THE YOUTH: THEN AND NOW

Understanding the Concept YOUTH/YOUTHFUL AGE

Youth is the quality or state of being young; therefore, youthful age means the period of existence preceding agedness, a time when you can fend for yourself, make/take decisions and of course bear the consequence(s).

What Is The Significance Of Youthful Age To Human and God?
The youthful age is a time to Overcome- 1Jn 2:13b. As a child, sibling, colleague, friend etc, there are certain expectations from our fellow human from us; these expectations can be summed into what we call ‘Responsibility’ i.e. your response ability to issues. In our Youthful age, we are responsible for/to a whole lot- financial, social, relationship and spiritual obligation. Likewise in the workplace, your skill, knowledge base and agility are needed now that you are young.

Beside humans, God also have an expectation of us. He expects us to be zealous and passionate for Him- bring souls to Him and bruise the heel of the devil. We are to sow our youthful age to God, because it is a time when we are prone to the wiles or attack of the devil. Our service to God is more required now; because when old age sets in, there will be limits to our service. As zealous as Joshua was, he didn’t conquer all the lands (Josh 13:1); what if he had been idle in his youth? He would have achieved nothing.

At the death of Joshua, there was no youth worthy to fit in his stead perfectly like he did for Moses. And I ask myself, where were the youth? What is wrong with us? If we aren’t responsible now, when will we?

IMPORT FROM THE STONE AGE FOR THE PRESENT
I noticed that in the time past, when civilization hasn’t set in, the operatives of the youth then differs from ours now, and I think we can take a cue from theirs. Below are diverse dimensions with which we can compare, contrast and imbibe values from ancient youth for our present day.

EDUCATION- When you equate a standard six of then to its current equivalent, I am certain you won’t get the same output or value. Our educational system now is in a mess, educational decadence has become the order of the day. Admission before this time comes with ease based on merit, but today; if one isn’t soliciting for admission in cash, it will be in kind. On the student’s part, for the old era, I think their core interest is academics before any other attraction, but today the reverse is the case; an average teenager engages in extracurricular activities as against their primary aim- education.
It is high time, we instill the right educational precepts in our wards and we shouldn’t take up corrupt educational measures (like paying for results) on their behalf, otherwise they will do worse-off. Education still remains the best legacy, so give it your best shot.

BUSINESS/CAREER- Have you ever wondered why big degrees and qualification don’t translate to success in business or survival? In the time past, a single skill is enough to cater for the family. It took me years and a jobless state to acquire a skill that would have been bequeathed to me on a platter of gold. More than ever before; especially with the current economic state, we need to create a niche for ourselves. I think at this point, I must give credit to the young ones who are doing well in their field and even breaking new grounds, I can’t deny that in this capacity we’ve done well than our parents, but we can be better. Let’s acquire useful skills, save, invest and go the extra mile.

MARRIAGE/RELATIONSHIP- This is a major target of the devil, once one misses it in marriage, a whole lot will go wrong. Maybe we should ask ourselves why divorce rate is high amongst young couples or newly-wed now, contrary to the ‘for better for worse’ marital life that was obtainable in the past, the loyalty of our parents to their partners then is next to none. Even with chastity and morality, I weep in my heart when I see acts of immorality being perpetrated as if they are normalities. I once heard a story about suitors or potential partners; that as a lady once you sight your suitor you have to take cover as you can’t afford to be seen anyhow so that your value won’t diminish (lol), and the man too dare not ‘know’ you before time or visit your place alone. But today, we’ve known ourselves inside-out, infact how many of us would want to be chaperoned in relationship? We sure cant remain in the medieval age, but then we can imbibe some good old values, let us maintain a firm grip like Joseph, don’t lose grip on your conscience to overcome craze for sex- battle immorality!

SPIRITUALITY: Why do we err much in this era of spiritual sensitivity? Why is wickedness, theft, murder, rape, corruption etc a daily occurrence now that we serve God more, unlike times when people don’t even care about godliness?
 In our Christian history, we’ve heard about different waves of revival championed by some great men of God, we’ve heard of Benson Idahosa, Abiara, Ayo Babalola, Akindayomi, and still in this generation we have several others even in the western world, who have actually given their best and they will become our own cloud of witnesses. However, who will step into their shoes when they are gone? Who will disciple like Bro Gbile, who will anchor holiness like Baba Kumuyi, who will champion faith like Bishop Oyedepo, who will pray like Dr. Olukoya and who will clamour Halleluyah like Baba Adeboye? Let’s come back to our first love- Jesus! We must seek to please Him daily and wholly, we’ve got enablement which we must put to use.

Conclusion
Let us extract values from the past, merge it with the values that are presently obtainable and then put them to action for better result.

VIRGINITY: A VIRTUE TO RECKON WITH?

Around the mid-year, I read about Juliana Olayode’s (Toyo baby of the Jenifa Tv Soap) advocacy for sexual purity, I saw a whole lot of criticism and some vulgar comments made by young people and I ask, is virginity a curse or a taboo in this age? Whether sexually intact or not, I believe it is proper to respect other people’s opinion even when they contradict ours.

Sexual purity, I believe is a thing of the mind, a personal perception, belief and decision which varies from one person to another. This is to say that, though virginity is usually associated with self-worth, prestige and purity; the issue of virginity or sexual purity translates to different things from individual to individual. I am sure I can’t alone do justice to this topic, so I decided to gather views of other people with which I can share some opinions about virginity and issues that revolve it on this platform.

Out of the views and contributions I got from people, I have decided to share the opinion of some friends- Ms O. Priscillia (Content writer, Blogger and Journalist), Mr O. Kingsley (Perioperative /Critical Care Nurse-LUTH) and Mr Kolaru Victor (Head of Operations-CSadvance Finance Limited).

WHAT IS VIRGINITY?
Virgin emanates from the old French word ‘virgine’ from the root form of Latin word virgo, literally meaning maiden-Sexually intact. According to Wikipedia- Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse.

Victor opined that “A virgin is a chaste young man or lady, but contemporary societies often use the term to apply to the female gender alone. It is a held belief by all religions and primitive societies that the individuals coming to marital harmony should be sexually pure until their wedding night, westernization/civilization has since reduced this emphasis to near zero.”

Similarly, Priscillia says a “Virgin is someone that hasn’t had a sexual intercourse before.”

WHAT IS YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY VIRGINITY?
Virginity is usually categorized into: Primary and Secondary virginity.

PRIMARY VIRGINITY
In Victor’s opinion, a primary virgin is the person who has not had any sexual encounter especially penile-vagina penetration, and any form of sexual stimulation including using artificial dildos or any act of masturbation.

From Victor’s definition, one can deduce that it is not just vaginal sex that puts one in a state of disvirginity, but some other which may include oral and anal sex.

SECONDARY VIRGINITY
Secondary virginity means committing to chastity after you’ve been sexually active; it is a feeling of ‘wholeness’. In simple term, it is the process of a sexually active person attempting to regain virgin status by abstaining from sexual relations; this is otherwise known as re-virgination.

CULTURAL BELIEFS ON VIRGINITY
Our cultural and religious tradition places sexual values and significance on this state; predominantly towards unmarried females. In this part of the world, there’s a cultural expectation especially from the female, which debars one from engaging in premarital sex before marriage and then ‘releasing it’ on the wedding night in the act of consummation of the marriage. Virtually all cultures belief in sexual purity, and usually reward especially ladies who were confirmed virgins by their husband on the wedding day by the sighting of their blood stained white handkerchiefs.

Priscillia believes that our culture views virginity as a value, a dignity, but culture is evolving, and the virginity part is now gradually being overlooked.

HEALTH CONCERNS RELATING TO VIRGINITY
What are the benefits, or perhaps the implications of virginity?
Although, science has proven that there could be female virgins whose hymen were torn because of exercises or are naturally hymen deficient; hence blood won't come out of their vagina at their first sexual experience, there are still health benefits of staying sexually intact.
Kingsley being a Nurse, says “there are numerous benefits of virginity medically, which includes prevention of STD’S/STI’S, Cervical cancers, unwanted pregnancy, to mention but a few; however, there might be few implication in the case of imperforate hymen i.e. being a virgin might make it difficult to detect imperforate hymen on time.”

IS VIRGINITY GENDER SPECIFIC?
In contemporary times, I think female virginity has been regarded as more significant than male virginity. In my opinion, that’s gender biasness of the highest order. There is societal emancipation that supports the idea that virginity is more female centered, but from both medical and religious views, it is not. Even religiously, virginity is not gender specific, but most cultures emphasize the virginity of the female child over that of the male child, perhaps because it is the one that could be easily confirmed.

Priscillia, though a lady have it that virginity isn’t gender specific, because both genders have their first time, however virginity favours the male gender most.

VIRGINITY AS A LIFESTYLE
How do we live purely and happily, whether as a secondary or primary virgin?
Consciously determine you are a virgin, not because society demands it, because the society doesn't care anymore; not because you want to give it to some special guy, because lots of men do not see it as a big deal anymore; though he may be happy and appreciate you on the wedding night but that's it, virginity doesn't keep marriage. So a strong reason is needed to be able to stay strong. Hold your head strong, know what you are doing, and know who you are. Virginity is a personal thing- a personal decision and God appreciates you even if no one does - Priscillia

Being principled and not allowing emotions to overrule us- KINGSLEY

Virginity as a lifestyle is very possible but demanding, it will require a high degree of discipline especially in today's world that sex is marketed in virtually all human fields, in fashion, music, Talk shows etc. In my own view, it is important for individuals to have the fear of God first, this kept me a lot. Also, a good company should be kept, avoid very sexually charged atmosphere if you want to remain a virgin e.g. night clubs, brothels, etc.
-Avoid a relationship if you're not going to get married in two (2) years
-While in relationship, avoid lonely moments with your partner... Use public places for heart talks- Victor

OVERALL ASSESSMENT AND ADMONITION ON VIRGINITY
In my view, Virginity is indeed a virtue to reckon with from all perspectives, though not easily achieved in a sex- driven world- KINGSLEY

My assessment of virginity as a whole is that it's a very good thing, it increases the confidence and respect you get from your partner. Your self esteem is high. And your partner has no worries about leaving you for long... It's also what God requires of his people...so trust God and take practical steps to keep your virginity- VICTOR

CONCLUSION
I am crtain you have been able to garner some impactful views from the discourse, although the truth about the state of sexual purity isn’t limited to those above, it is a fact that such a topic cannot be exhausted; therefore we beckon on you to share your ‘constructive’ views too via this medium in order to educate others and thereafter provide a way out for those having issues with virginity or sexual purity.