Healthy Childhood S*xual Development

Thanks to my FaceBook Friend, Rebecca S., I learned that the Focus on the Family broadcast for today has to do with children and p*rnography, so I clicked over to their website to check things out. And then I found this excellent series of articles that I encourage you to read too:

It was particularly helpful to me because I often downplay or forget entirely just how great an impact my early childhood had on my teen and young adult years. The author’s three reminders towards the end of the first article really struck me:

“S*xual development is designed to occur over time without injury or interruption. However, we live in a fallen world where the ideal is not possible. As your child develops s*xually there are some factors that lead to the development of at-risk behaviors. If your child or family system has experienced any of the following conditions, it will be easier to address them now before you start seeing behavioral symptoms:

1. Genetics – is your family prone to addictions in general?

2. Environment – has your child been exposed to pornography or sex play?

3. Trauma – has your child experienced significant traumas like sexual, physical, verbal, emotional, or spiritual abuse?”

I thought to myself as I read those three conditions, “All of those are true of my childhood. Wow. That’s really interesting.” NOTE: interesting and informative, yes, but not determinative. I believe it was David Powlison who said something like, “We must never use our past experiences as an excuse for present unbelief and sin.” And that is so true! I don’t sin today because of what happened to me when I was five years old. I sin today because I am a sinner. Still. “The heat” (the “sun” in the sky over the “three trees”) is influential and we can gain great insight from wise men and women (like the wise author of this series of articles).