Please Note: This
blog is not suitable for young children due to the topic discussed.
If Jesus is enough,
then why ….
Have 6% of all U.S. high school students had sexual
intercourse before age 13. *
Are 5% of 12-year-olds, 10% of 13-year-olds and 20% of 14-year-olds sexually
active. ** (When you consider that less
than half of 12- to 14-year-olds have ever been on a date, these numbers are
staggering. **)
Have 10% of girls
said they would have sex to satisfy curiosity, and another 10% said they would
have sex to satisfy sexual desires.**
Do almost 615,000 U.S. women aged 15–19
become pregnant each year. ***
Are
65% of girls are
sexually active by their senior year.
It would seem that
at least in America, our teenage girls do not believe
that Jesus is actually enough.
that Jesus is actually enough.
I’ve been asked many
times, “Why do you teach so many lessons on relationships? Isn’t teaching the girls “Jesus”, enough? He’s all that we need, so why try to address
the relationship topic. Clearly the issue is that girls need to love Jesus
more.”
Maybe it’s because
I’ve seen way too many great girls date a mistake. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen
10 too many girls cry over a romantic decision that cost far more than they
ever wanted to pay. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen heartbreak after heartbreak
after heartbreak.
Maybe it’s because
it’s taken me this long to be brave enough to be honest.
But no, in regards
to the way you’re asking the question, for most of our teenage girls, “Jesus”
isn’t enough.
Here’s what I mean
by that: If a girl doesn’t know how to
transform theology into practicality, then the reality is, for her, Jesus is not enough.
Instead, she turns
to a boy to fill the lonely void in her heart that has never been filled.
Most of us don’t
have the smallest idea of what these teenage girls battle on a regular basis,
but we think we do and we think by telling them “Jesus is enough” they will
magically no longer want a boyfriend, no longer desire sexual attention, no
longer make a decision that they will later regret.
But the brutal and
harsh reality is this:
It’s not that
simple.
Jesus won’t be
enough for these girls until they know who Jesus is and why He is worth the
loneliness, heartache, and feelings of rejection. So many times, we’re actually
telling girls that a total stranger is “enough”.
The only way that Jesus becomes enough is
when we, the moms, sisters, mentors, girls ministers, introduce them and enable them to get to know
Jesus. The deeper-than-Sunday-school
version of Jesus.
The Jesus that has
held me while I cried.
The Jesus that has
promised me a life worthy of living.
The Jesus that has
walked with me through days that no one else has been present for.
The Jesus that has
made the Bible come alive.
The Jesus that
became my best friend.
Then and only then
we will find ourselves hearing girls say to other girls “Jesus is enough. I
know that doesn’t make sense now, and may not even be true for you. But let me tell you
how it became true for me.”
In the meantime, for
the girls who haven’t yet learned that Jesus is enough, I will keep warning girls about bad relationships.
I will keep telling moms the severity of sexual activity in junior high and
high school. I will keep fighting the battle that is the foremost reason girls
make life-changing mistakes: the battle of relationships.
And I will use that platform to show the girls that the simple yet confusing truth
is that Jesus can be enough.
If you are in the Houston area, please click here for information about my upcoming event at Sagemont Church on this topic.
*http://advocatesforyouth.org/storage/advfy/documents/adolescent-sexual-behavior-demographics.pdf
**http://www.citizenlink.com/2010/06/17/teen-sexual-behavior-quick-facts/
****2015-porn-stats-covenant-eyes.pdf
