THAUREYMEI 2:24

Whenever someone asks us if we believe in premarital sex we respond by saying “yes and no.” It’s a confusing answer at first, but it gives us an opportunity to make an important point. God affirms our sexuality as human beings and we ­can’t suddenly become asexual. For this reason, we believe in premarital sexuality. We are quick to follow up, however, by saying that having genital sex before marriage is clearly not in line with God’s principles. 

Marriage comes with great joys and great challenges. One of the reasons for the challenges is because we have lost sight of the Biblical purpose of marriage. We have removed God and defined marriage in terms of happiness. But marriage exists to glorify God by expanding His reach throughout the world. In this five-day reading plan, Dr. Tony Evans takes you on a journey of kingdom marriage.

As New York pastor Rich Villodas defines it, a deeply formed life is a life marked by integration, intersection, intertwining, and interweaving, holding together multiple layers of spiritual formation. This kind of life calls us to be people who cultivate lives with God in prayer, move toward reconciliation, work for justice, have healthy inner lives, and see our bodies and sexuality as gifts to steward.

Strong marriages don’t just develop automatically. Our hope is that you’ll discover the attitudes, the values and the habits that are needed to build a healthy and strong marriage that will last a lifetime. This 5-day plan is adapted from The Pre-Marriage Course created by Nicky and Sila Lee, authors of The Marriage Book.