Sex is the most scandalous, sinful, shameful thing in the world…so be sure to save it for someone you love!

If we’re honest, this is the mindset of far too many Christians, whether we recognize it or not.  Most of us were raised by well-intentioned parents and church leaders who wanted the best for us, so they attempted to “sanitize” our thinking about all things sexual.

For example, growing up I heard more than a few sermons or youth group lessons about how destructive sex can be . . . how sex should be avoided at all costs . . . how sex is Satan’s favorite tool to use to bring Christians to their knees (and not in a good way).  But I never heard a sermon about how beautiful, powerful, and pleasurable sex within marriage is . . . how a husband and wife should freely indulge in sex as often as possible . . . about how God can reveal Himself through healthy sexual intimacy in ways that absolutely blow our minds (to an even greater degree than the proverbial “mind-blowing” orgasm!).

Another common scenario is that we were raised in families and churches that said nothing at all about sex, leaving us to draw our conclusions mainly from peers, music, magazines, romance novels, TV, and the Internet.  With such teachers, we learned that the human sex drive is about as controllable as a raging waterfall or stoppable as a freight train . . . that if we want to have good, hot sex, we’d better do it while we’re single because once we’re married we won’t be getting any . . . that the “forbidden fruit” of an extramarital affair tastes far sweeter than simply savoring the spouse to whom you’ve committed your life.

So many “sex-negative” messages, so few “sex-positive” messages.  How in the world are we to see sexuality through a crystal-clear lens?  How can we recognize the goodness and perfection of what God had in mind when He created sex in the first place?

That is the challenge of The Passion Principles-and one that I’m grateful to have the opportunity to tackle-because, quite frankly, if Christian couples can’t have phenomenal sex lives given the personal spiritual connection we have with the Author and Originator of sex, then who in the world can?

Excerpted from  The Passion Principles: Celebrating Sexual Freedom in Marriage  by Shannon Ethridge. Copyright 2013.  All Rights Reserved. Published by W Publishing Group, and imprint of Thomas Nelson, Nashville, TN. Used by Permission. Not to be copied without Publisher’s prior written approval.