Background

On March 5, 1994, members of the Youth Executive Committee of the Baptist World Alliance voted to make True Love Waits a world-wide project. This campaign for sexual abstinence among unmarried youth began with Baptists in North America in April 1993 and experienced enprecedented success. Hundreds of thousands of young people signed covenant cards with a pledge to abstinence.

Purpose

• To communicate to youth the spiritual, emotional, and physical value of remaining sexually abstinent until marriage
• To challenge families to address within the home biblical standards of sexual behaviour
• To provide churches a way to support parents and their youth as they express their commitment to sexual abstinence outside marriage
• To communicate to the world a preferred alternative to the “safe sex” message.

Campaign Theme

True love should be valued by young people as a powerful reason for delaying sexual expression until marriage. At least five elements of love can motivate purity.

• True love for God – Obeying God’s commandments is a pure way to show your love for Him
• True love for friends – Sex before marriage always hurts people. If you care about a friend, you can choose not to hurt him or her through sexual misbehaviour
• True love for your future mate – You can make a commitment to that person even before you know him or her, including a commitment to wait for sexual expression.
• True love for your future child – You can begin now to love the child you will bring into the world. That love includes a desire to see that child into a complete, permanent family.
• True love for yourself – Your concern for yourself can allow you to choose to avoid that which leads to guilt, broken relationships, disease, and even death.