Keep Passions in Their Proper Place

The definition used here for passion is anything that we have a strong desire for. It could be sports, art, advancement at work, and so on. Often, it is our passions, our strong desires, that lead us to do things contrary to what is best or right. For this reason, it is important to keep them under control. The passion that seems most out of control in the U.S. is sex.

​

We live in a culture that has nearly come to worship sex. It is portrayed in many ways in T.V. shows and movies. The lyrics of songs often refer to it in a number of ways. Advertisements often use some sort of sexually suggestive image or idea to promote products. Teenagers, even children, are often involved sexually through various avenues, including online images or explicit conversation, not to mention the common occurrence of teenage sex. Many girls and women wear clothing that seems to say, “look at me, I’m available for sex!” Stories in fiction books quite often describe sexual encounters, regardless of genre. A story that doesn’t include a sexual encounter seems to be the exception. Pornography has even become a major industry in the United States, especially online. Many are falling into its lure and many are addicted.

​

Is this preoccupation, this obsession with sex a harmless thing? Considering that increased sexual activity with various people can lead to harmful diseases or giving birth to an unwanted child, it would seem obvious that too much focus on sex is probably not ideal. But there are moral consequences as well.

​

According to the Old Testament of the Bible, our creator gave commandments, which include: “Thou shall not kill” and “Thou shall not commit adultery.” Interestingly, they are presented in order, first the one about killing and immediately after, the one about adultery. Each pertains to human life, either taking it or producing it. It would seem that our creator wants us to be careful with human life. It is likely that there are unforeseen consequences if we choose to ignore these commandments, whether we’ve proved it scientifically or not.

​

The main function that sex serves is reproduction, but as our culture has pursued “sexual liberation,” sex has become more of a plaything, just a tool to produce pleasure without consequence. Certainly our creator is not impressed with our attempts to take a beautiful system of reproduction—that he created to produce children and unite their parents—and use it with animal-like abandon.

​

For centuries, the main boundary to keep sex in its proper place has been marriage. In recent years though, that boundary has been torn down and distorted in large measure by our culture. In addition to this main boundary, many (especially the more religious) have established additional protective boundaries that encircle the first one. These include:

  - Clothing that covers the most intimate parts of the body (modest dress)

  - Avoiding conversation and media that are sexual in nature

  - Avoiding spending too much time alone with someone that one finds attractive but is not married to. This includes in person, online, or other communications.

  - Avoiding anything that is sexually stirring or arousing

Although many people have tossed out these boundaries like a pair of old, worn-out shoes, these boundaries are still worthy and necessary for the character of our people and the strength of our nation.