Chastity Pertains to Everyone

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Many people confuse Chastity with celibacy, when they are two different things. Celibacy is the total abstention from sexual activity, whereas Chastity is living true to your vocation. By vocation, I do not mean “career.” In this sense, “vocation” means living in accordance with one’s calling from God. We have three vocational possibilities: Single, Married, or Religious (Ordained priests and deacons, as well as religious brothers and sisters). So, Religious and single people remain chaste by abstaining from sexual activity. However, married people remain chaste by engaging in sexual activity only with one’s spouse. Therefore, Chastity pertains to everyone.

Why Chastity is Important

So, now that we understand that Chastity pertains to everyone, let’s consider why it is so important, to God, that we all remain chaste in accordance with our respective vocations. It boils down to why God created sex, and why He deemed for it to occur within the sacred bonds of matrimony only. Sex and marriage have two purposes: 1) the complete self-giving of one spouse to another in an expression of love, and 2) for the procreation of humans. Let’s look at each purpose in more detail, tying the purposes to Scripture... Read more...

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