With regard to sexuality, the new normal among Christian singles is to redefine abstinence. I've been told countless times by single believers who are engaging in manual and oral sex that they are not having sex because they do not practice penetration. My standard response is to ask, "If I as a married man do the things you say aren't sex with someone who isn't my wife, would you say that I'm not having sex?" I haven't found anyone who wouldn't think that a married person who practices such things outside of their marriage isn't having sex. There was a time in the Church when people understood that premarital sexual abstinence meant no sexual touching until marriage and only within marriage.
Such treatment of one's body is a desecration. Do we think that God is pleased with such living? We want God's blessing but invite curses because of the way we live. It is time to rethink and address such matters.
Sexual intimacy between unmarried people, even if it is considered by them to be casual, still links them together in a way that God doesn't intend for unmarried people. Paul tells the Corinthians that even casual sex for hire links two people together. Paul argues that sexual sin is a sin against one's own body (See 1 Corinthians 6:15-20). This divine restriction is meant to protect the human soul and body from trauma. You may not feel traumatized by consensual sex outside of marriage, but your soul and body would disagree.
Many believers, looking back on sinful sexual practices realize that they need to receive prayer to have these "soul ties" broken off. This results in freedom from old attachments and former love interests! What a beautiful thing! God wants married couples to enjoy the pleasure and intimacy that comes from being devoted exclusively to each other, without the presence of "phantom" lovers.