Purity in Heart, Mind and Body

To say that I'm passionate about purity is an understatement. It is something that as God has sanctified me I have realized is crucial to the Christian walk. In fact it is in our pursuit of holiness that a passion for purity should develop and begin to control the way that we live.

The disgusting effects of sin and the marring characteristics if it should motivate us to live lives above reproach. Ephesians 5:1 commands us to be "imitators of God as His children". If you think about that for a moment you are quick to realize that in every area of our life therefore we should be striving for perfection. Jesus Christ is our standard, the world is not! So often in today's culture there is a desensitizing of what purity is. In fact even Christians have lowered the bar on what God has commanded of in Scripture. Comparing oneself to the world or even to fellow Christians has caused many Christians to compromise their purity of heart, mind, and body.

In 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 we read, "It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God...". Therefore if it is God's "will" that you remain sexually immoral it is not an option. Controlling our bodies in a way that tis holy and honorable is a large responsibility. But ask yourself for a moment, do you? Could you honestly say that the way that you live is not like that of the world...in any way! Is there anything that distinguishes you from those around you? Or would someone looking in have a difficult time figuring out whether or not you live a life for Christ or for yourself?

Think about purity for a moment. What is purity? Many Christians think of purity only in the physical aspect. But purity goes much deeper then that. Yes there is a physical aspect. Our attitude should not be "how far can I go without going "all the way" " but rather "how holy can I be before a righteous God". If our mindsets were like that we would see Christian relationships radically changed. They would look so different and counter-cultural it would blow people's minds. In fact it would make people look to Christ in many cases. The ability to have a pure relationship would confuse the world. Remember being holy means being "set-apart" and being "set-apart" means exactly that...SET APART from this world. Here are some verses to motivate you in your pursuit of physical purity..

Colossians 3:5-10 "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

2 Timothy 2:22 "Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart."

1 Cor 3:16 "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?"

2 Cor 7:1 "Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God."

Now as mentioned above purity involves more than just our physical beings. It involves our hearts and minds as well. Jeremiah explains to us just how evil the desires of our own hearts are and because of that we are called to "guard our hearts" (Proverbs 4:23) from ourselves...in fact it is often misquoted that we should guard our hearts from others or in relationships but what this is actually warning against is of our selves. We are to guard against ourselves. In our own sinful nature we are quick to deceive ourselves into thinking or believing things that are so contrary to the truth of Scripture. Being pure in mind involves disciplining ourselves. We must take guard against the enemy and pray for self control because as 1 Peter 5:8 says, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." The enemy wants us to stumble, to trust our own hearts and to sin and the sin of impurity begins in the mind. Jesus even explained this to the crowds saying that if a man lusts after a woman in his mind it is just as if he already committed that sin physically. So if as believers we learn to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ and learn to be self-controlled we will begin with God's strength to win this battle of purity.

Christians, we need to remember that God has a perfect designed plan and that His plan is not to rob us of "having fun" as the world would promote but rather protects us and causes us to be refined and made more like His son. Remember as 1 Cor 10:13 says, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." God knows that in a fallen world we are going to be susceptible to sin but He is good and faithful to enable us to "NOT" sin.

Be passionate about purity...God commands it. And in that God will be glorified and honored and you will be a testimony to the Gospel of Jesus Christ because your actions and thoughts will be imitations of Him.