Sexless in the City by Kat Harris

From the first ever youth pastors down to the present day, it has stereotypically been our job to do a teaching series on sex every one or two years. And it makes sense: tweens and teens are beginning to figure out who they are as sexual beings, and their parents are keen to have good Christian values on this topic instilled into their kids!

It's for this reason that I keep my radar looking out for good Jesus-y resources on the subject. I know what I believe about sex and why I believe it, but if a teen asked me why premarital sex was wrong, I want to be able to give them the most convincing answer possible. The bible actually says remarkably little on premarital sex! Sure I would point to the union sex creates, the importance of a committed relationship, and how the unity of a married couple reflects the union God desires with his people - but I'm not confident how convincing they would find those reasons.

This is a helpful book on the subject. It covers a whole host of topics related to sex such as modesty, femininity, submission in marriage, the blessing and curse of desire, guilt, and more. And I appreciated the way she treats these subjects. She comes from a solid Christian perspective but isn't prudish, judgemental, impractical, or overly-conservative. Another strength is how she vulnerably incorporates her own story into the book. I think a single Christian who really wanted to be married and/or be sexual would feel a sense of relief reading this book because Harris shares openly about her struggles, hopes, fears, and times of discouragement.

Although the wide range of subjects she covers is a strength in one sense, it also means that she didn't have the time or space to go as deep into certain subjects as I was hoping she would. In particular, I wasn't satisfied with her treatment of why premarital sex is wrong, which is the main question I was had. She made some good points but it still didn't strike me as convincing enough.

Her target audience is definitely single women in their 20s and 30s. The first clue is how she throws the word "sassy" into the subtitle of the book. But that being said, I think anyone (teen or adult, man or woman, single or otherwise) could appreciate this book if they are interested in learning more about the subjects mentioned above.