Don Beeler, president of ABCD Communications and member of the True Love Waits Team, guest blogs about the need for the True Love Waits emphasis on college campuses:
An August 3 article in Inside Higher Education provides some sad and startling findings about sexual trends on college campuses. According to the author, dating is basically a thing of the past as most students are more interested in short-term sexual encounters or one-night stands. You can read the article here: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/08/03/reimold
The visiting assistant professor interviewed seemed to have no problem with this trend, and he spoke approvingly about the way in which “student journalism is leading the way on coverage of sexual issues in this country.”
While acknowledging that emotional disconnection, loneliness and lack of a stable lifestyle are consequences of such behavior, the moral and health issues associated with pre-marital sex are conspicuously absent in the article.
It’s no secret that widespread pre-marital sex results in severe economic and social costs, though it seems we hear less and less about these costs. Pre-marital sex also is the source of much personal pain to teenagers and their families because it violates God’s design for sex.
Giving students a positive message about the benefits of remaining abstinent until marriage promotes healthy lives and helps them live the way God intended. And that’s why I think True Love Waits is more important than ever.
Despite a constant bombardment of sexually explicit messages from society and enormous peer pressure to become sexually active, an underreported story is the way many young people are choosing to swim against the cultural tide and remain virgins until marriage. They are to be commended for their courage and convictions, and need to be supported every way possible.
True Love Waits not only provides support, but also resources a strategy to generate positive peer pressure by encouraging those who make a commitment to refrain from pre-marital sex to challenge their peers to do the same.
The spiritual aspect is what distinguishes True Love Waits from many other abstinence programs. It is this foundation of faith in Jesus Christ that, more than anything else, helps young people avoid the easy route of instant gratification.
A love for God that pursues Him and His ways with all one’s heart makes it possible for young people to not only wait to have sex until marriage, but also to develop a lifelong commitment to honoring Him by pursuing purity in all areas of life.
Don Beehler is a public relations consultant to True Love Waits.