Heart shaped island with trees, bordered by small beach surrounded by deep blue sea.

Lessons from Love Island

It is natural to desire loving relationships, but does sex always express love?

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The 2021 series of the dating reality TV programme Love Island has recently begun. The show is now in its 7th season and involves a group of contestants, who in order to remain on the show and win £50,000, are forced to ‘pair up’ with another contestant. The show begins… Read more.
Close up of two red heart shaped padlocks locked together on a bridge railing

Looking for love that will last

Most people desperately want to love and be loved.

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This is no surprise since God made us in His image and God is love [1]. Sadly, we live in a society where love is often equated with sex and Satan has deceived many into thinking that giving in to sexual desires will secure love and that compromising on Biblical… Read more.
Close up of open Bible showing Galatians 5v1 with the words 'freedom' and 'stand firm' underlined in red

What is wrong with masturbation?

Some people claim that it is a natural response to natural desires. The Bible challenges us to think differently.

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You may have heard of masturbation (self stimulation) being presented in a positive way as a normal healthy activity. It is claimed that it can help young people ease anxiety and, after or even during puberty, relieve sexual frustration. So is there anything wrong with this teaching? What is a… Read more.
Various cloth labels with string attached on a wooden background. The top label is embroidered with the word "love".

‘Love has no limits, love has no labels’

I saw these words written on a banner. The message seems catchy and welcoming to all. But is it the truth or is it an attractive deception? And what is meant by love?

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The Bible clearly states that true love is from God. In fact such love is so much part of God’s character that the Apostle John writes that ‘God is Love’. God’s love is shown above all in the giving of His Son, Jesus Christ to die for the sins of… Read more.
A variety of Bisexual icon symbol with a question mark superimposed

Why is it wrong to identify as ‘bi’?

Claiming to be ‘bisexual’ has almost become something that is seen as fashionable. However, the Bible distinguishes what we desire from what we do, and who we are from what we desire.

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Claiming to be ‘bisexual’ has almost become something that is seen as fashionable. However, it can mean different things to different people. To some it means being sexually attracted to both sexes. To others it means wanting to be or being in a sexual relationship with both sexes. Sometimes it… Read more.
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Pornography (part 3): Effects on behaviour and mental health

Pornography gives unrealistic expectations of what people should look like. It can lead both girls and boys to have anxieties and feel under pressure to have a certain body image.

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Pornography can change the way you think about people. An emphasis on physical appearance is prevalent in today’s culture: in films, magazines and advertising. Such an emphasis will make it harder to establish good relationships and to treat the opposite sex with love and respect. Pornography gives unrealistic expectations of… Read more.
Laptop computer with finger on keyboard in dark room with pink lighting

Pornography (part 2): Spoiling future relationships

When we separate the act of sex from real people and real relationships, it can distort and confuse our minds and affect how we relate to others.

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Using pornography makes it harder to form a good relationship. Pornography cuts up a person by separating the object of lust from the reality of the person – their lives, thoughts, needs and situation. When we separate the act of sex from real people and real relationships, it can distort… Read more.
Young man and woman shopping happily at an open air market

How can I know if he or she really loves me?

Love is a word we use very often; it describes our feelings for all sorts of things from chocolate to a new car!

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We often use the word ‘love’ to describe our feelings for people in our family: parents, children, siblings. We also talk about the romantic feeling of ‘falling in love’ with someone who is not in our family. But how can we know that this romantic love is true, and that… Read more.
Young womans and man holding hands . Looking intently at each others eyes.

Love or lust?

You feel that you love someone. You want to be with them. You find it difficult not to think about them.

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We live in a very emotion-driven age. We are tempted to think that when we feel something strongly, it must be right. We are encouraged to accept that when we want something strongly, we are justified in having our desires fulfilled. Perhaps nowhere is this more often felt than with… Read more.
Womans hands typing on laptop, on dark wooden table

Making good decisions about pornography

As pornography is dangerous, it is important not to become involved or get caught out by it. Only you can make the final decision about what you choose to look at.

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Be careful. Think carefully about what you watch and read. Often the images and messages, even in the mainstream media, can be sexually provocative and make us want to look for more explicit material. Turn on ‘safe search’ so that most inappropriate content will be filtered out. For more protection,… Read more.
Laptop computer with finger on keyboard in dark room with pink lighting

Pornography (part 1): Damage to our relationship with God

It can stream into our homes and on to our phones and is estimated to account for about 20 percent of all mobile searches. But why is pornography so wrong and dangerous?

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At the heart of the problem with pornography is the fact that it promotes sexual arousal outside of a relationship, which has many dangerous consequences. This is the first of a series of articles which look at some of these consequences. Pornography damages our relationship with God. The Bible teaches… Read more.
close up of snow on the ground, with a few blades of grass poking through

Singleness and sexual purity

A man gives his testimony.

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I was single until I got married in my mid-forties. I can testify to the many temptations and challenges to my purity during that time. There were times when I felt frustrated by my singleness and jealous of the married people around me who seemed to be enjoying fulfilled sex… Read more.