Question about Christianity and premarital sex? (more details inside)

Ok so hi! I’m new to fluther so I’m not entirely sure how this works…

Um where do I begin….So my boyfriend and I have been together for a little over four years. I am graduating from college next semester and since he is co-oping he will be graduating a year after. We both are Christians and believe in the Lord but we are a little confused about a particular subject and want other opinions on it.

A lot of Christians have different ideas about sex, what is okay and what isn’t. My boyfriend and I were both virgins when we got in a relationship and we have only slept with each other since. We both plan to get married and I know that he is currently saving up for a ring (we are both 22). We just haven’t been at a point to get married (lack of money and job stability) but we have had plenty of conversations and know without a shadow of a doubt that we want to stay together. I made the decision to sleep with him because we had been together for a long time and I KNEW he was the one and I love him very much. I also feel confused though because all my life I was told premarital sex was wrong. The only people who maybe thought otherwise were my own parents; they always told me to save myself and wait for the right person, but they were also realistic and said that they understood that it might happen before marriage. My parents are one of those situations where they had me before they were married but still ended up married and 20 years later still love each other and are together.

I was taught that God wants us to wait because sex is a big deal, we might lose it to the wrong person and have to deal with the consequences, etc. Thing is, I don’t feel bad about my decision to have premarital sex at all. I was able to connect with the man I love on a different level, we are still together and plan to marry, and nothing bad has come from me giving myself to him early. We have very safe sex and I am on birth control. Because of our current living situation, it doesn’t happen often but it still does happen. But am I still wrong? Am I a bad Christian? Should we stop? I’m just so happy now and I feel like God has blessed me with a wonderful man. We are married in our hearts, just not legally. I want to be able to love the Lord and be able to connect with my future husband as well. We don’t live together, we plan to wait on that until we are married (as are families are extremely against it). I like being able to BE sexual and with ONLY him, and he feels the same. I’m just confused about everything though and I still want to be “right” in the eyes of the Lord yet still be happy and take pleasure in the gift he has given me. It’s really confusing…..I feel like I should feel bad about sleeping with him, but I really don’t.

Any advice or opinions? I only ask for Christians to answer this question because I really am not in the mood for religion bashing or people who don’t believe and know nothing about having a relationship with God to start quoting verses to me only to then mock The Word. Please. I need genuine advice.