Mary a Model for our Teenage Girls
Jubilee Centre December 15th, 2008
A US study early this year found that teenage girls who watch a lot of TV shows with a high sexual content, such as Friends and Sex and the City are twice as likely to become pregnant. The researchers for that study concluded: One 
problem is that these and similar programs glamorize sex while hardly mentioning its downsides such as pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (South African, Saturday Star, 13 December 2008 p.12). The same article said that a survey conducted by a UK More magazine on 2000 women only 1% said they would wait until marriage to have sex. The researchers found that young women are becoming more promiscuous, with more sexual partners than men.
Statistics on sexual promiscuity is difficult to get in our churches. One reason for this is that most church leaders take the wrong notion that a confession of faith in Christ is enough to overcome young peoples’ sex cravings. But this is not true. Two months ago Jubilee Centre conducted a workshop on HIV and AIDS for youth leaders from 15 churches. One concern they raised was that their pastors, elders and women leaders are unaware about the peer pressure teenage girls face. Girls complained that the church made marriage as being the most important thing next to salvation. “In the world” said one girl “those who normally get proposed for marriage are those who dress provocatively and who also give in to sex before marriage” Another girl said “Virginity and single-hood is not something that is proudly affirmed in our churches today. So we are sacrificing our virginity before marriage with the hope that this person we give in to will later marry us and remove the disgrace of single-hood.”
This season as we celebrate the birthday of our Lord Jesus Christ, we also do well to point our teenage girls to the vessel God used to bring the Savior to us. Mary faced similar challenges teenage girls face today in our culture. In our%20(Small)%20(Small)%20(2)5.jpg)
culture singleness and childlessness is just as shameful as having premarital pregnancy. Our teenage girls who face the pressure of pre-marital sex need to be helped that God accepts them as they are and is willing to use them as virgins or as single women. The angel of the Lord pronouncement to Mary that she had found favour with God and that He was going to use her as she was, should bring hope to every virgin and single women walking humbly before the Lord.
Single woman, teenage girl and childless wife your condition is not a hindrance or an obstacle to what God wants to accomplish in and through you. It was to Mary a humble, poor and hungry teenage virgin girl (Luke 1:47-56
) who received the news almost every woman in Israel hoped to hear-that her child would be God’s promised Messiah even our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ. Mary’s song shows us how well she knew God. Even today God is looking for a teenage girl who knows Him to be used as a vessel for His purpose. Do you have teenage girls in your church? How are you encouraging or discipling them? God forbid that they form part of the 99% statistics who say they will not wait for sex until they get married.
Lawrence Temfwe.
