Mere Christianity
Mere Christianity – C.S. Lewis
One of the things on my buckets list is to read all C.S Lewis books except for Narnia because I've already seen the movies. This was the first book of his I read because it was highly recommended by so many people. This book addresses many key points, starting off with the question of Christianity is real. As an ex-atheist, Lewis brings a different perspective to widely accepted Christian ideas. There's so much that can be debated from this book but I'm going to focus on the topic of sexual Morality from chapter 5 in book 3. Sexual Moriarty is a topic that I am currently struggling with, and his advice was ground breaking to me. As a young woman who made a vow to abstain from sex until marriage, I will tell you that it is not easy or fun. But it is possible and in this book I found some of the most comforting, supportive and helpful advice as I continue to live a life of purity.
In order to get this next quote, here is a definition to help you out
Chastity (Noun) - The state or practice of refraining from extramarital, or especially from sexual intercourse.
Sexual Morality:
"We may, indeed, be sure that perfect chastity – like perfect charity – will not be attained by any mere human efforts. You must ask for God's help. Even when you have done so, it may seem to you for a long time that no help, or less help than you need, is being given. Never Mind! After each failure, ask forgiveness, pick yourself up, and try again. Very often what God first helped us towards is not the virtue itself but just this power of always trying again. For however important chastity (or courage, or truthfulness, or any other virtue) may be, this process trains us in habits of soul which are more important still. It cures us in habits our illusions about ourselves and teaches us to depend on God. We learn, on the other hand, that we cannot trust ourselves even in our best moments, and, on the other, that we need not despair even in our worst, for our failures are forgiven. The only fatal thing is to sit down content with anything less than perfection". - pg. 101-102
“If anyone thinks Christians regard unchastity as the supreme vice, he is quite wrong. The sin of the flesh are bad, but they are the least bad of all sin. All the worst pleasures are purely spiritual”
This quote blows my mind because in our society we place sexual immorality, unfaithfulness, gay lifestyle, promiscuity as the highest sin committed. But if I am not mistaking, Lewis is stating that spiritual sins are worse than the sexual sin that we over exaggerate. This doesn't mean you should willingly commit sexual sins because the Bible is very clear on God's opinion of that, but it does relieve me of the burden of trying to be perfectly pure.
