Waiting seemed like a wussy thing to do. . . . But what if I was fooling myself? What if the truly risky thing was having the guts to believe that someone out there was the one for me physically—and emotionally?It's hard to make decisions about dating and purity. At 13 the decision was pretty simple to me. I grew up in a Christ-following family with loving parents. I learned that God loves me more than any human ever could, and that being Jesus' girl was way more important than being some guy's girl. But, not every girl has parents like mine or a growing up like mine. And really, making the decisions might be the easy part. Living those decisions is much harder.
In The Bare Naked Truth, author Bekah Hamrick Martin speaks honestly about understanding God's design for sex, waiting for sex until marriage, and seeking forgiveness and healing from past mistakes. Bekah has a great sense of humor that makes the topic less awkward than it could be. She very successfully combines others' stories with her own to give a more well-rounded view and less one-sided perspective. This is a bit grittier than other "purity books" I've read because it speaks openly about lust, sexual abuse, and masturbation, topics that need to be talked about but are often glossed over or completely ignored.
I love that the book focuses on God filling the void that we often try to fill with relationships, and that, though we may have made mistakes in the past or experienced the harsh realities of a messed-up world, God can heal our broken hearts and bodies and make us new. I may be leaving my teenage years behind, but these are truths that I still need reminded of often.
The Bare Naked Truth fills a gap in Christian literature, encouraging purity but also talking truthfully about the struggles we face and the forgiveness we can find in Christ. There is no condemnation here, but love and hope, and that's something books on waiting could use a lot more of. I highly recommend this book to any girl struggling to make a decision about waiting and purity, or to any girl who has already made the decision but needs some encouragement.
When you give your heart, mind, body, and soul to Jesus, your attempts to run toward his best for you will succeed. His plans for you are for good and not for evil—to give you hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).
Connect With Bekah
The Bare Naked Truth: Dating, Waiting, and God's Purity Plan
Bekah Hamrick Martin
Zondervan
May 7, 2013
192 pages
0310734029
Many, many thanks to the author for sending me a copy of this book!
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