Wednesday Read: The Sexual Revolution's Casualties

Rome, 100 AD. The empire was at its moral nadir—emperors marrying multiple wives, divorce as common as changing clothes, temple prostitution, and sexual exploitation of slaves and children normalized as entertainment. Sound familiar? Into this culture, the apostle Paul wrote some of history's most countercultural words: "Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her" (Ephesians 5:25). In a world where wives were property and sex was conquest, Paul presented marriage as mutual sacrifice, sexual intimacy as sacred covenant, and the human body as a temple of the Holy Spirit.

The modern sexual revolution promised liberation but delivered bondage. Hookup culture has left a generation afraid of commitment. Pornography has rewired brains and destroyed intimacy. Divorce devastates children who never asked for their families to be broken. LGBTQ+ ideology tells children their bodies lie to them about their identity. The very demographics most damaged by sexual chaos—women, children, the vulnerable—were supposed to be its beneficiaries. Instead, we've created a culture where sex is divorced from covenant, pleasure from responsibility, and body from soul.

Scripture offers a radically different vision. Sex isn't just physical pleasure—it's a picture of spiritual union between Christ and his church (Ephesians 5:32). Marriage isn't just a contract—it's a covenant that reflects God's faithfulness to his people. Gender isn't fluid—it's the intentional design of a Creator who made us "male and female" to complement each other and mirror the diversity within the Trinity (Genesis 1:27). Singleness isn't a problem to solve—it's a gift that allows undivided devotion to God (1 Corinthians 7:7).

The early Christians were accused of being prudes, but they were actually the most sexually liberated people in history—liberated from lust, exploitation, and the tyranny of unfulfilled desire. They understood that true sexual freedom comes not from doing whatever feels good, but from expressing sexuality within the boundaries God designed for human flourishing. "Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled" (Hebrews 13:4)—sexuality within covenant is sacred, not shameful.

How has the sexual revolution influenced your understanding of relationships, marriage, and your own body? Where have you bought into cultural lies about sexual freedom while enslaving yourself to patterns that destroy intimacy and covenant? God's design for sexuality isn't restrictive—it's protective, creating space for vulnerability, trust, and joy that casual encounters can never provide.