If your only source of information in the last forty years has been television and movies, then you would believe that there is great shame in being called a “virgin.” Teenagers and adults in television and movies snicker at, laugh at, point at, mock, tease, shame and ostracize anyone who is believed to be (or known to be) a virgin, and usually great pressure is put on that virgin to as quickly as possible lose their virginity. Again, if you’ve been raised with a steady diet of that kind of “entertainment,” then you may also have those same thoughts about virginity. Perhaps you have felt shamed or have shamed another in this matter.
However, I want you to know (not merely think or believe) that an unmarried virgin is held in the highest esteem by the God of heaven! Do you hear that? Do you believe that? Do you trust that? Think about this.
The whole thrust of the Old Testament message is that “Someone is coming.” More than 300 specific prophecies are made in the first 39 books of your Bible that foretell of the coming Messiah. One of those prophecies is found in Isaiah 7:14 and finds its fulfillment in Matthew 1:23. “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” On the very first page of our New Testament, we read about a “virgin.” She was not mocked or teased for not having sex yet. Just the opposite! When God sent His angel to the “virgin,” the message delivered is striking: “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!…You have found favor with God” (Luke 1:26-30).
Question: Would Mary have been chosen to be the mother of Jesus if she was not a virgin? No! Isaiah 7:14 proves that. She could not have fulfilled God’s plan if she wasn’t a virgin!
Now, consider this. Why was Joseph concerned at all when he discovered that Mary was pregnant with a child that was not his? Did it matter to Joseph if Mary was a virgin or not? It most certainly did!
It mattered to Mary that she was a virgin! She had obviously saved herself for her husband. It mattered to Joseph that Mary was a virgin! He was ready to “put her away” when he thought that she was not. It mattered to God that Mary was a virgin! He would not have selected her if she was not. “Virgin” was not a dirty word in the Bible!
God looked down at a virgin girl and used the words “highly favored” and “blessed among women”! Friends, please ignore today’s “entertainment” industry! They don’t have a clue! Don’t be ashamed to follow God’s plan and find favor in His sight, even if it doesn’t bring favor in anyone else’s sight!