Friends, children and sexual intimacy

This week we talked alot about fidelity in marriage. I have often had experiences with friends and my own relationships where there was talk that friends of the opposite sex would pose no threat to a relationship. I always had a problem with this as I have always felt that when you are with someone there is really no reason to be close with another member of the opposite sex unless they are a family member. And if there is a reason then there is a problem with the relationship. I too believe we are all human and when we become close to the opposite sex it is only natural that bonds and feelings will result. I feel that it takes away from the closeness of a relationship that you can have with your significant other and more especially your spouse. We talked about how this really is dangerous and that in alot of cases where it involved infidelity it was because one member got to close or emotionally involved in a seemingly innocent opposite sex relationship. I feel it really vailidated those feelings i had and helped me understand it better and reinforced to me that it is something I want to guard from relationships in the future. We also talked about children and sex education. I feel like especially in this day and age it is such an important topic for us to understand and to be prepared for when the time comes when we will have children. Something that really stood out to me is when teaching children about sex, it is so important that we use proper terms and not be ashamed to talk about it and to realize that the way we view it ourselves and teach it to our children will have a big influence in determining how they will view it themselves and look at sexual intimacy. Most importantly I liked the comment regarding the fact that we need to teach our children in a way that they dont get the impression or feeling that sex is a bad thing, that is nasty or in any way down playing the beautiful and sacred act that it is. What we need to do is properly teach our childrne that sex is a wonderful and beautiful thing but that it is only to be done in marriage between and husband and wife. That is what it is for and only then is it beautful, wonderful and sacred. We want people not to grow up with an idea that it is bad or wrong because i feel alot of times in the experiences ive had that will carry through and people will most likely struggle with it in marriage when it is right, Its hard to change our views of something but If they see sexual intimacy for what it is, they will most likely respect it and honor it in a way that it should be.