During courtship, guarding each other's purity and refraining from intimacy are the acts of lovemaking.

Purity doesn't happen by accident; it requires obedience to God.

True purity, however, is a direction, a persistent, determined pursuit of righteousness. This direction starts in the heart, and we express it in a lifestyle that flees opportunities for compromise.

The doctrine of Scripture teaches us about the authority of God's Word. Scripture must be the final rule of faith and practice for our lives. Not our feelings or emotions. Not signs or prophetic words or hunches.

Every relationship for a Christian is an opportunity to love another person like God has loved us. To lay down our desires and do what's in his or her best interest. To care for him or her even when there's nothing in it for us. To want that person's purity and holiness because it pleases God and protects him or her.

But remember, continuing a wrong relationship only increases the pain when it finally does end.

What we say we believe makes very little difference until we act on our belief