Saving the Kiss

About two years ago, I encountered a conversation that went something like this:
“Oooh, sweet sixteen, and never been kissed,” teased an elderly lady at church.
I laughed, and politely responded, “And I don’t plan on it either, until I’m married that is.” 
Another lady chimed in, “Oh, you won’t have to worry about waiting that long.”
I smiled, then said in a more serious tone, “I’m going to make sure I do.”

Two years later, at 18-years-old, I still have never kissed a boy, and I thank my God for this blessing.
I don’t think most people understand why I’ve made this choice. They may think it queer, or, similar to the ladies mentioned above, they probably think I’m just being modest so they try to console me by implying I’ll soon have boys kissing me.

Umm...sorry ladies, but I don’t see that as a good thing. I don’t want boys kissing me. I’m saving my heart, and my body for my future husband (if God so chooses to give me one), not just for any boy. I don’t feel left out, instead I feel grateful for the Lord’s goodness in preserving me from the silly heartbreaks many teenagers go through repeatedly. I always liked the quote from Little Women when Amy says to her older sister, “You don't need scores of suitors. You need only one...if he's the right one.”

Yes, the right one, at the right time, that’s what I’m waiting for.
I’ve heard people give excuses that the Bible doesn’t say anything about not kissing or dating—that it isn’t really a big deal. I’ve heard people argue that if you don’t get to know the opposite sex (through dating, and kissing) you won’t know what you are looking for, but whoever said anything about forming our standards from people? As a believer, shouldn’t I use God’s Word as my standard instead of a flawed human being? And for the skeptical group, here’s a thought: the Bible may not come out and say “date”—because dating wasn’t something invented by man until the 20th century—or “don’t kiss,” but it does have a lot to say about purity.

“Above all else, guard your heart,” says Proverbs 4:23, “for it is the wellspring of life.”

How can someone protect their heart while giving their lips prematurely to someone they aren’t even married to? How can we protect out hearts if we are devoting our time and emotions prematurely into a person who isn’t who isn’t eligible for marrying?

Galatians 5:16 says, “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”

While kissing is fine for those who are married, what is the cause for kissing outside of marriage? Is it just a way of communicating love, or could it stem from a want to fulfill our flesh’s desire and take things a bit further than God-fearing unmarried people should?

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” ~1 Corinthians 6:19-20

“The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.”
~1 Corinthians 7:4

If our bodies do not belong to us, what right have we to give away sacred things like our kiss (the way we communicate love for a special person at a special time), and what right have we to take advantage of a person’s sacred communications when they are something that belong to his future spouse and our own?

1 Timothy 5:1-2 says, “Treat younger men as brothers...and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.”

Are we showing the necessary respect to other Christian guys and girls when we use their bodies for our own gratification? Is this showing the purity God demands of us?

Our culture has deceived us into thinking light of our actions in relationships. Through movies, books, television, and peers the culture has encouraged us to trash the sacredness of relationships at progressively younger ages. Many Christians have bought into the culture’s ways so that we don’t look any different from unbelievers. We need to get back to what God’s Word teaches, making His principles on how to conduct ourselves purely our own way of life. Think of the impact it would have if all Christian young women did this. Girls would be known in their youth for a reputation of being “sweet sixteen and still saving her kiss.”