Hello,<\/p>\n
My girlfriend and I, are both Christians. and we consider our relationship to be serious because our ultimate goal is to get married. We have been in the relationship for over 2 years, and everything was great as a Christian couple, but a few months ago we started indulging phone sex\/sexting. We understand and know that it is sinful, and it is something that we have repented of and have made it right with God.<\/p>\n
My questions are:<\/p>\n
I frequently hear from people who have sinned who seem to believe that they must punish themselves in some manner before they feel that they are truly forgiven. The core problem is that because they were involved in the sin, they are biased in regards to what needs to be done to rectify the situation and often are too harsh on themselves.<\/p>\n
What you and your girlfriend did was wrong. It violates what Paul stated,<\/p>\n
“But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them<\/em>” (Ephesians 5:3-7).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
You repented of your sins, which means you realize it was wrong, you have stopped committing the sin, and you are determined not to allow the sin to happen again. You’ve also asked God for the forgiveness of your sins. This is what God asked you to do. You don’t need to add to His Word. There is no requirement that couples who have sinned must break up or not marry.<\/p>\n
For now, sexual topics are off-limit because they will lead both of you into lust and immoral behavior. You are going to be tempted, but the simple answer to the temptation is “No. We aren’t married yet.”<\/p>\n
If you find that the person you are dating is ignoring the boundaries and continually pushing the relationship into sin, then you need to stop and evaluate whether the person is someone you want to marry. Such a person is demonstrating a serious character flaw that will likely make your life miserable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Hello, My girlfriend and I, are both Christians. and we consider our relationship to be serious because our ultimate goal is to get married. We have been in the relationship for over 2 years, and everything was great as a Christian couple, but a few months ago we started indulging phone sex\/sexting. We understand…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[149,443,770],"class_list":["post-26052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-dating","tag-sexting","tag-sexual-talk"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":37955,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/in-a-weak-moment-i-was-sexting-how-do-i-get-back-on-the-right-path\/","url_meta":{"origin":26052,"position":0},"title":"In a weak moment, I was sexting. How do I get back on the right path?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 23, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I need to forgive myself and move on. I have been a Christian for over 30 years and married nearly that long. In a weak moment, I was sex texting with someone I know. I've stopped! But my secret is eating at me and there it will stay.\u00a0 Can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38929,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-behaved-so-badly-with-my-former-girlfriend-that-i-think-i-should-remain-single-for-the-rest-of-my-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":26052,"position":1},"title":"I behaved so badly with my former girlfriend that I think I should remain single for the rest of my life","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Minister, Recently I broke up with my girlfriend, but now I am experiencing guilt because I engaged in sexual activity with my ex. We did a lot, except penetrative sex, such as hand jobs, oral, and sexting. Now I feel like I should remain single my whole life\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44407,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-recently-discovered-that-my-daughter-is-sexting-with-a-boy\/","url_meta":{"origin":26052,"position":2},"title":"I recently discovered that my daughter is sexting with a boy","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 27, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a Christian. I just found out that my daughter, who is also a Christian and almost 19 years old, is sexting.\u00a0 I found very sexually explicit emails between her and a boy who is supposed to be a Christian as well. This happened a couple of years\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35192,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-started-to-engage-in-sexual-talk-with-an-old-girlfriend-but-i-stopped-do-i-need-to-tell-my-fiancee\/","url_meta":{"origin":26052,"position":3},"title":"I started to engage in sexual talk with an old girlfriend, but I stopped. Do I need to tell my fiancee?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am in a relationship with a wonderful woman. We are engaged to be married. I am a man of God and I am very religious. Recently one of my ex-girlfriends contacted me and wanted me to offer some sexual services over the phone. I felt it was wrong\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39994,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/since-a-couple-cant-get-married-for-a-while-should-they-break-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":26052,"position":4},"title":"Since a couple can’t get married for a while, should they break up?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello sir, I've always found your advice useful and I hope you may help out. There is someone who is in a long-distance relationship. At the beginning of the relationship, the lady went off to college in a different country while the guy stayed behind. At present, she has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40955,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-girlfriend-and-i-committed-fornication-can-we-still-have-a-church-wedding\/","url_meta":{"origin":26052,"position":5},"title":"My girlfriend and I committed fornication. Can we still have a church wedding?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I'm a nearly 30-year-old man. I want to pose a question which I feel embarrassed for doing an ungodly thing in my life. I have been in a relationship since the beginning of the year, and my girlfriend and I were having a physical relationship for more than\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26052\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}