Don’t Awaken Love Before Its Time

The music pastor of my church one time mentioned that when watching television with his preteen daughter and they see a scene of a boy and girl kissing, he will remind her, “Don’t awaken love before it’s time.”

This comes from Song of Solomon where the daughters of Jerusalem are charged to not awaken love before its time.  This is truly the best way to keep oneself pure and holy before the Lord.

Is this easy for teens and young adults today?  Hardly.  Everything around them screams to do the very opposite.  It has become the norm for couples to live together.  It is no big deal when a woman has a child out of wedlock or a teen girl gets pregnant.  When at one time these were considered “taboo,” they are now no big deal.

And don’t make the mistake of thinking this just happens outside the church.  It happens within the church as well. 

As a parent of two children in middle school and one in high school, this issue weighs heavily on my heart.  The church we attend does a wonderful job teaching my teens about the importance of obeying God’s Word, which includes remaining a virgin until marriage.  However as a parent I still have a responsibility to teach the same to my children.

One of the best ways parents can teach their children is through example.  If I am sitting down and watching a movie or a television show where there is adultery or fornication, am I not promoting the very thing I don’t ever want to see my children participate in?

Do I dismiss the idea of a couple living together just so that they can make sure it will work?  Do I shrug my shoulders when I hear of another teen girl who has become pregnant?  Or do I use those as examples to my children to remind them not to awaken love before its time?

It is up to us as parents to be the example and to keep the communication lines open.  We need to be aware of what our children are doing, who they are hanging out with and where they are going. 

We can’t always be there to police them and we can’t keep them in a bubble but we most certainly can strive to instill in them the importance of not awakening love before its time.