Hey Y’all…
So, I guess you’re noticing that things are switchin’ up a bit. In our various sections, you’ll be seeing more and more guest bloggers and I’m excited to share some of the ones in the Women’s section because their stories and insights are pretty no holds barred. Birds of a feather flock together, I guess (LOL).
Woo, the guest blogger from Monday, is certainly no exception. I think that’s what I found to be interesting as it relates to the timing of her piece on the one particular compromise that she made that became her bad habit. Several hours after she shared that oral sex was her compromise, believing that it was “better” than engaging in sexual intercourse (although, when you think about it, isn’t it just *another form of intercourse?!?*), a news story broke out citing that *oral sex* may be the cause of the rise in HPV among men. It stated that since 1988, there are 10,000 new cases per year and they’re trying to narrow down the reason(s) why:
“While women can also get oral cancer caused by HPV, the risk is greater and rising among men, researchers said in the report, but they aren’t sure why….Translate that to the overall population, and the researchers concluded that incidence rates of the HPV-positive tumors more than tripled while HPV-negative tumors dropped by half…
Previously, tobacco and alcohol use had been the main causes of these tumors, which occur in the tonsils, base of the tongue and upper throat. But over the past few years, studies have shown HPV is playing a role in these cancer rates, likely due to an increase in oral sex even as tobacco use has fallen.
While HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease, studies show women’s bodies usually clear the virus from the cervix quickly; only an infection that persists for years is a cancer risk.”
Now, I’m tempted to pursue the fact that if/since in women’s bodies, it tends to *naturally* clear from the cervix quickly, what is the urgency to have so many people, *especially young children* vaccinated? But I’ll stay focused (LOL). I think what really hit home for me is that while this is a health report, I am a firm believer that being that we are made up of a mind, body and spirit, you can’t make a choice for one without the other two being affected. Or infected. In other words, if oral sex can put the body at risk, why would we think that the mind and spirit wouldn’t be as well? It’s kinda like how people use sugar substitutes without researching the potential risks and/or side effects. I mean, saccharin may not have as many calories as real sugar, but *it is considered* to be a weak carcinogen in the body. Oral sex may not get you pregnant, but bodily fluids exchanged still pose other kinds of risks. Including STDs.
Ain’t it a trip that when the Word, which is God (John 1:1), speaks to being sexually immoral (I Corinthians 5:9-13), it doesn’t differentiate one act from another? Would this not lend us to believe that if it’s sex—*any kind of sex*—and it’s not done in the marriage bed (Hebrews 13:4), then, at best, it’s *high risk behavior*? I mentor teens who definitely don’t associate oral sex with “actual sex” and they’re always stumped when I ask, “Well, if it’s not sex, why is ‘sex’ used in the name of it?” And if “sex” is used in the term “sexually immoral”, why would we not think that we are putting our minds, bodies and spirits in danger when we partake in *any act* where “sex” is a word feature?
Yep. There’s more than one way for a compromise to become a bad habit.
Think. Rethink. Pray. Read some news stories (LOL). And then choose wisely.
For the sake of your mind, body *and especially*…your spirit.