This is a continuation of the review of our sex and relationships series entitled "The Line"  You should also read Weeks 1 and 2 as well.

Ok, this was the big week. This is the week that we talk directly about sex. In fact I made it a point to say the word sex as much as possible. (45 times in 35 minutes according to one middle schooler). The reason is because the church has often messed up this topic. Growing up I heard preachers say that sex was bad. There were also times in life where the church didn't mention sex at all. On the other hand culture never stopped talking about it.

Culture is actually pretty sex crazed right now. You know this if you've watched tv or been on the internet recently. All of the ads are sexually charged (not to mention the plots of almost every show) If the church doesn't talk about sex then our students will grow up in a vacuum. This is why we do this series.

I've had numerous students over the years ask me I know I'm supposed to wait but I have no clue why. This talk was focused on why God says to wait. We looked at 3 Hebrew words for Love. Yes 3 words for love. In English we ruin words by giving one word multiple meanings. look at the following sentences.

I love my wife.

I love tacos.

Does the word "love" mean the same in both sentences? For my wife's sake, let's hope not. The Hebrew uses different words to describe the different levels of loves. Let's take a look.

Raya - strong friendship love.

Ahava- marital love, a love so deep that in can only be made in a commitment before God.

Dod - let's just say, the Greek version of this word is Eros which gives us the word erotic. Use your imagination on this one.

We talked about how God designed us to desire each of these. But the loves are only the strongest if used how God designed them. When someone meets someone and they start dating they develop Raya first. When they decide to  make the commitment of marriage before God they have Ahava. When that commitment before God is complete they move on to Dod. God designed these to be a progression. It adds a spiritual element to sex.

If you have Dod without the other two it's not as satisfying. So we come to the point that sex is most satisfying in a healthy marriage that has plenty of raya and ahava as well.

A couple of students illustrated this point in a skit. The went to a restaurant and ordered steak which was the best thing on the menu. After a few minutes they complained about how long the wait was. A few minutes later they talk about leaving. Right then the girl pulls out two cans of spam and says, "no worries, we can eat now"

The spam would still have fed them and would have given them some nourishment, but it's not the best for them. God's design gives us steak. Anything outside of that is like spam.

Homework (instead of questions)

1. Watch tv with your student. When you see something about sex in an advertisement or tv show, have a conversation with them about the topic. You might be surprised by what they pick up!