Devotion
A Life of Purity
“Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.” Philippians 2:14-16
“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.” 1 Timothy 4:12
What does the word pure make you think of? Pure gold, pure honey, pure water, pure white snow...they have all maintained their original form without anything being added. Pure is defined as “free from anything that would contaminate.” This Scripture says that we are to live a life of purity. What do you think are some things that contaminate our lives from being pure? Our senses are on overdrive with all of the filth that we see and hear on an everyday basis. We are inundated with a culture that elevates sexuality (especially outside of a marriage relationship) as something that is public and common. Words are thrown around that are rude, hurtful and demeaning as comedic and common language.
So how do we remain pure when we are surrounded by filth? Sometimes it feels like you are wearing your favorite white clothes in the middle of a big mudslide trying to keep them unstained. 2 Timothy 2:22 says “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.” We must actively pursue things that are holy in order to avoid being caught up in things that will pull us down. Sometimes that literally means fleeing, running from situations, people, or things that pull us down.
Often the impure things we crave leave us feeling empty and never really satisfy the need we have for relationship. They can become like idols (something that we put before God). Psalm 24:3-4 says “Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god.
”They are days that I feel like my heart has become corrupted by this world and I feel guilty and unclean. God does not leave us sitting in our filth! We have a God that loves us, that sent His Son Jesus to this earth to die on the cross and free us from our sins. Scripture says that His blood washes us white as snow! Maybe you feel like you got caught up in the mudslide. You are not left there! Jesus can redeem any situation!
He can take you out of the mud and wash off all the filth so you are sparkling white again. That is the beauty of grace; Nobody has gone too far that God cannot redeem their situation!So we must choose to walk in purity. Not because it’s a rule of being a Christian or because somebody told us to. We choose to because we love Jesus and don’t want anything to stand in the way of that relationship. What is one thing you would like to change in your life to live more pure? How can you begin to take steps toward that?
“Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God.” Matthew 5:8
Mrs. Brittany I can't tell you how important this message was to me today. I am struggling to keep myself pure, but I find that it is even harder to keep my thoughts pure. I may appear pure to others, but in my head I think things that a pure child of God would not think. But to realize that God can save me from that, and can help me keep those thoughts out of my head if I only ask him, is such a relief. Thank you for that devotional, please write more!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your kind words and your honesty! God's word says we can renew our minds and receive the mind of Christ. The Holy Spirit will empower you:) And as you spend more and more time with Jesus you will become more and more like Him.
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