I have an inspiring book to share with you today called Love, Honor, and Virtue: Gaining or Regaining a Biblical Attitude Toward Sexuality from Great Waters Press.
Love, Honor, and Virtue:
Gaining or Regaining a Biblical Attitude Toward Sexuality
Softcover Paperback Book
96 Pages
Teens through Adults
Biblical sexuality,
Christian Marriage Education
Purity
Retails: $9.75 book (other versions available)
About the book:
Moral purity is more difficult today than ever before because of the advancement of technology and the backsliding of our culture. Today’s generations face a difficult battle in the fight for moral purity.
Even though temptation has been here from the beginning of time, the generations alive today are being hunted, lured, and trapped by satan to sin against God. Men and boys today are being exposed and ensnared by technology (smart phones, computers, TV’s, DVD’s, movies, etc) in their pocket, technology on their desk, technology in their living rooms and bedrooms, in music, on billboards as they drive, and sex stores and in sexual marketing of products that didn’t exist in previous generations.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- To The Young Men on the Battlefield
- Sex Was God’s Idea
- It’s All Connected
- The Enemy Perverts God’s Design
- How Can A Young Man Keep His Way Pure?
- Recovering From A Fall
- Guys and Girls
- The Road Ahead
This book is very direct. It talks about some hard subjects for some people to talk about including pornography, sex, masturbation and others. It is written for teens (and their parents) and men. There is a need to have conversations as early as possible with the younger generation to get them prepared for the battle ahead. This book gives a Biblical world view to the problems in this battle:
- Understand God’s design, from biology to morality.
- Navigate the cultural minefield.
- Build a foundation for Christ-honoring relationships.
- Find hope for recovery if they’ve stumbled.
What we thought about this book:
We were sent an autographed copy of Love, Honor, and Virtue for the purpose of this review. This book is well written and speaks directly to young men and the problems they face in their journey to manhood. Christian parents will gain a lot of insight to help their sons avoid the traps that satan has set in their path.
We are the parents of five boys and one girl. We have been open with them about moral dilemmas and problems people face with purity and honoring Father God with a pure heart and sexual purity until marriage. When ever things in our culture are contrary to what Father God has told us, we point this out and discuss it with our kids. They are aware of their surroundings, aware of the internet, and aware of the tricks satan uses to lure their flesh and hearts desires and how he traps people in their sin and idol worship.
Recently we took a trip to the beach and a battle for sexual purity played out right in front of us. Our kids already know what to expect at the beach, there are sometimes teen girls, women and men at the beach who intentionally show their body, flirt, and want attention and usally someone at the beach is drinking of alcohol. There are many women and girls (and boys and men) that don’t do these things, but there are also many there that do.
Sometimes we intentionally go later in the day and we try to avoid spring break and college breaks as much as possible when there are less of these folks there and more grandparents and families at the beach. It is usually a much more wholesome situation and you can just relax and have fun.
But on this recent trip, part way into our time at the beach, there appeared a young woman in a peach colored bikini and she began posing for pictures and sending them on social media. She intentionally chose to be next to us, most likely because of our teen boys. There was plenty of other beach she could have chosen. She commenced to posing in perverted poses for over an hour. Our family tried to ignore her, to stay further in the water and face out to sea as much as possible. We had been having fun for a good hour or more before she showed up. But it was impossible to ignore her if we turned toward the beach or had to get out of the water to retrieve a drink of water from our bag.
Usually one adult stays near our bag, towels, shoes, and near the edge of the water to keep an eye on everything, while the other adult goes deeper into the water with the kids who want to swim and we trade off as needed. Sometimes one or more of this kids is more interested in digging in the sand or building a sand castle than in swimming or just needs to take a break. So it helps to have a parent near by to watch the one (s) out of the water as well as have a parent in the water with the others.
There are no life guards at the beach. So having one parent stay a little farther back to see the big picture is helpful. On this particular day, three men on three separate stretches of beach drowned between 10 am and 2 pm, right in the middle of the day. We were there later in the day and didn’t learn of drownings until the following day. It is a sad reality and there is risk involved when you swim in the ocean. So it helps to have one parent stand back and see everyone’s head pop back up if a big wave crashes over one or more of the family.
This young woman intentionally chose to be right there in front of us doing repulsive poses. She never went swimming. She was clearly there for a provocative photo shoot at the edge of the water. For some poses she opened her legs, other poses she pushed up her breasts and leaned back while arching her back and pointing her breasts to the sky, other poses she leaned forward for her butt and crotch in the air to be exposed in provocative poses. There were two adults (looked like they could be around age 55 to 60) with her and they encouraged her to pose and helped take her pictures and critique them, and with their support she posted them on social media on her phone. Instead of discouraging provocative behavior, they encouraged it. This entire scenario seemed straight out of a low budget movie and had she not had that small string covering the very little that it did, it would have been porn with the beach by no stretch of the imagination.
At first I was upset. Why God? Why expose my family to this? Why allow this on the day we came to the beach, when we try so hard to teach the kids right and wrong and honor you? Why this young woman who needs you more than fame or modeling or sleazy attention from gross men who are just going to get their 10 minutes of fun and leave her used, broken, and neglected? I wanted to go and speak to her and to the adults with her and tell her God loves her and she shouldn’t be showing her body like this. But my husband wouldn’t let me go say anything this time.
Why now? Well I felt Father God remind me of the book I was reading about Love, Honor, and Virtue. He reminded me of the fight for righteousness that I am in as I walk through this life and he is with me, I am not alone. I cannot protect anyone from these tricks of satan. Only He can protect them and provide the way of escape. But I can prepare the kids for the battle for their eyes, hearts, minds, and body. Being prepared is huge! Don’t be caught off guard. The kids can see the truth and it is the truth that sets them free! It really drove home the message that you don’t have to be remain naive to satan’s schemes and become a victim in this life. You can be a well prepared equipped warrior in this life.
Satan will use anyone who is willing to do his dirty work and he will trap anyone caught unaware. He will leave victims on both sides. We fight not against flesh and blood, but we fight against the rulers of darkness and evil spirits in high places.
I felt sorry for that young woman and the adults with her. They need God! They need prayer! They need set free from the grip of satan! But I also felt rejuvenated. We are talking about it, praying, learning scripture and applying it. We can fight temptation with weapons Father God has provided, even in the moment temptation rears it’s weapons, and with Father’s help we can win the sexual purity battle!
About the Authors:
Hal and Melanie Young are the homeschool parents of six boys and two girls and live in North Carolina. They have written several books including Raising Real Men. They are authors, publishers, writers, church and conference speakers. They have become well loved in the Christian Homeschool Community.
Here is a short interview video with the authors about opportunities to teach purity to your kids:
More about the Raising Ream Men ministry resources:
Final Thoughts
Every family needs the information in this book and to put it into action.
I would encourage homeschool families with kids of all ages and especially teens to get this book and talk about it with your family. This book would also make a great course for churches, college groups, and bible study groups.
Social Media
Facebook: http://facebook.com/raisingrealmen @raisingrealmen
http://facebook.com/halandmelanie @halandmelanie
Instagram: http://instagram.com/raisingrealmen
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/raisingrealmen @raisingrealmen
Twitter: http://twitter.com/raisingrealmen @raisingrealmen
Homeschool Review Crew
Be sure to check out what others on the Homeschool Review Crew had to say about using this product in their home.
