Talking About Sex
Is talking to your kids about sex more awkward for you or for them. It probably depends on their age and your family dynamics. Unfortunately, nobody else seems uncomfortable talking to you or your kids about sex—and just like everyone else on the planet, your kids are usually willing to listen.
Of course, God’s Word also has a message or two on the topic. This week, we’re pulling our talking points from 1 Corinthians 6, in which Paul seems to be answering questions from a group of Christians asking, “What’s the big deal? Isn’t it just a normal, physical act? Haven’t we been freed from the Law? Why not just do what comes naturally? Why would God care what I do with my own body?”
These are the same questions a lot of Christian teens we’ve met are asking. And the best they could hope for is to get good answers from God’s Word and a parent or two. Maybe a few of the following questions will help facilitate that conversation with your student.
Talking Points
- Does it make you uncomfortable to talk about sex with your parent(s)? Why or why not?
- Does it make you uncomfortable to watch conversations about sex happen in TV shows or movies?
- Do you feel awkward talking about it at school or with friends?
- How would you describe the standards for sexual activity you see in most movies, TV shows, and popular music? How do most fictional characters decide if and when to have sex?
- How would you describe the standards—or rules for sex—that most of your friends or peers have? Or do you think most people just kind of decide as they go along?
- How would you describe your own standards for sex?
- How would you describe the Bible’s rules for sex between unmarried and married people? What passages do you think those rules comes from?
- Paul also writes that when we participate in sexual immorality—having sex with someone we’re not married to—we can become mastered or controlled by sexuality. Have you noticed people who seem to be controlled by sex, who can’t seem to think or talk about anything else? Why do you think that happens so much ?
- Almost every healthy person alive is interested in sex, and God made us. Clearly, there’s nothing wrong with being interested in sex or experiencing sexual desire. What are some other desires for good things that must also be controlled?
- Do you think it is ever true for us to say that we are not capable of controlling our desires or attractions?
- Do you think it really matters to God what you do with your body? Why or why not?
- In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul writes that for Christians, our bodies are “members of Christ himself.” Do you ever think of your body as being part of Christ’s “body”? What do you think that means?
- Paul warns that when we unite our body to someone else sexually, as Christians we are uniting a part of Christ to that person. Should that change how we think about sex?
- Paul even goes so far as to say that we do not own our own bodies. God bought them with Jesus’ blood and sent His Spirit to live in us as a kind of temple. Does the idea that our bodies belong to Him bother you? What would be the consequences for us if God had not purchased us with Jesus’ blood?
- Do you think God cares what we do with our bodies? Do you think it’s possible to have any kind of sexual experience without creating some kind of a consequence?
- How does participating in sexual immorality harm us?
- What’s the most difficult thing about maintaining sexual purity until marriage? What makes it easier?
- Paul says we should run away from sexual immorality. What are some practical ways we can do that?
- What are some ways we make temptation more difficult for ourselves by not running away?
- Are there any things we could do as parents or as a family to help you to maintain a commitment to sexual purity?
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