I’ve heard the complaint many times that people in ministry should stop talking so much about chastity and just focus on more pressing “social justice” issues. But I believe that the purity of our youth is just as important as any other social justice issue. In fact, I believe that purity IS a social justice issue.
Studies show that the younger a teenage girl gives up her virginity, the more likely she is to live below the poverty line. Studies also show that teenage girls who are promiscuous are 6 times more likely to attempt suicide. And promiscuous boys are twice as likely to suffer depression. Another statistic shows that 25% of college students graduate with an STD.
On the other hand, people who wait until marriage almost double their chance of a happy marriage. And according to a study of 14,000 teens, those who were abstinent in high school were 60% less likely to be expelled from school, 50% less likely to drop out, and nearly twice as likely to graduate from college!
We can’t pretend to care about things like justice and poverty if we don’t care about the purity of our young people.