It’s Valentines Day – a day when many of us go out of our way to say “I love you” to those who are special to us. Parents, do you know that expressing love and paying attention to your children and teens actually helps them when it comes to their own sexuality? Research has shown that teens will often use sex as a means to express and satisfy emotional and interpersonal needs that have little or nothing to do with sex. Sexual activity becomes a coping mechanism to deal with the absence of love and affection at home. One recent study of ninth graders sought to discover why young teens want or would want to engage in sexual intercourse. Intimacy was the number one reason given, with respondents understanding intimacy as something that would make them “feel close” or “feel loved.” Our kids learn about what it means to love by watching their parents love each other. And, we need to shower our kids with the kind of grace-filled love and commitment shown to us by Jesus Christ.