The truth
 The
truth is that sex does have a meaning of its own. It's more than
just pleasure and nice feelings. It's a powerful expression of love
and it's designed for marriage.
A gift of self, forever
Okay, so sex is an expression of love. But what is love anyway? Love - real love - wants what is best for another. To love is to be a gift of yourself to another that affirms, helps and draws out true goodness in that person. Deep down in our hearts, we all desire to give and receive this kind of real love. It's what our hearts yearn for and it brings us true happiness. It's the way God created us. We all simply want to love and to be loved.
Without real love, we tend to fall back into satisfying our own desires. When we do this, either knowingly or unknowingly, it's easy to use another for our own pleasure. Sex can become an act of using another to satisfy our own desires. It's no longer an act of self-giving love, as it's meant to be. It becomes just an act of self-gratification, at the expense of another. That's not the real meaning of sex.
Sex speaks the language of real love. Much more than just something we do, sex is a way of communicating with another. It speaks a language of giving ourselves completely to another. Through our body, it's saying to someone, "I give my whole self to you, forever". Whether we realise it or not, this is the language our heart hears and understands.
Sex is the ultimate expression of love and commitment between a man and a woman. And it's an expression of love designed for the context of marriage alone.
A reflection of marriage
But what does marriage mean anyway? Some might say it's just a piece of paper. However the real meaning of marriage reflects the ultimate meaning of love - the gift of self.
It's a freely given but permanent commitment between a man and a woman to love each other for the rest of their lives. They promise to nurture and take care of each other through all the good and difficult times ahead of them. Their love is exclusive and they share trust and an intimacy unmatched with any other.
Sex is the ultimate reflection of this complete gift of self. Through the sexual union of husband and wife, they make visible with their bodies the commitment they've made with their lives. It creates an emotional bond that strengthens their marriage and helps them live out their commitment. Even when times are tough, this bond helps to ensure that their love emerges even stronger.
And it's also of course through the sexual union that God chose to bring new life into the world. The joy and happiness of children are the fruit of the love and commitment of marriage. Through the sexual union, husband and wife cooperate with God in creating a whole new human being, made in His image and likeness.
So as you can see, sex is deeper than just pleasure and nice feelings. It's a part of God's amazing plan for uniting man and woman in married love and the creation of new life. It speaks a language of permanent, self-giving love. And when it honestly expresses what it means, it will be one of the greatest joys of your life.
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