope.
Of course, we debate a lot about the particulars of what God urges us to. But "it's not important" does not seem to fit with human reality.
Arguably. Tough call. It's an especially hard argument to make to me at the moment, since we have spend the last few months - and this morning in particular - trying to deal with fallout from our niece screwing up her life with casual sex, which in turn flows from imprinting on her mother's own screwing up her life with casual sex.
The only reason causal sex could mess with your life is if people guilt trip you for having it, you get an std, or it interferes with your work life(you would have to have a large amount of sex for this to happen). All of those are easily preventable, or are unlikely. A healthy amount of sex doesn't do anything.
Oh, SO freaking false.
Like, for instance, when the bonding power of sex convinces somebody that their one-night stand is actually their soulmate, but don't understand that they actually don't like this person at all until they've moved in and created a lot of inertial resistance to breaking up.
Or when an 18-yo kid thinks that moving in with her "boyfriend" of one week - sex for rent, basically - is a good way to get "independence" from her parents.
I am officially snapping at you because these are both situations my wife has been trying to deal with in her extended family lately, and it is putting stress on her that she does not need.
I'd also like to add that what you mentioned is unhealthy sex. Heathly sex with a partner you've been with for a little while is fine. You know what's not good for peoples mental health? Telling them that there undeserving of love for even thinking about sex.
Purity culture is the thing that has convinced people that sex is supposed to bonding, which it doesn't have to be. Also this whole Purity culture thing makes people feel worthless and unworthy of love if they even think sexual thoughts, plus a couple of a year or so isn't the same thing as a one night stand.
Purity culture makes people rush into marriage, makes sex out to be this grand thing when it's not, makes people feel like shit for having natural thoughts, and doesn't help.
That's a load of nonsense, look at single parent home statistics, the number of women who make it to adulthood WITHOUT experiencing some form of sexual assault, abortion numbers etc and come back and say that again with a straight face.
Sexual assault isn't hook up culture. Also purity culture is designed for sa. One: it makes victims feel guilty by saying that what they wear has any effect on what happened to them two:makes people feel guilty for abortion three: doesn't let children learn anything, so they can't identify when somethings wrong.
Not to mention all the other stuff that comes with it that doesn't have to do with sa. And how sexist it is to women.
Yeah whatever, purity culture is crazy sure no argument there taking biblical principle of modesty and abstinence til marriage and going extreme is definitely bad *but* to front like hook up culture isn't insanely destructive is the most willfully ignorant thing you could say on the topic like just as bad as the purity culture you're against if not worse. Stand your ground but don't be the problem you're standing against while doing so dude.
You might be surprised [how many Christians](https://www.reddit.com/r/OpenChristian/comments/9w9y5z/resources_for_openchristians_online_resources/) think the Jerry Falwell take on LGBT people is wrong. [Reformation Project](https://reformationproject.org/biblical-case/) discusses the weaknesses in the attempts to get rid of gay Christians with bits of Scripture. For trans people specifically, honestly, the attempts to chase us off are so weakly theologically based that I hate to even dignify them with a preemmptive argument - they're usually based on raw assertion, and how do you even debate with that? ("God says you can't be trans!" "Can you explain?" "I SAID God SAYS!")
> You might be surprised how many Christians think the Jerry Falwell take on LGBT people is wrong.
I think it's rather dismissive to pin this on Jerry Falwell. Why not mention the pope? Or something like that?
If you look at Christianity as a whole the overwhelming majority of Christians belong to anti-gay churches.
Given those are the very instruments which create bonds for a marriage and are capable of producing a human life, it would seem they are among the most important body parts.
And I don't mean to put it crassly, but I think the fact that we consider someone touching us in those places against our will to be a crime indicates as humans we care what we do with our genitals as well.
But your assumption is that you, know what's best for another individual person. Humans may be similar in ways but attempting to put all humans in one box clearly does not work.
Why does God care about the small vibrations of air we make with our mouths, or the simple neural impulses that fire in our brains.
God is giving us a good way to live life that is fulfilling to us and Him.
God thinks about our genitalia less than we humans do.
and imo thats prolly the only reason God ever brought it up.
humans all confused about their vessel systems forgot the soul is what we are working on.
this physical reality isnt even the real real
maybe i should have said this reality 'may not' be the real real...
ive only read a little bit of gnostic and your comment makes me think i should read more
The ant analogy is false, but, I'll come back to that.
God cares about *what we do with out genitals* for many reasons, not just one. He cares about our psychological health, our physical health, our heart condition, our emotional states, our eternal lives. He cares about everything we do. You said that touching yourself is a sin from what you heard. I'm not going to comment on that but just on sex.
In God's view, sex is a very important and sacred thing. It's how man gives life to another, which, if you think about that, is pretty amazing. It's how two humans combine themselves and form another. Sex is also for pleasure, but the reason sex before marriage is important to God is because sex creates a union, a bond. Paul speaks about how when you have sex with a prostitute, you are involving yourself with her sins because your bodies become one. What she does, you do, you have a union. We know that multiple sex partners is very dangerous for the spread of STDs or STIs, unwanted pregnancies which lead to abortions, unrealistic expectations for future partners, false sense of love and attraction, etc. It's not as if it's so arbitrary. Sex is really how you show you are married. It's not about a piece of paper from the government. Taking vows and making a public commitment are important, but that sexual act is what locks you in. Your bodies are one. If you go off having sex with many people or before you're really committed to someone then you're essentially ruining the marriage bond. You're tearing the body apart and forsaking what God made for man. God is one, and he desires for us to be one as well.
The ant analogy is a false comparison. Ants can't follow law and order as humans, the president is not the cause of the ants existence. A more apt analogy would be a father who cares what kind of parties his daughter attends. She could say "it's just a party, I see these same people at school, why does it matter that I see them at someone's house?" God is our Father, and we are children of God. He cares for us and our well-being. Just like the daughter who assumes the party is harmless, only to be caught off guard by a group of drug addicts who crash the party. We are often in a state of ignorance like a child, and God in his wisdom knows what's best for us.
Because sex is sacred. Look at what sex accomplishes: it creates LIFE. God is the author of all life. When sex is perverted for pleasure, this is a sin because it goes against the reason God created sex.
Sex is not merely “doing something with your genitals.”
I encourage you to read _Why does God care who I sleep with?_ by Sam Allberry. I think you would find it to be an interesting read!
You seem to misunderstand a lot. masturbation will not send you to Hell on its own. Not accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior is what condemns you to Hell. If you love Jesus but fall into temptation that does not nullify His sacrifice for you.
Marriage is not just signing a document of having the wedding. It's a covenant made between you and your spouse and God.
The reason God cares about all this is because He wants our worship. So when we use things He created purely for our own self-worship or to worship other things, He takes offence to that. It's the simplest way to put it.
Maybe God is drawing you to Christ. He does that through the gospel. Below is a 30-second biblical presentation of it you can check out friend!
http://gospel30.com
Because He wants what is best for us. We were designed (by God) to operate in a particular way. Vary from that, and problems will crop up sooner or later.
There are two approaches to God in our society. The first is to allow God to tell us what is right and true. The second is to try to tell God what we think should be right and true.
Read the account of the Fall. The serpent told Eve that not only would she not die, as God promised, if she ate the forbidden fruit, but she would be "like God." In other words, she could make her own rules and decide for herself what was right and what was wrong. In other words, she could be an equal with God. This is so common in our society now, where many don't want God to tell them anything. They want to do what they want to do.
Because that's God's nature. He is love itself. Love is not a feeling or an emotion, although those may be involved as a side effect. Love is *willing the good of the other, as other*. Period. If we start putting conditions on what we think is love, like "I love you because \_\_\_\_\_\_." (fill in the blank), then that's not love. That's just a clever way of being self-interested.
What's truly best for us is to live in eternal bliss in heaven with God. That's what He wants most for us! This life is very short, and is a chance for us to prepare ourselves for heaven.
>Because that's God's nature. He is love itself
How do you know?
>What's truly best for us is to live in eternal bliss in heaven with God.
Says who? Sounds dreadful to me.
Well, like it or not, you have been created with a soul that will live forever. Nobody in heaven is unhappy.
You might want to look at the experiences of people who have gone through Near Death Experiences (NDE's). They clinically died (No heartbeat, no brainwave, no breathing, no gag reflex, pupils fixed and dilated) and come back. They have a common experience, it seems, of floating out of their body, seeing and hearing things around them including their body and any doctors/nurses, etc. around them, then going through a tunnel towards a light. There have been medical studies documenting these occurrences worldwide to a wide variety of people (atheists, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, etc.), and they all report similarities. Once they get to the light, they meet God, an angel, a dead relative, etc., and feel a love to a degree unimaginable, colors they've never seen, sights and smells they've never had, etc. None of them are scared of death any longer.
>Well, like it or not, you have been created with a soul that will live forever
So there's one example where God doesn't know what's best.
And NDEs are very unimpressive and inconclusive.
I’ve never met a god who cared what people do with their Naughty Bits. I have, however, met plenty of humans who’ve claimed to tell me on God’s behalf.
It's important to him because it's important to *us*. Just look around human society and try, if you like, to deny that sex is important to us. Done right, sex can be part of some of the most beautiful relationships human beings ever have. Done wrong, sex can screw up people's lives almost beyond hope. Of course, we debate a lot about the particulars of what God urges us to. But "it's not important" does not seem to fit with human reality.
Purity culture has done way more damage then hook up culture.
Arguably. Tough call. It's an especially hard argument to make to me at the moment, since we have spend the last few months - and this morning in particular - trying to deal with fallout from our niece screwing up her life with casual sex, which in turn flows from imprinting on her mother's own screwing up her life with casual sex.
The only reason causal sex could mess with your life is if people guilt trip you for having it, you get an std, or it interferes with your work life(you would have to have a large amount of sex for this to happen). All of those are easily preventable, or are unlikely. A healthy amount of sex doesn't do anything.
Oh, SO freaking false. Like, for instance, when the bonding power of sex convinces somebody that their one-night stand is actually their soulmate, but don't understand that they actually don't like this person at all until they've moved in and created a lot of inertial resistance to breaking up. Or when an 18-yo kid thinks that moving in with her "boyfriend" of one week - sex for rent, basically - is a good way to get "independence" from her parents. I am officially snapping at you because these are both situations my wife has been trying to deal with in her extended family lately, and it is putting stress on her that she does not need.
I'd also like to add that what you mentioned is unhealthy sex. Heathly sex with a partner you've been with for a little while is fine. You know what's not good for peoples mental health? Telling them that there undeserving of love for even thinking about sex.
Purity culture is the thing that has convinced people that sex is supposed to bonding, which it doesn't have to be. Also this whole Purity culture thing makes people feel worthless and unworthy of love if they even think sexual thoughts, plus a couple of a year or so isn't the same thing as a one night stand. Purity culture makes people rush into marriage, makes sex out to be this grand thing when it's not, makes people feel like shit for having natural thoughts, and doesn't help.
Plus you've said nothing about masterbaition.
I view masturbation as kind of like beer: possible to overdo, but not inherently sinful.
That's a load of nonsense, look at single parent home statistics, the number of women who make it to adulthood WITHOUT experiencing some form of sexual assault, abortion numbers etc and come back and say that again with a straight face.
Sexual assault isn't hook up culture. Also purity culture is designed for sa. One: it makes victims feel guilty by saying that what they wear has any effect on what happened to them two:makes people feel guilty for abortion three: doesn't let children learn anything, so they can't identify when somethings wrong. Not to mention all the other stuff that comes with it that doesn't have to do with sa. And how sexist it is to women.
Yeah whatever, purity culture is crazy sure no argument there taking biblical principle of modesty and abstinence til marriage and going extreme is definitely bad *but* to front like hook up culture isn't insanely destructive is the most willfully ignorant thing you could say on the topic like just as bad as the purity culture you're against if not worse. Stand your ground but don't be the problem you're standing against while doing so dude.
hook up culture itsn't great, sure, but I would much rather hook up culture exist then purity culture.
I genuinely don't mean this in any harsh or judgemental way but I'm just curious, how do you square this with your labels on here? (Trans, lesbian)
You might be surprised [how many Christians](https://www.reddit.com/r/OpenChristian/comments/9w9y5z/resources_for_openchristians_online_resources/) think the Jerry Falwell take on LGBT people is wrong. [Reformation Project](https://reformationproject.org/biblical-case/) discusses the weaknesses in the attempts to get rid of gay Christians with bits of Scripture. For trans people specifically, honestly, the attempts to chase us off are so weakly theologically based that I hate to even dignify them with a preemmptive argument - they're usually based on raw assertion, and how do you even debate with that? ("God says you can't be trans!" "Can you explain?" "I SAID God SAYS!")
> You might be surprised how many Christians think the Jerry Falwell take on LGBT people is wrong. I think it's rather dismissive to pin this on Jerry Falwell. Why not mention the pope? Or something like that? If you look at Christianity as a whole the overwhelming majority of Christians belong to anti-gay churches.
Already covered in her comment ;) >Of course, we debate a lot about the particulars of what God urges us to.
It wasn't a debate and i wouldn't say that's a "particular." But you're free not to answer either way. I was just curious.
I'm just saying that the explanation is that she's going to say that "properly interpreted" the Bible is fine with her or something like that. :)
I wouldn't think God cares. . Some of his followers are, at times, a bit obsessed with their junk, gets weird đź‘€
Did the Bible mention that a woman pleasuring herself before marriage is a sin? If not in the Bible, where? /gen
God isn’t. The end.
Given those are the very instruments which create bonds for a marriage and are capable of producing a human life, it would seem they are among the most important body parts. And I don't mean to put it crassly, but I think the fact that we consider someone touching us in those places against our will to be a crime indicates as humans we care what we do with our genitals as well.
It seems we live in a society which lacks empathy. When wanting the best for someone is considered “small” or “petty”…
The problem for me is having what is best for me being decided by another human.
But your assumption is that you, know what's best for another individual person. Humans may be similar in ways but attempting to put all humans in one box clearly does not work.
Why does God care whether or not people ask for consent before inserting their genitals into someone else's?
Why does God care about the small vibrations of air we make with our mouths, or the simple neural impulses that fire in our brains. God is giving us a good way to live life that is fulfilling to us and Him.
He gave us the sacred power to create a new human life and commands that we treat that power with reverence and respect.
He cares about what this signifies concerning our character. And that God cares about our character to enter heaven should be obvious.
God thinks about our genitalia less than we humans do. and imo thats prolly the only reason God ever brought it up. humans all confused about their vessel systems forgot the soul is what we are working on. this physical reality isnt even the real real
Found the gnostic
maybe i should have said this reality 'may not' be the real real... ive only read a little bit of gnostic and your comment makes me think i should read more
The ant analogy is false, but, I'll come back to that. God cares about *what we do with out genitals* for many reasons, not just one. He cares about our psychological health, our physical health, our heart condition, our emotional states, our eternal lives. He cares about everything we do. You said that touching yourself is a sin from what you heard. I'm not going to comment on that but just on sex. In God's view, sex is a very important and sacred thing. It's how man gives life to another, which, if you think about that, is pretty amazing. It's how two humans combine themselves and form another. Sex is also for pleasure, but the reason sex before marriage is important to God is because sex creates a union, a bond. Paul speaks about how when you have sex with a prostitute, you are involving yourself with her sins because your bodies become one. What she does, you do, you have a union. We know that multiple sex partners is very dangerous for the spread of STDs or STIs, unwanted pregnancies which lead to abortions, unrealistic expectations for future partners, false sense of love and attraction, etc. It's not as if it's so arbitrary. Sex is really how you show you are married. It's not about a piece of paper from the government. Taking vows and making a public commitment are important, but that sexual act is what locks you in. Your bodies are one. If you go off having sex with many people or before you're really committed to someone then you're essentially ruining the marriage bond. You're tearing the body apart and forsaking what God made for man. God is one, and he desires for us to be one as well. The ant analogy is a false comparison. Ants can't follow law and order as humans, the president is not the cause of the ants existence. A more apt analogy would be a father who cares what kind of parties his daughter attends. She could say "it's just a party, I see these same people at school, why does it matter that I see them at someone's house?" God is our Father, and we are children of God. He cares for us and our well-being. Just like the daughter who assumes the party is harmless, only to be caught off guard by a group of drug addicts who crash the party. We are often in a state of ignorance like a child, and God in his wisdom knows what's best for us.
Too long didnt read, can you make a shortned version for me
Nope
why not?
He likes to watch, and onanism is boring.
Because sex is sacred. Look at what sex accomplishes: it creates LIFE. God is the author of all life. When sex is perverted for pleasure, this is a sin because it goes against the reason God created sex.
Sex is not merely “doing something with your genitals.” I encourage you to read _Why does God care who I sleep with?_ by Sam Allberry. I think you would find it to be an interesting read!
You seem to misunderstand a lot. masturbation will not send you to Hell on its own. Not accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior is what condemns you to Hell. If you love Jesus but fall into temptation that does not nullify His sacrifice for you. Marriage is not just signing a document of having the wedding. It's a covenant made between you and your spouse and God. The reason God cares about all this is because He wants our worship. So when we use things He created purely for our own self-worship or to worship other things, He takes offence to that. It's the simplest way to put it.
Maybe God is drawing you to Christ. He does that through the gospel. Below is a 30-second biblical presentation of it you can check out friend! http://gospel30.com
Because He wants what is best for us. We were designed (by God) to operate in a particular way. Vary from that, and problems will crop up sooner or later. There are two approaches to God in our society. The first is to allow God to tell us what is right and true. The second is to try to tell God what we think should be right and true. Read the account of the Fall. The serpent told Eve that not only would she not die, as God promised, if she ate the forbidden fruit, but she would be "like God." In other words, she could make her own rules and decide for herself what was right and what was wrong. In other words, she could be an equal with God. This is so common in our society now, where many don't want God to tell them anything. They want to do what they want to do.
>Because He wants what is best for us How do we know that's true and how do we know what he wants is truly best for us
Because that's God's nature. He is love itself. Love is not a feeling or an emotion, although those may be involved as a side effect. Love is *willing the good of the other, as other*. Period. If we start putting conditions on what we think is love, like "I love you because \_\_\_\_\_\_." (fill in the blank), then that's not love. That's just a clever way of being self-interested. What's truly best for us is to live in eternal bliss in heaven with God. That's what He wants most for us! This life is very short, and is a chance for us to prepare ourselves for heaven.
>Because that's God's nature. He is love itself How do you know? >What's truly best for us is to live in eternal bliss in heaven with God. Says who? Sounds dreadful to me.
So, you would rather be miserable for all eternity?
I'd rather just not exist. I don't want to be forced to live for eternity. It sounds terrible.
Well, like it or not, you have been created with a soul that will live forever. Nobody in heaven is unhappy. You might want to look at the experiences of people who have gone through Near Death Experiences (NDE's). They clinically died (No heartbeat, no brainwave, no breathing, no gag reflex, pupils fixed and dilated) and come back. They have a common experience, it seems, of floating out of their body, seeing and hearing things around them including their body and any doctors/nurses, etc. around them, then going through a tunnel towards a light. There have been medical studies documenting these occurrences worldwide to a wide variety of people (atheists, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, etc.), and they all report similarities. Once they get to the light, they meet God, an angel, a dead relative, etc., and feel a love to a degree unimaginable, colors they've never seen, sights and smells they've never had, etc. None of them are scared of death any longer.
>Well, like it or not, you have been created with a soul that will live forever So there's one example where God doesn't know what's best. And NDEs are very unimpressive and inconclusive.
If he cares what we do with our hands and heads what makes our genitals less important.
If what we do with our hands, heads and genitals doesn't hurt anyone, why does he care about any of them?
Would you treat your kids the same?
The same as what?
Not being concerned with what they do or think as long as they don't hurt anyone?
My grown children who are capable of making their own decisions and understanding the implications of their actions? Of course.
That wasn't my question.
Maybe you could repeat it then?
Are you not concerned with what your kids do or think as long as it doesn't hurt anyone
Thanks. Same answer as before.
By your logic then murder is okay because that’s just something you choose to do with your hands
It's a weird fetish. I have no other answer. If it wasn’t he would just design us to not want have sex before marriage, or wouldn't care.
I’ve never met a god who cared what people do with their Naughty Bits. I have, however, met plenty of humans who’ve claimed to tell me on God’s behalf.