Our culture promotes a twisted view of sexuality. We live in a society that attempts to indoctrinate kids from every avenue: TV, social media, music and even public sex education. Our culture is not ashamed to talk about sex; therefore, parents cannot afford to be ashamed to talk about sex.
Parents, here are a few things you can be teaching your children:
- Teach your children that sex is not a bad thing, it is a good gift from our good God (Proverbs 5:18-19, Hebrews 13:4). By teaching your children about purity, you teach them that there is nothing bad or shameful about sex in the way that God ordered it, between a husband and his wife in marriage. The goal of purity is not to get rid of your desire for sex, but to strengthen your self-control to resist impure thoughts and actions. Philippians 4:8 says, "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."
- Model virtue in your own life. How you pursue and model relationships in your own life is a great start to teaching your children about healthy relationships. By modeling virtue, you are providing your children with context for behavior that honors God, each other and yourself.
And of course, be sure to respect your child's latency period. There are ways to instill virtue without destroying your child's innocence with too much information too soon.