When I first felt led to teach about purity and had a longing to share my message with my daughters, I felt the Lord whispered a very important message to me. You see, I asked Him HOW I could reach young teens with this message and He impressed upon me that I needed to reach their hearts. I had no idea how I was to do that but I knew it would require me to be completely transparent about my past. This was uncharacteristic of most people, but most especially Christians. To put it bluntly - I was to "air my dirty laundry" for all to see. A scary prospect for one who found out very early on in my Christian walk (at the age of 28) that sadly, many Christians seemed to kick each other when they were down. But this is where my purity pursuit began.
As I dug deeper I realized that there's more to purity than just saying NO to sex. There were deeper implications that not only was it a physical issue but it was a heart and a head issue as well. Our minds are powerful motivators controlling our actions in ways we would never imagine and allowing the things around us to influence us deeply. This was about the time I discovered the "WHATEVER" verse.
"Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." Philippians 4:8
I looked at those words "true...honorable...right...pure...lovely...repute (aka reputation)...excellence...worthy of praise" and then at the instruction in the verse, "DWELL on these things." Dwell, think about, ponder. I began to consider what I was "pondering or dwelling" on. I love to read but everything I read was a love story where there was a dashing debonair man who did and said all the right things. He was romantic, he sounded dreamy and he knew and anticipated every need of the woman in the book. Those stories would play in my mind and cause my heart to be discontent when my husband didn't act like the guys I read about. So what about single girls waiting for "Mr Right"? If they read these books they have no idea that men don't measure up to these figments of our imaginations! That's where the reality of the heart came out clearly for me. The heart can be exceedingly wicked and deceitful. We are man, not God. We are not perfect, we are not sinless. I'm not trying to heap guilt on anyone here, I just want us to be careful what we read, what movies and tv shows we watch and how we let them affect us. Keep it real ladies! It's SO important. Keep your heart pure by pouring into it the things of God. Build each other up. Encourage one another. Remind each other on a regular basis that purity is a Holy pursuit. It is the transforming of our minds and hearts and not just saying NO to sex before marriage.
And just so you know...we all make mistakes. I'm not here to condemn anyone if they've been involved physically or emotionally. Believe me, I've been there, done that. I'm here to tell you there is a better way and you can achieve it even if you've done things you regret. I have some exciting news for anyone who feels guilt ridden or judged by other Christians in the area of purity. God is a forgiving God. His mercies are new EVERY morning!
So, I challenge you to take some time to evaluate your life. What do you spend most of your time doing? Facebook? Pinterest? What books are you into? Twilight? Hunger Games? When's the last time you opened your Bible and poured over it with as much passion as you would your favorite video game or texting some guy? Ask God to help you see if these things are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, excellent, worthy of praise - put all of it to the Philippians 4:8 test and see where it comes out. Then, take action and start transforming your heart and mind for Christ. Because what's in the heart pours forth into our every day lives and that's really the HEART OF THE MATTER!
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