2003 Abstinence Essay Contest 2nd Place   Sarah Eason, 12th grader at Southern Wayne High School is recognized by Dr. Michael Gooden, Board of Health Chairperson and Evelyn Coley, Interim Health Director. Sarah will be attending Wayne Community College in the fall of 2003. She received a $50 gift certificate to Berkeley Mall.

Living in a world filled with promiscuity and explicit television and music, the vast majority of adolescents are conditioned to accept exposure of sexual images and lyrics. However, even among the popular sexual suggestions, there are some adolescents that strongly believe in abstinence.

Many reasons support abstinence. First, from a biblical standpoint, God's will is for one to save themselves for their spouse. People benefit by listening to God. Job 36:9-12 says: "That they have acted defiantly. He also opens their ear to instruction, and commands that they turn from iniquity .If they obey and serve Him, they shall spend their days in prosperity and their years in pleasure." The Lord has good reason that people obey Him. He knew that diseases of the twenty first century would grow out of hand, all because people had no self-control. "But if they do not obey , they shall perish by the sword, and they shall die without knowledge. And their life ends among the perverted persons" (Job 36:14). We should strive to keep our bodies healthy. Even Moses warned Israel of falling into sexual practices of the surrounding culture. In Leviticus 18, he expresses to his people what God said about the dangers of adultery, bestiality, incest, and homosexuality. Christians are supposed to distinguish themselves from among the crowd. One key way to do this is to remain pure until marriage, which prevents heartache, shame, and of course pregnancy and disease.

Sexuality is rooted in deeper things. All sex problems feed into a deeper fantasy of someday being loved perfectly. Unfortunately, many teens today think they will find love in having sex. People are often confused between love and lust. Because people give into their sexual desires, infatuation and physical conquest replace love. Suspicion replaces trust. Once someone is involved with another sexually, all that matters then is pleasing one's self. And once one has had sexual intercourse, the physical pleasure has been established, and it is hard to stop after one mistake. Instead, they seek to find sexual satisfaction where ever and whomever they can find it. (This is one reason diseases have sky rocketed.) With divorce rising, pursuits for short-term passion rather than long term commitment is becoming ever more popular. Sex was not intended to be only about one's self. Sex was made only between husband and wife for expressing genuine love. Because the heart is the ultimate source of sexual pleasure, we know that God is much wiser and that sexuality should not be taken lightly. God knows that the clean, faithful hearts have the most meaningful sex-lives in marriage.

“But it will not be well with the wicked nor will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he doesn't fear God" (Ecclesiastes 8:12-13).

Among the more obvious reasons to abstain from sex before marriage, are the various and frequent diseases, and unwanted pregnancy. A recent Alan Guttmacher Institute claims that one out of every five Americans (56 million people), have sexually transmitted diseases. There are twelve million new cases diagnosed each year. Two thirds of those occur in people under twenty-five and one fourth in teens. AIDS is now the sixth leading cause of death among fifteen to twenty-four year olds. The study of social policy in Washington D.C. documents the “deteriorating status" of adolescents." The report shows that almost nine percent of babies born in 1990 (more than 360,000) were born to single teens. Of all procedures done, abortion takes up a quarter of that. People that have premarital sex are just as likely to have unwanted children as those that do have children. Though all people can be forgiven for their sins, the Lord did not want man to suffer.

Teen parents face many uncertainties concerning a favorable future. Their lives are filled with stress. Successful schooling is not as prominent because homework and study is almost impossible. Jobs are harder to acquire raising a child and the expenses are dreadful. Not to mention long nights awake with a crying baby, and the loss of freedom. Babies are a big attachment. Children need lots of love and attention. However, teen parents are not even old enough themselves to know all that a child needs, or how to get it. They are still children themselves, without a clue of reality .It is vital that people know themselves before they attempt to raise and teach another individual.

God has a design for desire. All things in life illustrate the existence of a creator. Genesis shows that God made humans different from animals. Naturalists propose that there is very little difference between animals and man. It is not surprising that people who see themselves as very similar to the animals behave like animals concerning their sexuality.

Diseases are wide-spread, heartache is torturous, unwanted pregnancies are prominent, abortion is ever increasing, divorce is known to often as the "easy way out" and destroys children's view of a good home-life, and contraceptives are unreliable. The answer is easy: wait until marriage before engaging in any sexual activity.

A wise person senses danger and takes action to avoid trouble" (Proverbs 22:3). Pornography, filthy television, sexually exposing music as well as unwise friends can lead to bad decisions. Perverse thinking leads to perverse actions. Although sometimes the provocative media cannot be avoided, one must be strong in their decision to abstain from sex until marriage. This is the best way to be, in order to avoid those unnecessary evils.