SESSION  1

The Naked Truth

Getting Started

Before the Meeting

1.  Pray for students you know will be attending and for friends who might be invited.

2.  Watch session 1 of the DVD.

3.  Work through the entire session on your own, answering the questions and thinking through how the material impacts you and your views of sexuality. As you prepare, ask God to give you creativity and a heart to listen.

4.  You may want to prepare slips of papers with Bible references to be read during the meeting. When folks arrive, hand out the passages. Be sensitive to folks who may not like to read out loud.

5.  Keep your eyes open during the week for messages in the media about sexuality.

6.  Gather materials for study and be sure that all the technology is working. Check out the DVD player and arrange seating so that everyone will be able to comfortably see the TV.

7.  Have Bibles and pencils or pens available for the students.

8.  Hand out the Student Guides a few days in advance to each student who will attend. Be sure to have a few extras on hand, just in case they invite a friend.

9.  Play music and offer food to welcome the students when they arrive.

Starting the Meeting

1.  You will want to create an atmosphere of trust and honesty. This study will include some very personal material. Make a point to greet everyone and begin to learn names.

2.  Ask everyone to grab an index card and search through a magazine for two or three pictures or phrases that describe an aspect of their personality. Tape the pictures to the cards and use them as name placards for the meeting.

3.  Another option is for each student to choose another person in the group to introduce. Give the students a couple of minutes to find out something about another person and then have each student tell about the person they interviewed.

4.  Open the study with prayer. Be sure to pray for God’s guidance and grace as you begin the study.

Before reading the introduction together, talk briefly with the group about why you’ve decided to lead a study on God’s plan for an amazing sex life. Ask each person to tell the group their expectations for the next eight weeks. Also, ask the group if they have any concerns about what the group will be talking about.

It will be important for you to establish an atmosphere of trust and openness. You can do that by sharing a story about an experience you had learning about sexuality and God’s plan for abstinence in your life.

Read the introduction together as a group.

Introduction

For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. The man and the woman were both naked, and they felt no shame.

–GOD (GENESIS 2:24-25)

Pick almost any movie made for teenagers and adults (PG-13 or R) and you are guaranteed to see someone in bed or in the shower with someone else. Most of us have watched intimate encounters on television and in the movies for much of our lives.

By the time most of us are in high school, we begin to wonder, What would it be like to have an intense romantic relationship? Will I ever fall in love and have great sex?

There’s a reason sex is such a big part of our culture: God made us not only to want sex but also to enjoy sex for a lifetime.

From the very beginning, God created man and woman to enjoy each other. We were shaped to find pleasure in the opposite sex: their bodies, their minds, and their spiritual lives. We were created to fully know someone and to be fully known.

God’s plan for you includes a great, satisfying and—yes!—amazing sex life. Do you want to know God’s plan for a great sex life?

The Naked Truth with Lakita

Now it’s time to meet Lakita! In each lesson you will have a chance to hear from Lakita Garth, who has lived her life following God’s call to abstain from sex until marriage. As you watch this video, write down any questions or thoughts that come to you in the journal space provided below. Enjoy the video!

Take a moment to talk with your leader and others in the group about questions and comments you have after watching the video.

Here are some discussion starters for after the video:

•  What did you think of the Naked Truth analogy?

•  Can you think of examples from life, besides sex, where it would be helpful to practice self-discipline, self-control and delayed gratification?

•  Review the four steps to making good decisions.

There are a lot of questions and optional activities in this study, so review them ahead of time and choose those questions you would like to highlight with your group. Also, be open to how the Holy Spirit might want you to focus on one section that might apply more specifically to your group.

The Hook-Up

Whether we realize it or not, all of us have an opinion about sex. Below are some typical comments you might hear people say about sex before marriage:

•  “Other people may contract a sexually transmitted disease, but it won’t happen to me; I’ll be careful.”

•  “Sex is just for having babies, it’s not something to enjoy.”

•  “Oral sex and touching are a safe way to show love physically without actually having sex.”

•  “Condoms are the best way to practice safe sex.”

•  “If I’ve already had sex, there’s really no good reason to not have sex before marriage since I’m no longer a virgin.”

•  “If I’m dating the person I know I’m going to marry, then it’s okay to have sex because they will eventually be my spouse.”

•  “Everybody, except for really religious or ugly people, enjoy sex.”

•  “Sex just happens.”

After reading the list above, ask the group if they can think of more ideas and assumptions that people have about sex. You may ask them what they think their parents and grandparents thought about sex when they were teenagers.

Are these statements, ideas and assumptions true? Yes, no, maybe? The problem with discovering truth is that sometimes a lie wears a mask that looks a lot like the face of truth. In fact, a really good lie needs to have some truth in order for it to be believable.

Check out the situations below and think about what seems true and what seems like a lie.

As you begin this section, break into three groups and have each group work through a situation. The point is to help the students to begin thinking about how lies often look like truths. After each group has worked through this section, summarize the commentary below and move into the Bible study.

Situation #1

Bobby and Sharon were celebrating their one-month anniversary since they began dating. One night, after going to see a movie, Sharon told Bobby that her roommate had gone home for the weekend and that they had her dorm room to themselves. Bobby and Sharon started making out and pretty soon found themselves wanting to go all the way. Sharon said they had better not because she didn’t want to get pregnant. Bobby said, “We won’t do this all the time. We love each other and this is our anniversary. After all, it’s not likely that you’ll get pregnant if we do it just once. It can’t happen to us.”

What seems true about Bobby’s opinion?

What seems untrue about his opinion?

Situation #2

Katrina had lots of questions about sex. She had just attended a Christian retreat with her church group and the speaker told them to “just say no to sex.” In fact, he told them that listening to hip hop, watching music videos and viewing R-rated movies was evil. The problem was, Katrina was curious about sex even though she knew that God intended for her to wait until she was married. So, she talked to her older cousin, Regina, who was living with her boyfriend. Regina laughed when Katrina told her about the guest speaker at the retreat. Regina pointed out, “Having sex before you are married prepares you to have a better and more satisfying sex life with your future spouse because you have more practice.”

What seems true about Regina’s opinion?

What seems untrue about Regina’s opinion?

Everyone has an opinion about sex. Many of us grow up in church learning that sex before marriage is wrong, yet most of the time it’s never explained why it’s wrong. Sex and drugs are often under the category of “just say no.” If our parents are single and have an active dating life, we might learn that sex outside of marriage is acceptable, as long as “you love each other,” are in a “committed relationship” or if you do it “responsibly.”

How do you know what’s really true about sex?

That’s what we are going to be studying for the next eight weeks. You are going to learn to know the difference between truths and lies that are wrapped in truth’s clothing to deceive people.

Now let’s take a look at a couple of stories from the Bible in which someone needed to decide the difference between the truth and a lie.

This study will help students understand that lies have been dressed up as truth from the very beginning of time. As you work through the study, ask volunteers to read the commentary and let the group work on the questions together.

Some of your students may not be familiar with Bible study. That’s okay. One of the goals of this study is to introduce students to Scripture and help them to understand that God’s Word is practical and interesting. Be sure to have your answers prepared, but allow the students to come up with their own answers.

The Gospel Truth

What would paradise look like to you? How about eating all the food you want, having great weather, walking close with God, and being able to run around completely naked with the person created especially for you? In fact, you would feel so loved and accepted by God and the other person that you would not feel any sense of embarrassment or shame. Well, that’s what it was like for the first man and woman.

Everything was perfect. But even in paradise the man and the woman were tempted to turn away from God. Every day they could choose to enjoy the great life they had been given or they could choose to pursue what seemed like a greater pleasure. God loved the man and woman so much that He gave them a warning. Like a parent who warns their children of possible dangers, God warned the first humans about what not to do in their own little paradise.

Have someone from the group read the following passage and give the students time to write down their response. Ask if a couple of students would share their response with the entire group.

Read Genesis 2:16-17.

Write in your own words how God described what was good and what was dangerous about life on Earth.

Even though God told the man and the woman the truth, they began to question whether what God said was completely true. In fact, the woman began to talk to the greatest deceiver of all time. The ancients described the “great liar” as a serpent. Jesus called him Satan. Eve was deceived into thinking that Satan had her best interests at heart and that God was keeping her from pleasure. Satan dressed up a lie to look like truth and the results were disastrous.

Work through these questions together as a group.

Read Genesis 3:1-7.

What lie did the serpent tell the man and woman that may have seemed true but, in fact, destroyed their paradise?

Read Genesis 3:6 again and describe the emotions you think the man and woman were feeling when they were faced with the decision to follow God’s plan or to follow their passions.

What did they feel after they ate the “forbidden fruit”? Why do you think they felt that way?

Read Genesis 3:8-20.

How many consequences can you discover that the man and woman experienced as a result of choosing not to abstain from the forbidden fruit?

If a whiteboard is available, write the students’ responses on the board and then read the following together:

God commanded the man and woman to abstain from eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God knew that if they ate from that particular tree, they would face some real and grave consequences. Unfortunately, the man and woman ignored the warning and chose another option that brought about some pretty devastating results. They chose to believe a lie that looked a lot like truth.

Explain to the students that each week you’ll watch one or two DVD segments of Lakita Garth. Tell the students that if they want to know more about Lakita, they can check out her website: www.lakitagarth.com.

The Gospel Truth: Undressing Satan’s Lies

In the video, Lakita tells the story of two characters: Truth and Lie. At the end of the story she describes how each of us are going to be faced with the same challenge the town’s people faced: Are you going to believe a lie in truth’s clothing or the Naked Truth?

In The Gospel Truth section, we saw the devastating consequences of Adam and Eve’s choice to believe the lie in truth’s clothing. Fortunately, Scripture does not just give us examples of people who failed but also of people who succeeded.

Did you know that even Jesus had to decide whether He wanted to follow God or not? It’s true! Jesus was just as human as you and me and at some point He decided to follow God’s call. It all began when He was baptized. After His baptism, He had to decide whether He was going to believe a lie in truth’s clothing or believe God’s truth.

Read Matthew 4:1-17.

Satan sometimes uses the Bible to dress up his lies with truth. But the Bible is God’s truth. The words of Scripture tell us what God wants for our lives. God loves you so much that He gave you a book to show you how to have the best life ever. (Some people say BIBLE stands for Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.) As you read this passage, notice how Satan dressed up a lie to make it look like truth, and how Jesus undressed the lie to expose the truth.

Lie #1: We Need to Satisfy Our Every Desire (Self-Control)

Read Matthew 4:1-4.

Let’s face it: After 40 days of fasting in the wilderness, anyone would be starving. Satan knew that Jesus had huge physical needs, so he tempted Him with His deepest desire at that moment: food!

Satan’s first lie was that if our physical needs are met, then we will be happy.

How did Satan dress this lie up as truth?

How did Jesus undress this lie of Satan? (Check out Deuteronomy 8:3.)

God is more than able to provide for our physical needs, but there is something more important: following God’s commands. When we follow the way God calls us to live, we experience God’s greatest gifts.

In the DVD, the first character trait that gave Lakita and her brothers the ability to make good decisions is self-control. Jesus practiced self-control by refusing to use His powers to turn stone into bread when He was hungry in the desert. By abstaining from bread, Jesus chose to put God’s commands before His physical needs.

What would have been wrong if Jesus had made all the bread He wanted and followed Satan’s lie?

In what areas of your life do you wish you had more self-control?

Lie #2: God Will Protect Us Even When We Do Something Stupid (Self-Discipline)

Read Matthew 4:5-6.

Satan then pulled out another lie: If Jesus was really God’s Son, then He could do what He wanted and God would save Him.

We often do things against God’s will and then get mad at God for not protecting us. If we have sex, we think, No problem. God won’t let me get an STD or get pregnant. After all, God loves me!

Wrong! God does love you, but you are still responsible for your actions.

Read Psalm 91:11-12.

How did Satan dress this lie up with the truth?

How did Jesus undress the lie? (Check out Deuteronomy 6:16.)

To put God to a test is to do something to prove that God will follow your commands.

Satan knew that God would protect Jesus from physical harm. After all, God’s plan for Jesus was that He would teach, draw others into a relationship with God, and die on the cross to save humanity. God would never allow Jesus to get hurt; Satan knew it and Jesus knew it.

So why didn’t Jesus just prove God’s power and follow Satan’s request? Jesus didn’t go along with Satan’s scheme because He had nothing to prove. Jesus disciplined Himself to follow God because He really did not care about what Satan thought or wanted. When you know the truth, you won’t have to prove yourself to others, just like Jesus didn’t have to prove Himself to Satan.

In what ways do you see people putting God to a test?

The second character trait that had an impact on Lakita’s life is self-discipline. She knew the truth and the truth helped her and her brothers to stay focused on their goals. Choosing to follow God’s plan for sex and choosing to be disciplined enough to follow your belief are giant steps toward experiencing an amazing sex life.

Lie #3: The Fastest Way Is the Best Way (Delayed Gratification)

Satan told Jesus that He could have everything if He would bow down and worship Satan instead of God. God’s long-term plan for Jesus also offered Him everything—eventually to become “top dog” of the world. The only problem with God’s plan was that it included waiting, serving and dying on a cross. It meant that Jesus would have to sacrifice a lot in order to have God’s best (see Philippians 2:5-11). Satan, on the other hand, said, “You don’t have to wait. You can have all of it right now. Just turn away from God and follow me.”

It’s often a lot easier to bow down in the moment and to accept Satan’s offer of immediate gratification than it is to wait. Lie number three, then, is that we can take the easy way and still have God’s best.

How did Jesus address Satan differently in order to undress this truth?

What did God do for Jesus after He survived this test?

Jesus decided to follow God’s way of sacrifice instead of satisfying Himself. Just like with Jesus, God’s plan for your life may require you to delay immediate pleasures in order to gain something better down the road.

That’s what abstinence is all about. It’s not saying no for the sake of saying no. It’s saying no because there is something better in the end. The Bible speaks clearly about sex. Say no before you are married so that someday you’ll be able to say yes for a lifetime—to your spouse.

Now form the students into small groups, and ask them to work together to develop an example of what the decision-making process that Lakita discussed in the video could really look like. Allow groups about 10 minutes to work through this section. Have them review the decision-making process, and then complete the exercise below as a group.

Doing the Truth

In the video, Lakita explains that the decision to remain abstinent until marriage can be made based on the same decision-making process used to achieve your goals in other areas of life. The way to make a good choice is condensed in these four steps:

1.  Know your options and know the consequences.

2.  Make a decision. Choose an option and set a goal.

3.  Find others who will support you.

4.  Plan and take practical steps to achieve your goal.

Now as a group, choose a decision that every high school person must make. Then work through how you might go about making the decision based on the decision-making process outlined above.

Step 1: Know your options and know the consequences.

List four options for making this particular decision and the possible consequences.

For example: Going to prom.

Options:	Consequences:
Ask someone out	Request rejected
Ask someone out	Request accepted
Not go at all	Feel lonely and left out
Go with friends	Have low-pressure fun

Step 2: Make a decision. Choose an option and set a goal.

Of the four options, choose which option would be the best and set the goal you would like to achieve.

Options:	Goal:
Ask someone out.	Find a date by the end of the week.

Step 3: Find others who will support you.

Make a list of the group of friends and adults who you will ask to support you in this decision.

Best friend

Parents

Youth group members

Step 4: Plan and take practical steps to achieve your goal.

List three actions you will take this week that will help you follow through on your decision.

1.  Find the best looking guy/girl in your school.

2.  Ask that person to talk after school.

3.  Ask that person out.

Review these final points as the lesson comes to an end.

The Big Finish

We’ve covered a lot of material today. Basically, we’ve looked at three important points to help you discover God’s incredible plan for your life:

1.  God loves you and wants the best for you. He’s given you the freedom to choose to follow Him.

2.  Three character traits of self-control, self-discipline and delayed gratification offer you more tools to experience God’s best for your life.

3.  The Naked Truth is about you having an amazing sex life. Abstinence education is about preparing you to have the best sex and to enjoy it for a lifetime.

Coming to a Close

An important part of any small group is the time spent in prayer for one another and the world.

1.  Have students write out their specific prayer requests on an index card. Students can share these requests with the whole group or they can pair up and trade requests with a prayer partner for the week.

2.  Ahead of time, ask one student to close the session with prayer.

As you close in prayer, be sensitive to the reality that some of the group members may have already been involved sexually with others. Invite them to bring their whole lives before God and to commit to learning from Him over the course of this study.

After the Meeting

1.  Evaluate: Evaluate the meeting’s overall effectiveness. Take time to talk with your volunteer leaders about how God worked, what went well, what did not go well and what needs to be changed before the next meeting. Consider the particular students and what types of interaction would be best for them.

2.  Encourage: Try to contact each student during the week (phone calls, notes of encouragement, e-mail or instant messages) and welcome him or her to the group. Make yourself available to answer any questions they might have.

3.  Equip: Complete the next lesson on your own. Remember to watch for what messages the students may be receiving through the media.

4.  Pray: Prayerfully prepare for the next meeting. Also, use the name placards you made to pray for each student at least three times during the week.