Great Books on Sex

If you are interested in following up yesterday’s message, “Living a Lust-free Life in a Sex-Saturated Society” (Ephesians 5:1-6), with some good reading on sex, here are some recommendations. Sex and the Supremacy of Christ edited by John Piper and Justin Taylor, provide a number of excellent essays on various topics including the goodness of sex and the glory of God, homosexuality, sex and the single man, sex and the single woman, healing for the sexually broken, and more. Most of these essays were first delivered in last year’s Desiring God National Conference of the same name. To watch or listen to these sessions online, click here.

An excellent book for men or women, single or married, on dealing with sexual temptation is Joshua Harris's Sex Is Not the Problem (Lust Is). This book is rich with the gospel, authenticity, and hope-giving strategies for fighting lust. Married men and women would do well to read C. J. and Carolyn Mahaney’s Sex, Romance, and the Glory of God. This godly and delightful couple provide sound biblical advice for cultivating God-honoring and passionate intimacy in marriage.

Another book geared towards men and virtually every conceivable area of sexual temptation is Douglas Wilson’s Fidelity: What It Means to be a One-Woman Man. Wilson tackles tough issues with wisdom and wit. Married women, on the other hand, would benefit from Shaunti Feldhahn’s frank discussion on how men think about sex in For Women Only: What You Need to Know About the Inner Lives of Men. Finally, a classic book weaving the topics of sexuality and spirituality in a balanced and biblical way is Elisabeth Elliot’s Passion and Purity: Learning to Bring Your Love Life Under Christ’s Control. I must have read this four or five times as a single, and always found it helpful.