Dragonfly Sexual Encounters
Nothing has stolen more dreams, dashed more hopes, broken up more families, and messed up more people psychologically than our propensity to disregard God’s commands regarding sexual purity. (Andy Stanley).
Today I’m writing about sex. But I’m a Christian blogger, who’s a biologist too. So I opted for dragonflies having sex, with the male fertilizing the female’s eggs.
Sorry, but this is as racy as this post is going to get.
Plus I find dragonflies fascinating.
Interesting Facts
Dragonflies first appeared in the fossil records 300 million years ago. Back then the dragonfly’s ancestor was huge. Modern day dragonflies have 2″ to 5″ (5.08 cm to 12.7 cm) wingspans, tip to tip.. But in the Permian period, when the atmosphere held a lot more oxygen, insects grew to an enormous size. The dragonfly’s ancestor had a wingspan of 28 inches or 71 cm.
The Lifecycle
The male dragonfly captures the female by clasping her behind the neck. They will often fly in formation, with the male towing her through the air. If the female is receptive to his advances, she 
places her reproductive organ in contact with his. Interestingly, a mating pair often forms a heart shape with their curved abdomens.
The eggs hatch underwater releasing predatory aquatic larvae called nymphs. Some species remain aquatic between 1 to 5 years before maturing into adult dragonflies, which only live a few weeks.
My Spiritual Point
I titled today’s post “Designed for Sex” because in biology, almost all complex species, from insects on up, reproduce sexually.
Hey, even clams do.
Our Creator made us this way—sex was His idea. Afterwards He gave us an instruction manual called the Bible, telling us how to wisely use His gift of sexuality.
In the Scriptures, Jesus never preaches sexual freedom; instead He teaches self-control. Yet our Savior is tender and compassionate toward people broken by sexual sin. Read again the story of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11 RSV).
Some Personal Thoughts
Our Heavenly Father’s commands are like a parent telling a small child, “Don’t touch the hot stove.” So yes, I 100% agree with Andy Stanley’s quote. But I do not believe in heckling people because of their sexual orientation, or screaming that they are going to Hell.
Hell was my destination too, until Jesus lovingly rescued me.
I believe everyone deserves to be treated by me with respect and kindness. Because I want to reflect Christ’s love.. That includes members of the LBGTQ community who I meet..
I do, however, often pray behind their back. For decades, God has been bringing men and women out of that lifestyle, one person at a time. I’m not talking about conversion therapy—that’s bunk.
Instead, it’s a choice each person voluntarily makes, to walk toward Christ and away from a life of “sexual freedom.” Christians ensnared in other sexual sins have to choose to walk away too.
The ex-gays as a group are some of the most impressive Christians I’ve ever met. Sexually broken, they understand the damage sin does. But they also know the life-transforming power and love of Jesus Christ in a way that most believers don’t
The sexy images for this post came from Pixabay.com.
