“When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasure…”1“Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one sin. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body.”2 “You must never have sexual relations with a close relative, for I am the Lord. Do not violate your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; you must not have sexual relations with her. Do not have sexual relations with any of your father’s wives, for this would violate your father. Do not have sexual relations with your sister or half-sister, whether she is your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born into your household or someone else’s.Do not have sexual relations with your granddaughter, whether she is your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, for this would violate yourself. Do not have sexual relations with your stepsister, the daughter of any of your father’s wives, for she is your sister. Do not have sexual relations with your father’s sister, for she is your father’s close relative. Do not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s close relative. Do not violate your uncle, your father’s brother, by having sexual relations with his wife, for she is your aunt. Do not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife, so you must not have sexual relations with her. Do not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife, for this would violate your brother. Do not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter. Moreover, do not take her granddaughter, whether her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, and have sexual relations with her. They are close relatives, and this would be a wicked act. While your wife is living, do not marry her sister and have sexual relations with her, for they would be rivals… Do not defile yourself by having sexual intercourse with your neighbor’s wife.”3 That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. Moreover, the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.”45“Do not practice homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman. It is a detestable sin…A man must not defile himself by having sex with an animal. Moreover, a woman must not offer herself to a male animal to have intercourse with it. This is a perverse act.”5“Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you, and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So, you must honor God with your body.”6“Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.”7
According to the Bible verses above, sexual risk behavior(SRB) (using public health language) or sexual immorality(using God’s word) is defined as any sexual thoughts, desire, or act that violates God’scommands for sexuality and leads to spiritual defilement, relational harm, and separation from God. Marriage and sexuality are God’s ideas. 8. God established marriage and sexuality to operate in the medium of Oneness, 9 purity, 10 holiness,11 Mutual help, 12 sexuality, 13 love,14 and obedience.15 God set boundaries for sexuality.
The above Bible verses outline prohibited sexual relationships that violate God-ordained boundaries, including incest (relations with close relatives), fornication, adultery, homosexual acts, and other forms of sexual immorality. Not all consensual behavior is morally safe. God defines safe boundaries, not culture. Sexual risk behavior includes crossing God-defined relational boundaries.
Sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery are sins against one’s body. They are a sexual risk because they are self-destructive, not just morally wrong. Uncontrolled desires or unrestrained fleshly impulses drive them. They are connected to physical, emotional, and spiritual consequences.
Same-sex relations are described as dishonorable passions that are contrary to nature. They are sexual risk behaviors because they distort God’s created design and the exchange of truth for desires.
Jesus said, “You have heard the commandment that says, you must not commit adultery.”However, I, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust, has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”16Sexual risk behavior is not just external acts but includes lustful thoughts and internal mental indulgence. From Jesus’s statement, sexual risk behavior operates at three levels:
This is an internal level and includes lust, fantasies, and pornographic imagination.
This is a behavioral level and includes fornication, adultery, incest, homosexual acts, as defined in the above texts, and sexual exploration.
This is a structural level that violates relational roles, including marriage and family, and rejects God’s design for sexuality.
Some of the Biblical findings of sexual immorality align with the public health findings of sexual risk behavior, including increased risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), emotional trauma and attachment disruption, and increased likelihood of unstable relationships and mental health challenges such as guilt, anxiety, and depression.
Sexually immoral behaviors are sinful and harmful to holistic well-being, including the spirit, soul, and body.
In the study conducted by Jahanfar, S., & Pashaei, Z. 2022), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) refers to sexual risk behavior (SRB) as sexual behaviors that lead to sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies (Brener et al., 2004).
The literature suggests the following behaviors as risky (Silas,2013)
Other risky behaviors include “consumption of pornographic materials that can encourage sexual risk behaviors, mouth-to-genital contact, and sex with a partner who has ever injected drugs.
Avoiding sexual risk behavior is one of the major components of a healthy lifestyle. We define a healthy lifestyle as a way of living that individuals intentionally adopt, maintain, and practice daily to prevent and control disease, improve their physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual well-being, and enhance their quality of life.
The moment you are born again, your body becomes the temple of God (see “Your new nature is created to be like God” under God and Humanity). The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in your heart, producing Christ’s character traits in your life, including the fruit of self-control. God’s word is a fundamental truth that brings profound change to your hearts and minds, transforming your character, behavior, attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge, enabling you to easily adopt, maintain, and continually make healthy daily choices to experience a healthy lifestyle.
Avoiding sexual risk behavior and adopting, maintaining, and continually making healthy choices for a healthy lifestyle requires behavioral change. According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM,2001), “Behavior can be changed, and those changes can influence health. However, “Initiating and maintaining behavior change is complex and difficult” (Pellmar, Brandt, and Baird, 2002). According to DiClemente et al (2019), “Before behaviors can change, the determinant(s) of behavior, the nature of the behavior, and motivation for the behavior must be understood.” There are several behaviors change theories and models that can be applied at multiple levels of influence on human behavior, using a socioecological approach: which states that “human behavior shapes and is shaped by multiple levels of influences.” Such levels of influence include intrapersonal (individual), interpersonal (family, friends, peer groups), organizational, community, and public policy.
WLT provides the fundamental truth, rooted in God’s word, for behavior change that promises benefits in this life and in the life to come. This truth brings profound change to the hearts and minds of individuals, transforming their character, behavior, attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge, enabling them to easily adopt, maintain, and continually make healthy daily choices to experience a healthy lifestyle. When individuals adopt a healthy lifestyle, they serve as a model for other family members, including children, and for the broader community. Many diseases, injuries, disabilities, and premature deaths from heart diseases, strokes, cancers, and diabetes can be prevented or reduced with behavior change.
Follow us on our website, blog, and social media platforms, and at conferences, seminars, workshops, community spiritual well-being events, as we use truths rooted in the Word of God to bring you a profound change in your heart and mind, transforming your character, behavior, attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge, enabling you to easily adopt, maintain, and continually make healthy daily choices. We use evidence-based health education and health promotion interventions frompeer-reviewed, systematic review articles to provide equitable opportunities to acquire the knowledge, attitudes, skills, and insights needed to avoid alcohol use, adopt and sustain healthy lifestyles, and lead purpose-driven, transformative lives.