{"id":45435,"date":"2008-09-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-09-08T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/nfl-star-refuses-to-have-sex-before-marriage\/"},"modified":"2008-09-08T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2008-09-08T00:00:00","slug":"nfl-star-refuses-to-have-sex-before-marriage","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/nfl-star-refuses-to-have-sex-before-marriage\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Star Refuses to Have Sex Before Marriage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>NFL running back Shaun Alexander writes:<\/p>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>At the University of Alabama, I was meeting women from a lot of different backgrounds. My mother had taught me never to exploit women&mdash;that sex was meant only for marriage&mdash;and to treat women with respect. I knew the boundary lines it wasn&#39;t right to cross&hellip; I knew if I didn&#39;t keep my focus, I could fall. And it could occur anytime.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>One time it almost did. It happened the first year of college when I&#39;d gone home for a visit. To protect her privacy, I&#39;ll call her Sherron. One night we were alone in my room while my mom was gone. We were kissing, and I thought seriously about having sex with her. But something in me kept whispering, <em>This isn&#39;t right<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Just then the phone ran. It was my mother, and she asked, &quot;Is everything good, Shaun?&quot;<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&quot;Uh&hellip;yeah, Mom,&quot; I said. &quot;It&#39;s good.&quot;<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&quot;What&#39;s going on?&quot; she asked.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&quot;Oh, nothing,&quot; I answered. &quot;Sherron is here and we&#39;re going to go out and eat and probably go to a movie. Something like that.&quot;<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&quot;Okay, that&#39;s fine,&quot; Mom said. &quot;I&#39;m going to stay in Covington with your grandma, so I&#39;ll call you tomorrow.&quot;<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>As I hung up, thoughts raced through my mind. <em>What am I doing here? Something isn&#39;t right about this. This is so easy and nobody else will know. But<\/em> I&#39;ll <em> know, and God will know<\/em>. It was more than wrestling with my thoughts. I was in a full-out fight. I had to decide who my body would serve.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Just then, Sherron leaned close to me and whispered, &quot;I&#39;ve brought condoms.&quot;<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>My thoughts were racing. Mainly I was thinking, <em>Am I one of those rotten guys who says he loves Jesus but folds when it&#39;s easy or when he won&#39;t get caught?<\/em> &quot;No, we can&#39;t do this,&quot; I finally said.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&quot;Why not?&quot;<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&quot;We&#39;re not supposed to.&quot;<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&quot;What does <em>that<\/em> mean?&quot; Sherron asked.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>I jumped up and pulled her to her feet. &quot;It means we&#39;re going out.&quot;<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>I hurried her out to the car, and we drove to the mall. That was the closest I ever got to having sex before marriage. Mom&#39;s phone call had kept me from making a big mistake. Many times I&#39;ve been grateful to my mother for calling exactly when she did.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[306,308],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3364,3372,3386,3562,3690,3746,3749,3776,3988,4013,4395,4409,4425,4495,4496,4497,4596,4695,4747,4858,4859,4912,4914,4916,4955,4958,4960,4977,4982,5066,5134],"tax_ctp_topics":[378,382,384,390,401],"class_list":["post-45435","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-abstinence","tax_ctp_tags-accountability","tax_ctp_tags-adultery","tax_ctp_tags-chastity","tax_ctp_tags-conviction","tax_ctp_tags-decision","tax_ctp_tags-dedication","tax_ctp_tags-devotion","tax_ctp_tags-fidelity","tax_ctp_tags-fornication","tax_ctp_tags-love","tax_ctp_tags-lust","tax_ctp_tags-marriage","tax_ctp_tags-mothers-day","tax_ctp_tags-motherhood","tax_ctp_tags-mothers","tax_ctp_tags-parenting","tax_ctp_tags-premarital-sex","tax_ctp_tags-purity","tax_ctp_tags-romantic-love","tax_ctp_tags-romantic-passion","tax_ctp_tags-self-control","tax_ctp_tags-self-denial","tax_ctp_tags-self-discipline","tax_ctp_tags-sex","tax_ctp_tags-sexual-immorality","tax_ctp_tags-sexual-passion","tax_ctp_tags-sin","tax_ctp_tags-sinful-pleasure","tax_ctp_tags-sports","tax_ctp_tags-temptation"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>NFL Star Refuses to Have Sex Before Marriage - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/nfl-star-refuses-to-have-sex-before-marriage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NFL Star Refuses to Have Sex Before Marriage - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"NFL running back Shaun Alexander writes: At the University of Alabama, I was meeting women from a lot of different backgrounds. 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