Consider what is happening in the United States. That country now has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in the industrialized world—some 850,000 each year. Many of the babies who escape being aborted are born to unwed mothers. No doubt, a number of these young mothers do their best to raise their children with love and discipline, and some succeed. However, the cold facts are that the sons of teen mothers are more likely to end up in prison and that the daughters are more likely to become teen mothers themselves. After reviewing statistics of the past several decades, researcher Robert Lerman wrote: “The shift toward single-parent families may have contributed to a higher incidence of other social problems, such as higher rates of school dropouts, of alcohol and drug use, of adolescent pregnancy and childbearing, and of juvenile delinquency.â€
Those who are sexually promiscuous also face major health risks, both physical and mental. For example, the journal Pediatrics reports: “Data suggest that sexually active adolescents are at high risk for depression and suicide.†Regarding other health dangers, the American Social Health Association states: “More than half of all people [in the United States] will have an STD [sexually transmitted disease] at some point in their lifetime.†Think of the heartache and suffering that could be avoided if the Bible’s practical counsel regarding sex were followed!
Sexual morality: “He that practices fornication is sinning against his own body.†(1Â*Cor. 6:18) “Anyone committing adultery with a woman .Â*.Â*. is bringing his own soul to ruin.†(Prov. 6:32) (Regarding homosexuality, see Romans 1:24-27.) (Illicit sexual relations may, at the moment, seem pleasurable. But they lead to loathsome diseases, unwanted pregnancy, abortion, jealousy, a disturbed conscience, emotional turmoil, and certainly the disapproval of God, upon whom our prospects for future life depend.)