The truth about human sexuality is inseparable from the truth of man being made in God’s image and likeness. Both are fundamental reflections of God Himself and His intimate love for His creation. The mystery and wonder of God’s creation leads man to the contemplation of the beauty and goodness of his own body and of the beauty and goodness of God Himself. God draws us into the mystery of His love and calls us to love as He loves. This requires us to care for our own bodies responsibly and manage our sexuality in accordance with the moral law of God.

The Imago Dei

God made man in His image and likeness: the imago Dei. This means that we are made in the image of the Blessed Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, a communion of Persons bound in an eternal exchange of love. God, at the very core of His being, in His very identity, is love itself. And God sent His only Son into the world to give His life for us by dying on the Cross, to show us the greatest meaning of love — to give oneself to another. Because God is love and we are made in His image, we are made with the capacity to love, to give and to receive love. This fundamental truth of humanity is written into our bodies in the complementarity of male and female. In fact, this essential truth is revealed to us on the first pages of Scripture: “God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). It is precisely in human sexuality, as men and women, that we are the imago Dei and become signs of God’s very life and love.

Theology of the Body

Pope St. John Paul II reflected on these truths of God and man in his seminal work, Theology of the Body. In this series of talks given over many months of Wednesday audiences, the pope proposed that “the body, in fact, and only the body, is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and divine. It has been created to transfer into the visible reality of the world the mystery hidden from eternity in God, and thus to be a sign of it” (Theology of the Body 19:4). He further developed this thesis by reflecting on the original state of mankind, who was first made in solitude to recognize his personhood and relationship to God, and then made in unity to discover the gift of sexuality and to respond to God’s call to love as He loves. The original nakedness of the first man and woman revealed that they saw each other for who they were, man and woman, human persons made in God’s image with equal dignity and the capacity to love. They were free of defenses, barriers, and masks. They were completely vulnerable. They were able to be themselves freely and choose to love without any fear of harm or shame.

To Love as God Loves

Human sexuality, then, was the original blueprint for love. The marital union of one man and one woman giving themselves completely to one another in marital love is an icon of the Trinity and a sign of Christ’s love for His Church. Sexual desire, the normal feelings or passions that are part of the human experience, are meant to point us toward and move us in the direction of marriage between a man and a woman. Separated from that purpose, sexual desire can easily become lust and lead to other sexual sin that disrespects the dignity of both persons who are made in God’s image. Therefore, each of us is called to chastity, that is, the true integration of a person’s sexuality within a person’s bodily and spiritual being. In other words, chastity means to control our sexual feelings and reserve sexual acts for the context of marriage, in order to make our sexuality a true and full gift to our spouses.

Marriage, the primordial sacrament of union between one man and one woman, is capable of fully reflecting the love of God, which is free, faithful, total self-giving, and fruitful. These goods of marital love are found in the two purposes of marriage: the unitive purpose or the good of the couple and the procreative purpose or the generation (procreation) and education of children. The two purposes of marriage are essential for a marriage to be a marriage. In fact, anything that prevents or diminishes these purposes is contrary to God’s plan for marriage. By this standard, then, we can evaluate a moral act related to human sexuality to the degree that it upholds or disrespects the goods of marital love and the virtue of chastity. Some of the offenses against chastity and marital love include adultery, fornication, masturbation, homosexual activity, transgenderism, rape, prostitution, pornography, contraception, and abortion. Each uniquely offends and disrespects God’s plan for marital love, our call to chastity, and our dignity as human persons.

Overcoming Temptation

While marital love is the original blueprint, we are capable of loving as God loves in our friendships and in our families; we can love the poor, the sick, and the outcast. Some of us are not called by God to marriage, but are called to ordained and religious life as priests, sisters, brothers, and consecrated virgins. Regardless of our vocation, we are called to love as God loves, to make a gift of self to others. In fact, the virtue of chastity blossoms in friendship and shows us how to follow and imitate Christ. When some friendships bring about romantic feelings, we have the responsibility to avoid the sin of lust so that we do not see the other person as an object to be used, but rather to uphold the goodness and dignity of that person.

Sexual temptations can be a particularly seductive form of temptation. Learning to resist temptation is a necessary part of Christian living. By cultivating a life of prayer, frequently receiving the Sacraments, especially Holy Communion and Reconciliation, strengthening our will through self-denial, and seeking holiness not only for ourselves, but for our friends, those we are dating, and spouses, we can become the best person God made us to be and authentically respond to His call to love as He loves.