When I first began my blog, I wasn’t certain whether or not I would even write about this topic. It’s a bit uncomfortable, and it’s something that makes a lot of people angry and defensive. No one wants to wait until marriage to have sex, and people will do anything to convince themselves (and others) that what they are doing isn’t that bad.

“Everyone sins, and God will forgive me.” God will forgive you, yes, but there are consequences for sin—consequences God tries to protect us from. The blood of Jesus is not a free pass to go enjoy all the temporary “perks” of sin. They are just that, temporary. Satan is able to lure us into sin in the first place because it feels good temporarily. Eventually though, it will lead us into pain and suffering. So how does sex before marriage end up leading us into pain and suffering?

Sex before marriage puts a wall up between you and God because you are making it an idol—you are placing it above the will of God. The more idols you have in your life, the further away from God you place yourself, and the less at peace as a Christian you’ll be. It doesn’t matter how often you go to church or how often you pray or read your Bible—if you have lingering sin in your life you refuse to repent of, it will impact your relationship with God. Some of you might be thinking, “Well, I ask God for forgiveness, so therefore, I repent.” Let’s define repent. To repent, according to Google, is to express sincere regret or remorse for wrongdoing such as sin. If you truly regret something, you will make the effort to not do it again. Mistakes happen, but repentance is choosing not to live in it. You cannot continue doing it over and over without attempting to stop if you are truly in a state of regret.

Choosing to live in a way that is in direct opposition to God’s will isn’t the way a God-loving person chooses to live. When you have sex outside of marriage, you are in a sense cheating on God. What happens in marriages when you cheat or put your own selfish desires above the relationship? The marriage suffers. Our relationship with God is no different. Even if sex before marriage didn’t have consequences, and even if we knew beyond a shadow of a doubt we would still have our place in Heaven, if we truly love God, we want to please Him above ourselves. Sinning hurts people who love God because when you love someone, it hurts you when you hurt them. I don’t want to just get into Heaven; that isn’t enough for me, and it shouldn’t be enough for you either. I want God to be proud of me, and I want to have an extraordinary relationship with Him.

In addition to the impact premarital sex has on your relationship with the Lord, it makes it more difficult to walk away from a relationship as well—that includes relationships that aren’t good for us. Sex was designed by God to bond two people together physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally.

For those of you who have already sinned and think it’s too late—No, it’s never too late. You are a new creation in Christ. God doesn’t care about your past. He cares about what you are doing right now. Live now.