Photo: Inside Edition
It’s another success story worth sharing from CBS Inside Edition host, Megan Alexander, who waited until marriage and hope her story would encourage “girls and guys to think highly of themselves, treat one another with respect and approach dating and marriage thoughtfully.”
Their willingness to expose themselves will certainly inspire many and enable us to learn what they’ve done right to approach marriage in the best way possible.
Among many things she mentioned, there are five things that I believe are critical to her success.
Faith
Having a strong faith can be a great motivator to remember the real purpose of waiting. It’s something greater than self that can help someone to keep him or herself pure. It’s no surprise she shared about her ultimate “secret weapon”—relationship with Lord Jesus Christ.
Keep Yourself Busy
Your mind is actually the most powerful sex organ. Focus on things other than boyfriend or girlfriend and you will less likely to be physically involved before its time. Develop a hobby or two, volunteer, and stay involved in a church. You need to develop yourself anyway before you can have a healthy relationship.
Good Friends
As already mentioned numerous times, your choice of friends is very important (1 Cor. 15:33). Hang around with positive, like-minded people who can help you in keeping your commitment regardless their faith. It’s just a reality some church friends can be more toxic than non-believers. We need to apply some wisdom here.
Your choice of friends reveals a whole lot about your character, because we tend to mingle with like-minded people. It’s almost like a “chicken and egg” situation. If you friends bring bad influence on you, find other friends, but to change your friends you need to renew your mind first (Rom. 12:2), only then you have the desire and will to power to change your social circle.
Communication
The decision was not made only from one side but it was made mutually and the two committed to it. The decision to wait until the wedding night can’t be made just by one person; it has to be agreed by both.
Strong Support from Family
This is important, but may be this is one factor that’s outside your control as sometimes you can have this while some people not so much. But this may be substituted by a strong church community or mentoring. No human being can survive alone. In the same way, no Christian can survive alone without the support from other brothers and sisters who share the same faith and commitment.
A funny section mentioned about the expected “wedding night story” that their first time was not an instant fireworks (only in Hollywood movies), but the beauty is as her husband Brian put it during their honeymoon, “We have the rest of our lives to figure it out.”
Great marriage needs to start from a great friendship, communication and many things other than sex. It’s highly improbable, if not impossible, to build these strong foundations when the sex is heavily involved, especially at the early stage of a relationship.
Megan and Brian are surely fighting many temptations and other challenges in their marriage life and they need our prayers so they can withstand the constant attack from outside and their marriage can be a living testimony of a wonderful one that many may thought is not possible.
You know what could be another refreshing success story? How about your own?
References
INSIDE EDITION’s Megan Alexander Reveals How She Remained a Virgin Until Marriage
Reflections on dating, marriage, sex – my story..
Full article (PDF)