Chastity has become a punchline in modern culture, dismissed as outdated repression that denies natural desires.
Yet the Catholic tradition has long recognized chastity as one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit flowing from temperance, understanding it not as the suppression of sexuality but the proper ordering of it.
Chastity isn’t just abstinence for the unmarried; it’s purity in thought, word, and deed for everyone, married or single. It’s sexual self-mastery that honors God’s design rather than capitulating to every impulse.
The sexual revolution promised freedom but delivered bondage. Hookup culture leaves people feeling used and empty. Pornography rewires brains and destroys intimacy. Serial relationships train people to view others as disposable.
Meanwhile, Scripture presents a radically different vision: sexuality as a sacred gift meant for covenant marriage, bodies as temples that belong to God, and purity as a pathway to genuine freedom rather than a restrictive burden. Chastity in this fuller sense protects what’s precious rather than denying what’s good.
These verses reveal that chastity is rooted in reverence for God, respect for others, and proper stewardship of our bodies. It’s not about earning God’s love through purity but honoring Him because we already have His love.
Bible Verses About Chastity
1. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 – Avoid Sexual Immorality
It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God.
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2. 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 – Flee From Sexual Immorality
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
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3. Hebrews 13:4 – Marriage Should Be Honored by All
Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.
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4. 1 Corinthians 7:8-9 – It Is Good for Them to Stay Unmarried
Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
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5. Matthew 5:27-28 – Anyone Who Looks at a Woman Lustfully
You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
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6. Galatians 5:19-21 – The Acts of the Flesh Are Obvious
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
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7. Ephesians 5:3 – There Must Not Be Even a Hint
But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.
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8. Colossians 3:5 – Put to Death Whatever Belongs to Your Earthly Nature
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
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9. 1 Peter 2:11 – Abstain From Sinful Desires
Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.
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10. Romans 13:13-14 – Behave Decently
Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.
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11. 1 Corinthians 6:13 – The Body Is Not Meant for Sexual Immorality
You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
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12. Job 31:1 – I Made a Covenant With My Eyes
I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman.
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13. Proverbs 6:25-26 – Do Not Lust in Your Heart After Her Beauty
Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes. For a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread, but another man’s wife preys on your very life.
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14. 2 Timothy 2:22 – Flee the Evil Desires of Youth
Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
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15. 1 Corinthians 10:13 – God Will Provide a Way Out
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
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16. Proverbs 5:15-19 – Drink Water From Your Own Cistern
Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer—may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love.
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17. 1 Timothy 5:22 – Keep Yourself Pure
Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.
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18. Galatians 5:22-23 – The Fruit of the Spirit Is Self-Control
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
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19. Romans 6:12-13 – Do Not Let Sin Reign in Your Mortal Body
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.
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20. 1 Corinthians 9:27 – I Beat My Body and Make It My Slave
No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
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21. Proverbs 7:6-23 – At the Window of My House
At the window of my house I looked down through the lattice. I saw among the simple, I noticed among the young men, a youth who had no sense. He was going down the street near her corner, walking along in the direction of her house at twilight, as the day was fading, as the dark of night set in. Then out came a woman to meet him, dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.
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22. 1 Corinthians 7:1-2 – It Is Good for a Man Not to Have Sexual Relations
Now for the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband.
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23. Philippians 4:8 – Whatever Is Pure
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
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24. James 1:14-15 – Each Person Is Tempted When Dragged Away
But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
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25. 2 Corinthians 7:1 – Let Us Purify Ourselves
Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.
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26. 1 Timothy 4:12 – Set an Example in Purity
Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.
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27. Proverbs 4:23 – Guard Your Heart
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
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28. 1 John 2:16 – The Lust of the Flesh
For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.
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29. Titus 2:11-12 – It Teaches Us to Say “No”
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.
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30. 1 Peter 1:14-16 – Do Not Conform to the Evil Desires
As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
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31. Romans 12:1 – Offer Your Bodies as a Living Sacrifice
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
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32. Psalm 119:9 – How Can a Young Person Stay on the Path of Purity?
How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word.
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33. 1 Corinthians 6:15-16 – Do You Not Know That Your Bodies Are Members of Christ?
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”
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34. Song of Solomon 2:7 – Do Not Arouse or Awaken Love Until It So Desires
Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.
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35. Matthew 15:19 – Out of the Heart Come Evil Thoughts
For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.
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Our Thoughts On What the Bible Says About Chastity
Chastity is God’s will for sanctification, not an arbitrary rule to make life difficult. Sexual sin isn’t just breaking a code; it’s sinning against your own body, which is a temple of the Holy Spirit. The uniqueness of sexual sin is that it violates the temple itself in ways other sins don’t.
That’s why Scripture says to flee sexual immorality specifically. You don’t negotiate with it or see how close you can get; you run from it because it’s spiritually corrosive in unique ways.
The world presents chastity as repression, but Scripture presents it as proper ordering. Sexuality is good; God created it. But like all good gifts, it has boundaries. Fire in the fireplace warms; fire outside the fireplace destroys.
Sex within covenant marriage is blessed and beautiful. Sex outside those boundaries is destructive, no matter how the culture tries to rebrand it as freedom. Chastity isn’t denying the goodness of sexuality; it’s protecting it by honoring its proper context.
Chastity requires aggressive vigilance. You guard your heart, make covenants with your eyes, flee youthful lusts, and take thoughts captive. The culture bombards you with sexual images and messages constantly. Passivity guarantees failure.
You have to actively pursue purity, choosing what you consume, who you spend time with, and where you allow your mind to wander. God provides a way out of every temptation, but you have to take it.
Say This Prayer
Heavenly Father, chastity feels impossible in a culture saturated with sexual imagery and messages that contradict Your design. I’m bombarded constantly with temptation, and my own desires often feel overwhelming. I desperately need Your strength to honor You with my body.
Help me to understand that my body is Your temple, that I was bought at a price, and that sexual sin is uniquely destructive. Give me the self-control that comes from Your Spirit to flee sexual immorality in all its forms. Teach me to guard my heart, make covenants with my eyes, and take every thought captive.
When temptation comes, provide the way out You’ve promised. Help me to be aggressive in pursuing purity rather than passive in the face of cultural pressure. Give me wisdom to avoid situations where I’ll be vulnerable and courage to say no when temptation presents itself.
Create in me a pure heart. Help me to pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace along with those who call on You from a pure heart. Let me view sexuality as the sacred gift You designed it to be, precious enough to protect rather than cheap enough to give away casually.
In Jesus’ pure Name, Amen.
Evang. Anabelle Thompson is the founder of Believers Refuge, a Scripture-based resource that helps Christians to find biblical guidance for life’s challenges.
With over 15 years of ministry experience and a decade of dedicated Bible study, she creates content that connects believers with relevant Scripture for their daily struggles.
Her work has reached over 76,000 monthly readers (which is projected to reach 100,000 readers by the end of 2025) seeking practical faith applications, biblical encouragement, and spiritual guidance rooted in God’s Word.
She writes from personal experience, having walked through seasons of waiting, breakthrough, and spiritual growth that inform her teaching.
Evang. Thompson brings 12 years of active ministry and evangelism experience, along with over 10 years of systematic Bible study and theological research.
As a former small group leader and Sunday school teacher, she has published over 200 biblical resources and devotional studies.
She specializes in applying Scripture to everyday life challenges and regularly studies the original Hebrew and Greek texts for a deeper biblical understanding.