Author and minister Bob Russell says:

When I was a teenager, my mother had a rule: don't ever bring your girlfriend to our house when no one is here. And I'd always say, "Mom, why? Don't you trust me?"

She always had the same answer. "No. That's too much temptation." She did not say, "It looks bad to other people. I don't trust her; I do trust you." She said, "No, that's too much temptation."

I would act like I was really hurt. My own mother doesn't trust me. That's terrible. I'd walk away and deep inside I would think, My mother's pretty sharp. She knows what I'm thinking. My mother believed in the sin nature—that it needed to be restrained more than my self-esteem needed to be boosted. Otherwise, maybe I wouldn't be here today.