Sex
There is a big misconception around that God is anti-sex. That Christians are anti-sex. This is not true. Let me set the picture straight.
The Purpose of Sex
God invented sex, and it is one of his masterpieces of creation. It is something good to be enjoyed. However, sex was designed for a specific purpose - for the exclusive, lifelong union between a man and a woman, which we call marriage. Sex creates a special bond between two people, and God intended this to strengthen marriages and fulfill the God-given sexual desire of the husband and wife. It is not wrong for someone to enjoy sex. That is a lie.
However, God did set definate boundaries for the enjoyment of sex. It's pretty simple, really - only inside marriage between a man and a woman. Not with people of the same-sex, not with family, not with children, not with a girlfriend or boyfiend or fionse. Did God set these boundaries because he's a stingy kill-joy? Doesn't he know how good sex is? Is it just an arbitrary rule for simple-minded religious people to follow?
As I said before, sex was designed to be enjoyed within a lifelong union. That means a relationship with absolute committment from both parties. A relationship fed not by mere lust but by real, genuine love and affection. Sex makes you vulnerable. It is a sharing of something, an exchange of something that you can never take back. For that emotional bond to bring love instead of pain, the relationship needs commitment and stability. A relationship where it is safe to be intimate and vulnerable without the risk of emotions being shredded.
Sex Today
Can such a relationship exist outside of marriage? If you sleep with one girlfriend after the next, are you doing so out of genuine affection, or out of lust? Are you going to help or hurt them emotionally, in the long run, if you have a pattern of dating and breaking up? If a couple are living together but putting off marriage, what does that say about their committment to each other? If you really intend to live the rest of your life with someone, why delay telling the world? What about a one night stand? No expectations of commitment, no emotions to be upset, just pure enjoyment. But will there really be no emotional consequences when, down the track, you lie in your future spouse's arms? Won't the memory of nights spent with others diminish the sharing with your future spouse?
As you can see, God has good reasons for the rules he makes. They are not arbitrary. They are put there because God knows what is best for us even when we don't. Sex was intended to be a special experience, shared with just one person to make the emotional bond that much more special. But today's culture has reduced sex to a cheap toy, for common use. You can't walk down the street or turn on the TV without being confronted by it. People don't care, don't think about the consequences. They don't think that the way they use sex might hurt people.
I ask you if that is the way sex ought to be used? As a toy, and one which causes a lot of damage behind the scenes? Or as a gift so beautiful and treasured that it is reserved (with great difficulty, it is true) to be shared with a single, lifelong companion? Our society doesn't have too high a view of sex - it has too low a view. It is precisely because sex is such a unique gift, with such potential for devoted passion, but also for heartache, that God forbids it outside of marriage.
It should be noted here that in today's marital landscape, divorce is a real possibility. However, the Bible says that divorce, on any grounds except for adultery, is a breaking of the marriage vows and of God's purposes for marriage. If couples lived a Godly life, and reflected that life in the way they related to their spouse, divorce rates would be far lower. When someone makes a marriage vow, they should not make it lightly.