I recently listened to a Lauren Winner interview, which hearing her voice still weirds me out. You know how when you read a book and picture the author’s voice in your head. But when you actually hear it, it sounds nothing like you thought? Well, that’s how it is with me and Lauren. Even knowing what her voice sounds like I’m surprised everytime I hear it. What I like about hearing her speak is that she talks a lot like how she writes. Making my girl-crush on her grow even more (but not as much as Kari’s).

The last interview I heard she was discussing her newest book “Real Sex: The Naked Truth About Chastity”. I forget how it came up, but she was relating two things God asks of us as Christians. Learning how to curve the discipline of our sexual desires. A friend of hers had talked to her while she was writing “Real Sex” about a spiritual discipline we are called to do as Christians, fasting. As someone who just went through her first fast not too long ago I understood the connection she was making. If we can tell our bodies no to food, which is something we need as means to survival, then why cant we tell our bodies the same to sex before marriage? If a person never has sex, they will still live. But if they say no to food, that will after a while kill them.

Lauren brought up this point because sadly, the church has given this idea to young people that sex is bad. Giving them the scare tactic instead of actually explaining why we wait. When a person fasts, telling yourself for that time that food is bad is missing the whole point of the discipline. You are turning your desires over to God, relaying on His strength to carry through the hard times of it. To use that time you would be preparing food or eating to be with Him. Usually too there is an understanding you are trying to grasp with this discipline. Like when the Jr High group did it a few weeks ago, we were trying to grasp a tiny piece of what millions of people go through. Though, we know where we know were our next meal is coming from and those people we are fasting for don’t.

Now these are just my thoughts in what Lauren said, I’m not quoting her (you should hear the interview) by any means. Just sorting through my thoughts I had while listening her ideas on this subject. Comparing two disciplines we are called to as a believer in Christ. Two that I probably wouldn’t of thought to connect, but it makes easier to understand them. The desires for each (food and sex) are very different things, but the idea of saying no to both can come from our strength or God’s strength. Which is a basic understand of Christianity, turning our lives over to God, but braking it down to help our minds to wrap around this amazing mystery that we love about God.