{"id":62506,"date":"2023-09-06T11:03:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-06T16:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=62506"},"modified":"2023-09-06T11:14:40","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T16:14:40","slug":"it-takes-only-one-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/it-takes-only-one-time\/","title":{"rendered":"It Takes Only One Time"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>by David Weaks<\/p>\n<p>Children used to be taught by their parents that sex is reserved for marriage (Hebrew 13:4; I Corinthians 7:1-9), but this doctrine is no longer universally respected. Abstinence is ridiculed by society as archaic and unreasonable. The error of this new attitude cannot be overstated. It is just plain old foolish and ignorant (II Timothy 2:23)! God said to &#8220;flee fornication&#8221; (I Corinthians 6:18), which means sex before marriage, even once, is a sin against God. Eternal punishment is the price for a few minutes of lust (Romans 6:23).<\/p>\n<h2>Premarital sex also carries with it many life altering and even deadly consequences.<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Pregnancy<\/strong> &#8211; A few minutes of pleasure can leave your life in ruins, and your joyful plans a mere memory. Adulthood is incredibly hard, and adding a baby makes it exponentially harder. A baby is not a toy or a pet. It is a human being who will depend on you for roughly two decades. You will be a parent, and you won&#8217;t be ready for it.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sexually Transmitted Diseases<\/strong> &#8211; You can get an STD and die after one sexual encounter. This is not fear-mongering, it is true.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Emotional Trauma<\/strong> &#8211; No teenager is ready for the emotional upheaval that accompanies human sexuality. God intended for sex in marriage to weld two people together as &#8220;one flesh&#8221; (Genesis 2:24). The emotions involved are that powerful. When sex occurs outside of marriage, it always changes a person for the worse.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Damage to Your Future Marriage<\/strong> &#8211; It is a near certainty that the sexually inexperienced mate in a marriage will become jealous of the other&#8217;s prior relationships. The experienced mate will likely feel guilt for having surrendered his purity before marriage. Premarital sex also creates an unrealistic view of the marriage bed. Many marriages cannot survive this baggage.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sex Before Marriage Is Theft!<\/strong> &#8211; A young man who coerces his girlfriend into sex steals her virginity, robbing her of the purity she had been carefully saving for her wedding night. Even if the two young fornicators marry each other, the theft still occurs. Sexual purity, once it is given away, is gone forever.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Think, young people. It only takes one time to ruin everything! Parents, make your sons and daughters think!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by David Weaks Children used to be taught by their parents that sex is reserved for marriage (Hebrew 13:4; I Corinthians 7:1-9), but this doctrine is no longer universally respected. Abstinence is ridiculed by society as archaic and unreasonable. The error of this new attitude cannot be overstated. It is just plain old foolish and&hellip;<\/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,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1572],"class_list":["post-62506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-fornication"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":67720,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-you-explain-i-corinthians-616-17\/","url_meta":{"origin":62506,"position":0},"title":"Can you explain I Corinthians 6:16-17?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 20, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day I have a question and would like some advice. A bit of background leading to the question: I was a fake Christian, committed fornication, and knew it displeased God, but I didn't really know Christ at the time. But someone came and preached repentance. I decided to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43392,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-sex-before-marriage-be-encouraged-in-christianity\/","url_meta":{"origin":62506,"position":1},"title":"Should sex before marriage be encouraged in Christianity?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 21, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Should sex before marriage be encouraged in Christianity? Answer: \"Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44718,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-rededicated-my-life-after-committing-fornication-will-god-reject-me-if-we-have-sex-again-just-before-our-marriage\/","url_meta":{"origin":62506,"position":2},"title":"I rededicated my life after committing fornication. Will God reject me if we have sex again just before our marriage?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 19, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Sir, I was a backslider for about two years. While in that state I was ready to marry, but I didn't have any girl to marry. Then I was introduced to a girl by my sister. She is my sister's friend and they work in the same company. We\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46502,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-we-already-married-because-we-committed-fornication-what-happens-to-the-baby-that-was-conceived\/","url_meta":{"origin":62506,"position":3},"title":"Are we already married because we committed fornication? What happens to the baby that was conceived?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Praise the Lord! I have a fiancee. We were both born-again Christians, but we fell into the sin of sex. Due to that sin, my fiancee is now pregnant. Initially, some advised us to have an abortion, but we didn't do that because we knew it was a sin.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33478,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-sinning-permitted-if-it-serves-a-greater-purpose\/","url_meta":{"origin":62506,"position":4},"title":"Is sinning permitted if it serves a greater purpose?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 26, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How do we reconcile Hosea 1:2, and I Corinthians 6:15-18? Is sinning permitted if it serves a greater purpose? e.g. Robin Hood scenario, etc. What makes something a \"sin outside the body\" compared to \"against own body\", e.g. gluttony, etc. Answer: You appear to be assuming that Hosea sinned\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37394,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-divorce-only-allowed-during-the-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":62506,"position":5},"title":"Is divorce only allowed during the engagement?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 27, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Regarding\u00a0How could a woman in an adulterous marriage have the right to remarry after a divorce?\u00a0I believe there is something very important you are missing. Matthew was written to a\u00a0Jewish\u00a0readership, Mark and Luke were written for a\u00a0Gentile readership. As you know from the nativity story, Joseph was betrothed to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","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\/62506","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=62506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62506\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}