Regaining Sexual Integrity

In this book Tanya Martin walks Christians who struggle with sexual sin through the steps and processes to beating the habits of intercourse, masturbation, and pornography. Along the way she discusses the many roots of the sex problem in Christendom: self-esteem issues, refusal to curb media diets, picking and choosing which parts of the bible to believe, not forgiving ourselves, and not letting go of disappointments (about family dysfunction, broken hearts, etc.), lack of scripture memorization, and lack of meditating (repeating, singing, humming, remembering, talking about with friends and family) on scriptures that express how God feels about us. This book caused my heart to break again for the lowly lives we lead which fall far beneath our God-given potential. Especially in light of the recent affair by the South Carolina Senator, and the homicide of Steve McNair by his lover, my heart cries out to Christians to keep trying until we gain victory in this area.

Though the title suggests that Martin will treat the Proverbs 31 woman, she does not. I posit that the title is Martin’s way of reminding us that abstinence is only until marriage. At marriage, we bring our virtue as singles into our new relationship and allow it to be shaped by God in partnership with our spouse.