Chad Carter

The Hard Way Chad Carter

TV, movies, music, advertising, the Internet . . . . It seems that no matter where we turn today, we are bombarded with images and depictions of sex, and it is not presented from a biblical perspective. The Bible tells us in I Corinthians 6:16 that "he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her," and exhorts us in verse 18 to "flee sexual immorality" because it is the one sin that man commits "against his own body." And in I Thessalonians 4:3, we are told, "For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality." Three teenagers-Justin Conner, Jaina Payton, and Jerri Daniel-must learn to live by these biblical principles in a world in which people strive to do whatever they want with no regard to the consequences. They must learn to live pure, clean, and undefiled lives in a culture that scoffs at that ideal and a society that promotes sexual immorality as normal, even healthy. But as Jerri points out, "Society may say that sex outside of marriage is okay, but nobody ever says anything about the emotional, physical, or spiritual baggage that goes along with it." These three teens, their families, and their friends learn that they have to live with the consequences that can come from a life of sexual immorality. Through the hard times, they must learn to lean on each other, and on God. They must learn to accept and share the love of Jesus Christ, no matter how difficult it may be to do so. Sometimes it's easy to do the right thing, to do what God calls us to do, and sometimes it's not. It's in those moments, when we make mistakes, that we are truly defined and learn to be better people. God uses even our biggest failures to bring us closer to Him. This is what Justin, Jaina, and Jerri must learn. Even if they have to learn the hard way.