Take a Public Stand for Purity

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In today’s culture where people are bombarded with messages that encourage promiscuity, Liberty Counsel is encouraging Christians to take a public stand for purity. The 21st annual Day of Purity is a campaign that encourages followers of Jesus Christ to wear white on February 14 to publicly promote abstinence and inspire others to save sexual intimacy for marriage.

The Day of Purity is based on God’s Word that encourages holiness and sexual purity. For example, First Corinthians 6:18-20 says, “Flee sexual immorality. Every other sin that a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought for a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”

While Hollywood and the media may encourage sexual activity without limits, practicing purity before marriage has spiritual, physical, emotional, and social benefits.

Regarding the physical benefits, the benefits of abstinence before marriage include preventing diseases, pregnancies, and even abortions. On average, young people in the United States have sexual intercourse for the first time at about age 17, but do not marry until their mid-20s. An estimated 19 million new cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are diagnosed each year in the United States — almost half of them among young people age 15 to 24. In 2021, unmarried women accounted for 87 percent of all abortions. Young women under 15 years obtained .2 percent of all 2021 abortions, women 15–19 years accounted for 8.1 percent, women 20-24 years accounted for 28.3 percent, and women 25-29 years accounted for 28.7 percent. Women living with a partner to whom they are not married account for 25 percent of abortions.

Regarding the emotional and social benefits of purity, research has shown that couples who delay sexual intimacy until their wedding night have more stability in their marriages and are less likely to divorce than couples who have premarital sex.

In a 2016 Barna Group report, “What Americans Believe About Sex,” 50 percent of U.S. adults agree strongly that “choosing not to have sex outside of marriage is healthy.” However, six in 10 Elders agree strongly as compared to 53 percent of Boomers, 49 percent of Gen-Xers, and 43 percent of Millennials. Practicing Christians are more than twice (72 percent) as likely as adults of no faith (38 percent) to say that choosing not to have sex outside marriage is a healthy choice.

Liberty Counsel Vice President of Media and International Director for the Day of Purity, Holly Meade, said, “The Day of Purity is an opportunity for Christians to take a stand for purity and publicly communicate they will not be influenced by Hollywood’s images and sexual temptations. In today’s culture, we are constantly bombarded with messages luring us to become sexually active at a young age and to experiment with sexual preferences. However, research confirms that practicing purity before marriage has spiritual, physical, emotional, and social benefits. We, as the church, must stand up and be an example as God has called us to be.”

“However, participating in previous sexual intimacy outside of marriage does not exempt someone from this special campaign. Jesus Christ always offers forgiveness and provides a clean start. So, I encourage all single believers to wear white on February 14 and proudly take a public stand for purity,” said Meade.

Learn more at dayofpurity.org and on Facebook.

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