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Tim Keller Answers: Why Is Sex Outside of Marriage So Destructive?

Sex Outside of Marriage So Destructive?

Why is sex outside of marriage so destructive? Tim Keller offers compelling insights.

Few people would doubt that our sexual desires can be extremely powerful. Added to that desire is a surrounding culture that caters to our sexual desires on practically every front. The Christian ethic of abstaining from sex until marriage is one of its most unique and yet difficult ways to live. How can something so natural and powerful be so wrong outside of marriage? Pastor Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian offers this short insight in the following video.

Sex outside of marriage, according to Keller, is a way of receiving fulfillment and pleasure but not actually a giving of oneself. Sex is addictive and like all addictions, the more that you do it the less payoff there will be. Sex then becomes less powerful and therefore less pleasurable. However, sex within marriage becomes sweeter and more powerful because it is more about giving than receiving in this context. Even as married couples get older (and may not look as good as they did when they were younger), sex is still powerful because it hasn’t been devalued within the marriage. Sex within the marriage is a powerful statement of exclusive commitment and faithfulness to the other person.