“Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, ‘The two will become one flesh.’ ” (1 Corinthians 6:16)
The Bible seems to teach that when two people have sex, some kind of significant connection is formed, that it’s more than just a physical, biological act. To make that point, Paul quotes from all the way back at the beginning of the Bible in Genesis 2:24: “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.”
Jesus quoted the same passage when he was teaching about divorce in Mark 10: “So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”
God made sex – something I’m really glad he did. But he intended for it to be a physical connection uniting two married people in a way that you do not connect with anyone else. Sex is supposed to be a kind of super glue for marriage. When we “become one” with a prostitute (or anyone else we’re not married to), we’re missing the point of both sex and marriage – and the negative consequences from that can be painful and long-lasting.
Think: What would you say are some of the negative consequences of using sexuality outside of marriage? How does that lessen the positive impact of both sex and marriage?
Pray: Ask God to help you to understand his intentions for both sex and marriage – and to follow them.
Do: Read what Jesus says about marriage, divorce, and sex in Mark 10:1-12.