“In a world where “virgin” is deemed a dirty word and “slut” worn as a badge of honor, most people today don’t see sexual purity as something sacred worth fighting for. Sadly, many are seduced into believing a lie … one that says sex is “no big deal.” Abstinence is about as archaic in our culture as a cassette tape. It’s now considered a given that young people are sexually active and while many in the church try to ignore this fact, the sad reality is this: young Christian men and women are statistically just as sexually active as their non-Christian peers.” — Marian Jordan Ellis
This month at the Patheos Book Club, we’re featuring a new book by author and speaker Marian Jordan Ellis called Sex and the Single Christian Girl: Fighting for Purity in a Rom-Com World. Jordan writes from her own experience, from a place of having “been there” — living the life of a “Sex in the City” kind of gal — before befriending Jesus in her mid-20s and walking a path of sexual purity from then until her marriage at age 38.
But it wasn’t easy … and as she struggled, she realized she wasn’t alone. As she researched her book, she interviewed hundreds of faithful Christian women, women who said they “knew better,” but were failing again and again. She wrote this book for all of those girls and women like her, who want to honor God with their bodies and leave sexual temptation behind, for good.
I spoke with Marian this week about her book, and the rom-com world that makes it so hard for women to take sexuality – and their purity – seriously.