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_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"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":553,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-question-about-adultery\/","url_meta":{"origin":26052,"position":3},"title":"Does an adulterer have to leave his second marriage in order to repent?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 10, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a friend and I am trying to teach my friend the truth. I found out that he is in an adulterous relationship. His wife was married before but for only one year. The marriage did not end because of fornication. She is now married to my friend.\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":34855,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/sexting-is-associated-with-risky-sexual-behavior\/","url_meta":{"origin":26052,"position":4},"title":"Sexting Is Associated with Risky Sexual Behavior","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 17, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Source:\u00a0Eric Rice, et al, \"Sexually Explicit Cell Phone Messaging Associated with Sexual Risk Among Adolescents,\"\u00a0Pediatrics, 17 September 2012. Source:\u00a0Genevra Pittman, \"\"Sexting\" again linked to risky sex among teens: study,\"\u00a0Reuters, 18 September 2012. Source:\u00a0Genevra Pittman, \"Teen sexting: Strong link to risky sexual behavior,\"\u00a0Christian Science Monitor, 17 September 2012. Basic common sense\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Issues"","block_context":{"text":"Issues","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":45575,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-committed-fornication-will-our-marriage-be-pure\/","url_meta":{"origin":26052,"position":5},"title":"I committed fornication. Will our marriage be pure?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 22, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Please help me. I have committed fornication with my boyfriend. We want to get married. Will our marriage still be pure? The boyfriend I committed fornication with is a married man. We both love God and don't want to depart from His ways, yet we have sinned. Currently, I\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}]}}