I have something that has been laid on my heart and I wanted to share with you via a blog post. I want to talk about “True Love Waits”. Our church is going to do the True Love Waits again with the youth very soon. I think with this one it is called Silver Rings. But, this has been on my heart again, so I wanted to update this some and re-share it with my readers. I first published this April 7, 2013. I am republishing this on March 12, 2013. Piedmont Baptist Church did the True Love Waits on April 17, 2015, with the middles school youth, high school
About True Love Waits
True Love Waits Rings
The Above True Love Waits image by Oriel94.
True Love Waits is a way to show your promise before God and your future spouse that you made a vow or a covenant before God to abstain from sex until you are married. To keep abstinent, to stay pure. This movement came from LifeWay. It helps to keep to the Biblical standards of keeping pure and abstaining from sexual activity until marriage. Most who sign the covenant wear a type of promise ring. This ring is used a visual reminder of the covenant they made before God. Other’s have used necklaces or other types of jewelry. The image to your right is an example of a True Love Waits ring.
The planning of True Love Waits started in 1987 and by 1992 was presented to LifeWay. In 1993 the first set of youth sign the True Love Waits. True Love Waits continues to grow and spread it’s message world wide. In the first year of the campaign, over 102,000 young people signed the pledge.
The True Love Waits Pledge
Believing that true love waits, I make a commitment to God, myself, my family, my friends, my future mate, and my future children to a lifetime of purity including sexual abstinence from this day until the day I enter a biblical marriage relationship.
(Click here to continue reading)
Part 1 (About & The Pledge)
Part 2 (Five Commitments of True Love Waits & When I First Learned About True Love Waits)
Part 3 (Where to Wear the Ring, Those Who Commit Adultery & Those Who Don’t Want to Wait)
Part 4 (Stay in the Word, Why Abstain? & Becoming One)
Part 5 (The Closing, Bible Verses & The Challenge To You)
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true love will do what is right for the one you love. Hopefully yourself included in that love
Amen! thanks for sharing!
Sad today people want to test drive before marriage as they call it. Don’t they understand that it’s a precious gift meant for your future spouse. More test driving more you can contact something or unwanted pregnancies and like you said you also become one with all other prior people. True love will make sex special when it’s based on a God centered relationship.
I was 13 and knew nothing about sex. I’d not ever really kissed a boy with any sense of longing. But there I was in the Southern Baptist Church in which I grew up working through a program based on a handful of Bible verses extracted from context led by group leaders. And knowing nothing about what reality had in store, I signed a little card and got a little ring in front of my church.
I’m a Christian. And don’t get me wrong; I think that waiting is good. But the whole “True Love Waits” concept needs to come with a nice dose of reality (not to mention science). You’re in 7th grade and forced to say that you’ll wait. But what if you’ve never been horny? You’ve never known what it feels like. And you weren’t ever taught that while waiting is ideal, how can you deal with things if something happens? And one day, a kid is alone with his/her boyfriend or girlfriend and groping on the couch goes farther. Clothes come off. And because you thought you were going to wait, you’re not prepared. You think one time won’t hurt.
How many folks in the same Southern Baptist youth group had sex (and then many, a lot of guilt) in just this scenario? Of those I knew, it wasn’t a small number. And because kids weren’t prepared for reality, kids had babies (because abortion wasn’t an option and nobody went went adoption). Teenage lives were complicated far too early (affecting far too many family members adversely who then had to care for a kid that could have been prevented with a dose of science and a condom). Quick marriages between teens (who would have never gotten near engagement otherwise) happened. And then there was divorce later for some.
I’m blessed and lucky. I waited because I wanted to know what I was getting into. I had sex of my own volition and choosing at 26. Was I married? No. I’m 33 now. Am I married? No. And I don’t think it’s something I want. Am I a whore? No? I don’t have wild, indiscriminate sex? I’ve gone years without it. And I have also had it for long periods of time consistently with a single partner (with birth control and disease testing/prevention). I’m healthy and happy. But I was lucky. I saw through the (short sighted) offerings of True Love Waits. I waited for me…and even if I hadn’t, I was always prepared (years before I had sex, even).
Why kids aren’t taught a possible Biblical ideal, but then also how to be responsible is criminal to me…and a failure of Christians. I’ve seen many lives wrecked by the narrow view of True Love Waits and dreams cut short. I’m lucky (and still a Christian…just one that believes in a healthy dose of reality and responsibility as well).
Wonderful post. I read a fiction novel where the teens were participating in a similar program that had a major impact on their lives. When we do things God’s way that is always the results. It’s funny, though, how the world doesn’t think twice about premarital sex. It’s just something you do like brushing your teeth. How sad that we have diminished something God gave as a gift has been diminished to “no big deal.”
Sounds like an interesting novel what is it called Mary? Our youth is doing the silver rings/true love waits next month.
@Mary Collins You are right the World doesn’t think twice about what they do anymore. Thanks for the comment.
@grown up No one is forced to commit, you make the commit on your own to abstain based on the Biblical standards from God. True Love teaches these standards. People look at Christianity as too many to do’s or don’t. It is about wanting to follow the one who saved us. Jesus.
@Concerned It is said that people today don’t see it as a precious gift from God. It will be very special when it is in the means of a Biblical Christ-Centered marriage and stays inside that marriage.
After watching this documentary, April 17, 2015, it was the Youth Evangelistic Conference of 1993 that I attended where I learned about this and won the t-shirt, because the documentary we watched told us that they presented it to that conference. I remember as a youth in church we would go to that every year.
I have had my true love waits ring for a year 😉
Awesome I have had mine a few years now I think.
I’m right behind you on my spiritual maturity I think lol. It’s a process.
It is a process. It can be hard too. But we must stand firm.
Checks this blog post out: https://www.courageouschristianfather.com/dumped-because-of-committed-to-abstinence-until-marriage/
Amen