Grade 8 Fully Alive Intro Lesson

1. Fully Alive Unit 3
BY MR. B

2. Created Sexual: Male and Female
• This unit will focus on Human Sexuality.
• It will ask and explore questions like:
• Why are we created male and female?
• What is the true meaning of sexual intimacy?
• How do we handle sexual feelings?
• How do we protect the gift of fertility?
• What is true love?
• How do we remain faithful to the Christian vision of sexuality?
Some of your
reactions?

3. The Gift of Sexuality
• At first glance, it doesn’t seem that difficult to understand sexuality:
• The sex of a new human life is determined at conception.
• Baby girls are born with female reproductive organs and baby boys are
born with male reproductive organs.
• During puberty the secondary sexual characteristics develop and boys
and girls begin to look more like adults
• The primary sexual characteristics continue to mature.

4. Sexual Characteristics Review
• Primary Sexual Characteristics:
• The development of fertility, which is the capacity to reproduce.
• Secondary Sexual Characteristics
• The external changes in the body that make the appearance of each sex distinctive.

5. The Gift of Sexuality Cont.
• While the physical aspects of sexuality are so obvious, we just
assume that the word male or female are just a description of a
person’s body. This is a common misunderstanding that can
happen.
• We are the only creatures on earth that can think and talk about
ourselves, including our bodies.
• This ability leads us to see our bodies as separate from ourselves
as if they are something we have.
• However, we don’t have bodies, we are our bodies!

6. We Are Our Bodies
• When we respect our bodies, we are respecting ourselves. When
we abuse our bodies, we are abusing ourselves.
• The whole person – the body/spirit person – is male or female.
• Sexuality is a fundamental aspect of our identity as persons.
• We experience ourselves, including thoughts, feelings, attitudes, beliefs,
and values as male or female.
• We also express our selves in relationships as males and females.
• How do we communicate this?
• Through our bodies! The body is the expression of the person.

7. A Gift From God
• Christians consider sexuality to be a part of God’s gift of creation.
• To understand the meaning and purpose of this gift we have to back to the
beginning.
• The beginning is God’s plan for us, which is revealed in Scripture, in creation,
and through the teachings of our church

8. God’s Gift Cont.
• We are created in God’s image, male and female we are created, and we are
intended to be loving and life-giving people.
• This is the destiny God has planned for us:
• Together male and female persons are called to build loving relationships with
one another.
• Together male and female persons have been given the power to co-operate
with God and bring new life into the world.

9. Challenges…
• Learning to understand the true meaning of the gift of sexuality and accepting
responsibility for it is a big challenge.
• We all will face this challenge in our lives whether it is early in adolescence or a
few years later.
• While the timetable will vary, all young people will face:
• 1. Questions about how to behave
• 2. Sexual feelings that are exciting and confusing.
• 3. Joys and worries about relationships.
• 4. Pressure from other people that cause uneasiness and distress.

10. Challenges Cont.
• No one faces this challenge without making mistakes – Growth toward maturity
takes time, patience, reflection and prayer.
• It also requires the ability to recognize what went wrong when mistakes are
made and learn from these experiences.

11. Messages About Sexuality
• We live in a world in which we are surrounded with misleading and often
dangerous messages about sexuality.
• These messages distort the true meaning of sexuality and make the challenge of
living according to God’s plan difficult.
• Negative: Movies, T.V. , Internet, Peers etc.
• Positive:
Trusted Adults, The Scriptures, Teachings of the Church, Experience of countless adults
who have struggled to live good lives and serve god.