Grace's Tragedy- Thoughts on Last Night's Episode of The Secret Life of the American Teenager

Last week's episode of The Secret Life of the American Teenager showed Grace's tragedy of where she decided to have sex against her father's wishes and her father was later killed in a plane crash with this issue unresolved. Last night's episode showed Grace in a depressed and angry manner towards everyone, but especially toward herself. She blamed herself for her father's death and believes this was the punishment from God for having sex before marriage.

This is very normal that when something bad occurs following a major sin in our life that we naturally blame ourselves for the grievous circumstances that has occurred and think it is a punishment from God. Last week we discussed that God is love but this does not mean he condones premarital sex or sin of any kind when his word says otherwise. This week's episode put major emphasis on the fact that Grace felt her father's death was a punishment from God for her sin. So this will be what I focus on today. Does God punish us for sin in this way? Does he take loved ones away from us when we commit sexual sin or sin of any kind?

The answer is no. When it is someone's time to die, it is their time to die no matter what is going on with us personally. The sin that Grace committed was between God and her. What does scripture say about this particular situation between Grace and her dad on the show? The word of God commands us in Exodus 20:12, "Honor your father and mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you." Grace did not honor her parent's wishes to wait about having sex, but chose to live a life in the flesh. The word of God also says in I Timothy 4:12 : "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity." For as Christians, we are called to live a life in the spirit. One of the fruits of the spirit is self-control. Therefore, we are to exercise self-control in our relationships through the power of the spirit.. Remember that sex can be all about lust or it can be done in the confines of marriage where there is God ordained love and commitment to God and your spouse. There is no shame in marital love and the act of marriage- sexual intimacy. One last thing I want to stress. Where does Grace go from here? She goes to her father in heaven on her knees and prays and asks forgiveness and re-commits her life to him and chooses to not have sex until marriage. As Christians we are to live the faith for Jesus- so stand firm and live life abundantly.

1 John 1:9 says "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."