The NIV 365-Day Devotional Reading PlanSample

Sacred Gift

You are a sexual being. You are sexual at your core. How do those statements make you feel? Ashamed? Indifferent? Amazed?

Read

Sexuality is a beautiful part of our God-design. But there are a lot of misunderstandings about sexuality that cause people to feel shameful about their sexuality. Some people have been taught that their sexuality needs to be repressed. Others have already experienced their sexuality in ways that are outside of the boundaries God intended. Others, sadly, have had their sexuality abused by someone.

God wants us to learn about sexuality from him. “The Spirit of truth . . . will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13).

Think

The way we feel when we talk about sexuality usually stems from what we’re taught or not taught by the world and by our Christian subculture. Both usually treat sexuality only in terms of the physical aspects of sex. But we know sexuality is only one piece of a much more elaborate puzzle.

The world teaches that because our sexuality is a defining part of who we are, we should have complete freedom to express it in whatever way we want. But in a broken world, sexuality often becomes whatever makes us feel good — with no boundaries and no consideration for God or for other people.

On the other hand, our church culture most often teaches that sexuality is something we can only experience when we’re married. So we learn to repress our sexuality, to feel shame when we think about it and when desires grow in us. But that’s not God’s intention either.

Live

Sexuality is a God-given part of who you are, and there are aspects of it that you can experience now. It’s a gift to be stewarded by God’s guidance. . . .

Your sexuality is sacred. Most people don’t realize that, so they don’t treat it as sacred. Handling our sexuality is like handling a fragile crystal bowl. You can easily mess it up if you don’t handle it with care. And it’s also very beautiful, so you shouldn’t dismiss it. You should realize that it’s valuable and treat it appropriately.

Taken from NIV The Great Rescue Bible