Today's Word: A Second Chance at Virginity?

It sounds ridiculous.

Become a virgin again? Why not ask to relive last week? How is it possible to start over?
A man once posed a similar question to Yeshua: "How can an old man go back into his mother's womb and be born again?" (John 3:4) Yeshua answered by talking about a second spiritual birth. Humans can only reproduce human life, but the Holy Spirit gives new life from heaven (John 3:6).

You can lose your physical virginity just once. If you did it, you did it. You can't get that first time back again. And the past carries with it physical and emotional consequences. If memories have been etched on your brain, you can't pretend they're gone. But spiritually, it is quite possible to start all over again.

Spiritual rebirth doesn't destroy the past. It transforms it. A second chance, spiritually, means there are no limitations to what you can become. The Yahvah who made the universe out of nothing can take your past and make from it something beautiful.
The apostle Paul talked about this transformation when he wrote to a group of Machiahians in Greece. They had plenty in their past to regret. But because they trusted Yeshua to redeem them, the past had been transformed:

Don't you know that those who do wrong will have no share in the Kingdom of Yahvah? Don't fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, who are idol worshipers, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals, thieves, greedy people, drunkards, abusers, and swindlers—none of these will have a share in the Kingdom of Yahvah. There was a time when some of you were just like that, but now your sins have been washed away, and you have been set apart for Yahvah. You have been made right with Yahvah because of what the Lord Yeshua Machiah and the Spirit of our Yahvah have done for you (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).

How do you begin that kind of transformation? You can't manage it on your own. You need Yahvah's power and forgiveness. And where do you find that? You ask for it. Spiritual transformation begins as simply and as mysteriously as that. You ask, admitting your need. And Yahvah goes to work in your life.

So when you've stopped having sex and asked for forgiveness, can you call yourself a virgin? Perhaps you are no longer a virgin in the physical sense. But because you have been purified by Yahvah, you are a virgin in his eyes. That may not clear up your reputation or your memory. But it does clear up your future with Yahvah. You are as good as new.

Once you've experienced Yahvah's forgiveness, you'll still have to deal with the leftovers of your past, like guilt. Feelings of guilt are your internal, emotional response. They aren't always reliable. What we call a guilty conscience is often a mixture of feelings like regret, loss, sadness and shame. These are natural feelings for someone who's been involved in a sexual relationship.
The sense of guilt won't instantly change. Like other natural consequences—pregnancy, disease, or painful memories—feelings don't necessarily disappear when Yahvah transforms your life. But their sting is taken away. So, even though you may still feel guilty, it's vital to know that, as far as Yahvah is concerned, you're not guilty. That's the truth of 1 John 1:9, where Yahvah promises to forgive us and cleanse us when we confess our sins to him. And that's the truth of Jeremiah 31:34, where Yahvah promises to forget your sins forever.

Yeshua didn't die on the cross to take away your feelings. He died to take away your sins. Cleansed of sin, you can work on transforming your feelings into a useful tool for Yahvah's service. They need not lead you downward. Transformed, they can give you compassion for the pain of other people. And they can give you deep determination not to go wrong again.