70% is not good enough

Science is always trying to accomplish the same results obtained by simply obeying God, but they can never equal the blessings of obedience.

A recently released study found that using a condom during sex could reduce the risk of cervical cancer by up to 70%. Of course, for it to work that way, a condom must be used every single time without fail.

More than 99% of invasive cervical cancers are caused by HPV, human papillomavirus, a sexually transmitted disease. Studies have shown that roughly 90% of all people who have had multiple sexual partners during their life carry HPV. HPV can cause genital warts and lesions, but it can also cause abnormal cells on the cervix which if untreated can lead to cervical cancer. Pap smears can detect these cells and alert a woman to the need for further diagnostic tests and immediate treatment to prevent cancer from developing or spreading.

Now I love my wife very much, and I don’t want to be the cause of her death from cervical cancer. Reducing the risk by 70% sounds good, but are we really going to use condoms for our entire married life? Not likely. I am not going to play the odds, hoping that she won’t die as a result of something I did years before I met her, when I was young and stupid. I want a better solution. And there is a better solution which is a lot more than 70% effective. If I never get HPV and she never gets HPV, then we can’t give it to each other. It is so simple that the experts have not even figured it out yet.

The experts say that it can’t work because it requires that we exercise some self-control rather than act as hormone-driven animals that just can’t help what they do. It requires a decision of the will to trade immediate gratification for a blessing which lasts a lifetime. It calls for a young man to have the maturity to value the life of his future bride, even if he has not met her yet, over a short-lived thrill. The experts say it can’t happen. I am testimony to the fact that it can.

Which revolutionary scientific research study found this method to prevent cervical cancer? Which medical journal reported the findings? And when will the FDA approve it? Actually it can be found in the Bible, written thousands of years before man invented condoms, understood viruses, or studied oncology. It is God’s plan for marriage. It is a man and a woman saving God’s sacred gift of sex for each other only, and only within the covenant of marriage. It is further proof that God knows what he is doing and acts in the best interest of his creation. And the blessings go far beyond preventing HPV and cervical cancer. Being “the one and only” is an indescribable gift that you and your spouse can give to each other, laying a foundation of trust and faithfulness to build a lasting marriage on. Let me tell you, God’s way is not easy, but it is the best.