True Love Waits

"Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that each of you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God... For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life." I Thessalonians 4:1-5, 7

This was the Scripture which introduced the "True Love Waits" ceremony at church on Wednesday. It was a beautiful event, with Scripture, worship music and promises made by both students and parents alike. Jay, our youth minister, exhorted everyone to live a life of purity, one that uses "extreme caution" in regard to holiness and purity. The girls were all given red roses, and the guys, white roses.

After praying together as families, we were encouraged to go to the front of the worship center. Bowls of water were placed on tables at the front. To symbolize our desire for purity in our lives, we washed each other's hands, and then placed water on the foreheads of our children.

After reciting the following pledge, parents gave their children a ring or necklace, which represents their commitment.

"Believing that true love waits, I make a commitment to God, myself, my family, my friends, my future mate, and my future children to a lifetime of purity including sexual abstinence from this day until the day I enter a biblical marriage relationship."

Rebecca, Cara, Carrie

Beautiful girl

Nikki, Rebecca, Jay