Love, Sex, and Lasting Relationships , livre ebook

Baker Publishing Group - Chip Ingram

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114 pages

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God wants his children to have a lasting relationship and great sex--the results of a deep, meaningful love that is rooted in commitment. Now updated and with a fresh new cover, Love, Sex, and Lasting Relationships helps readers walk a path to true love that is more fulfilling than they ever imagined. "There's a better way to find love, stay in love, and grow in intimacy for a lifetime," says Chip Ingram. It's God's way. Whether single or married, happy or searching for hope, readers will discover that by following God's prescription, they can create a love that lasts.

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Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	30 décembre 2014
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781441222442
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0461€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

© 2002, 2015 by Chip Ingram
Published by Baker Books
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakerbooks.com
Ebook edition created 2015
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means for example, electronic, photocopy, recording without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4412-2244-2
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com
Scripture quotations labeled NASB are from the New American Standard Bible®, copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations labeled NIV 1984 are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com
Scripture quotations labeled NKJV are from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled NLT are from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled TLB are from The Living Bible , copyright © 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
I dedicate this book to Dave and Polly Marshall, who taught me by their lives and words how to do relationships God’s way.
Thank you, Dave, for modeling personal purity and integrity.
Thank you for letting me watch you date your wife, even after you had four children.
And thank you for listening to my struggles and even sharing a few of your own.
My marriage and family are a part of your spiritual legacy for the glory of God.
Contents
Cover 1
Title Page 3
Copyright Page 4
Dedication 5
Acknowledgments 9
Introduction 11
1. Hollywood’s Formula for Lasting, Loving Relationships 21
2. Two Models for Lasting Relationships 43
3. God’s Prescription for Lasting Relationships 61
4. Before You “Fall in Love” 83
5. How to Know If You’re in Love: Twelve Tests 107
6. Love and Sex: Knowing the Difference Makes All the Difference 135
7. Why Only One? 159
8. How to Say Yes to Love and No to Second-Rate Sex 179
9. The Romance of Purity 205
10. Answering God’s Wake-Up Call to the “Second Sexual Revolution” 225
Conclusion: Welcome to the Revolution 259
Appendix: Common Questions about Love, Sex, and Lasting Relationships 265
Notes 275
About the Author 277
Back Ads 278
Back Cover 282
Acknowledgments
T his book was initially written over a dozen years ago, and I am humbled and amazed at God’s providential partners and fellow servants who have taken its message around the world.
Thank you, Andy Stanley and North Point Community Church, where we shot video for this series the first time. Thank you, Walk Thru the Bible South Africa, for teaching Love, Sex, and Lasting Relationships throughout the public schools in South Africa and equipping youth groups across your nation.
Thank you, Robert, for airing Love, Sex , and Lasting Relationships on TV in Indonesia and creating a seminar format in your country. Thank you, Wahid and Leila, for translating the book into Arabic and developing a TV series for the Muslim world. Thank you, Kingdom Sat, for airing the TV version all across the entire Arab world.
Thank you, Living on the Edge, for turning this series into radio, TV, and small group curriculum that have ministered to thousands of churches here and around the world. Thanks to all who have written, emailed, and shared their stories that inspired us to update this teaching for the next generation.
A special thanks to Baker Books, for allowing me to revise, improve, update, and relaunch Love, Sex, and Lasting Relationships at a time when so many marriages and relationships simply aren’t working or experiencing the joy and intimacy God desires and designed for us to have.
Introduction
F ew subjects in life ignite as much passion and longing within us as our desire for love, our interest in sex, and our hope for enduring relationships. Regardless of our background, race, values, intelligence, or experience, we all long to be loved. Every human being on this planet craves to be that “cherished person” to someone else. In like manner, the mystery and the power of human sexuality draw us like an invisible magnet into the world of relationships.
Put simply, we humans are relational beings. We were made by God to love and be loved. We crave the intimacy, acceptance, security, and significance that flow when we bond in mind, heart, and body with a member of the opposite sex.
If you think I’m overstating the case, stop and think about your first reaction to the title of this book. What caught your attention? What picture did it create in your mind?
It doesn’t matter if you’re seventeen or seventy-seven, the words love , sex , and lasting relationships evoke immediate and powerful responses within each of us.
Let’s face it. After taking care of the necessities of life like food, clothing, and shelter, most of us spend the bulk of our waking hours pondering, pursuing, or solving problems related to this area of life. I mean, stop for a moment and consider the songs of the last several decades. Whether it’s hip hop, R&B, country, rock, or pop, the words reverberate with our longing for love, our loss of love, and our desire to make love. The style and beats may change, but the themes are universal. “Can’t live without your love” “Ain’t got no lovin’” “If loving you is wrong, I don’t wanna be right” “I wanna hold your hand” “What’s love got to do with it?” “Where would I be without you? “You are my everything” “Love is the answer” “Love will find a way” “Love never has to say you’re sorry” “Don’t leave me . . . She left me . . . found her . . . I lost him” “You broke my heart . . . You fill my heart . . . Your cheatin’ heart”
Day after day, people all over the globe, representing every nationality and language, sing about their desires for or their disappointment with love.
Walk through your local bookstore and check out the romance novels, the self-help section, or the relational resources rack. Notice how many volumes focus in one way or another on sex, romantic love, or how to have a great relationship. Or the next time you go grocery shopping, examine the glossy and glamorous magazines in the racks by the checkouts. Has Cosmo ever had a cover without the word sex on it? Who’s on the front of People , Globe , The Enquirer , and Star ? Aren’t those publications filled with photos of who’s together this week, who’s rumored to have cheated on his or her mate, or what couples have joined the split list? Why do these magazines sell? Like it or not, we live in a world where love , sex , and relationships get top billing in the hearts and minds of nearly all of us.
Advertisers figured out long ago that our preoccupation with emotional connectedness and sex provides a great way to sell merchandise. Whether it’s using sex to sell beer and cars during the timeouts of televised games or showing scenes from loving relationships while they are trying to convince us to try a new prescription, the underlying message remains constant the key to happiness and fulfillment in life is all about love , sex , and lasting relationships .
Unfortunately, despite all the hype in magazines, movies, seminars, and books, for the most part people aren’t doing very well when it comes to this area of their lives. The words divorce , breakup , wounds , baggage , ex-mate , and abuse are all too common in our relational vocabulary. Even in surviving marriages, the atmosphere often reeks of unhappiness and disappointment. We long to love and we long to be loved, but we just don’t seem to know how to do it very well. And for all the talk and openness there is about sex today, sexuality still ranks as one of the persistent points of conflict in most relationships. It appears as if the greater the hunger for enduring love and lasting relationships, the shorter their lifespan. To paraphrase a song, love seems to end before it has begun.
So what’s wrong here? Are we all destined to be frustrated and become the products and perpetrators of dysfunctional relationships? Or is there a better way? Is there, in fact, a plan or a different paradigm for genuine love, great sex, and an enduring relationship?
Well, as presumptuous as it may sound, this book promises to deliver exactly that, not because I’m particularly smart or have the market cornered on these issues but because the One who created you to be loved and the One who made sex for your enjoyment has an understandable game plan for how relationships can and do work. The One who designed you to love and be loved has also provided specific wisdom and instructions to make that possible in your daily life. This book is about that wisdom how it can and will work for you.
You might be thinking, But why read this book? I’m single. Or, I’m divorced. Or even, I’m widowed. I’m not in a relationship right now. How in the world could these chapters be helpful for me? Actually, this book is very much for singles, divorcees, and those who are widowed, as well as for those who are married. Regardless of your current relational status, if you don’t understand romantic relationships from God’s perspective, you are destined to a life of severe disappointment and significant fr