Devotionals

Purity

Introduction

Hello! Today I want to talk about purity, what it includes and why it's important. It doesn't take much to notice that our society is filled with messages from the media that abstinence is extinct and that sex is cool or that 'everyone does it so why not'. It's also a very confusing time for teenagers, but especially for teen girls. We are bombarded with ideas to 'sleep with your boyfriend so he won't leave you' or because 'you owe it to him'. If a girl does have sex, the guy is typically praised while the girl is shamed and called a slut.

Purity is important for many reasons, and today I want to share with you some biblical truth concerning this topic most don't want to talk about. Why is purity important? The bible tells us that "A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him." (‭‭Matthew‬ ‭12:35‬ ‭NIV‬‬). What does this have to do with purity? Be definition, purity is "freedom from immorality, contamination, or adulteration". These things, which are quite obviously bad, come out of us when we fill ourselves with them.

For example, if we look lustfully at pictures of naked men and women, we are filling ourselves with negative things that will ultimately lead to more sin (an affair). Allowing yourself a taste of sin opens up the opportunity for even more sin. In other words, if you keep yourself pure, you are less likely to fall into temptation and sin than those who allow sin into their lives through the little things. Romans 12:21 says, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."
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But how do we keep ourselves pure? One way is to surround ourselves with people who encourage us and reminds us of our worth. Hang around people who lift you up and give you advice when you're tempted and have to make a difficult decision. You can also stay pure by guarding your heart. This advice comes from many places in the bible, but one place it can be found is Proverbs 4:23. "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."

What does it mean to guard your heart? Having people who give you godly advice can help you to say no to temptation and stay pure, which is basically the same as guarding your heart. Philippians 4:8 reminds us to think of good and righteous things. "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things."

Although it may be hard, we have to keep our hearts and minds pure as well as abstain from any physical temptations. For some people, they feel guilty because they may have already gone too far and had sex or done things they regretted in general. If this is the case, just remember that you are more than your mistakes. No matter what you've done, you can be forgiven but you have to forgive yourself and confess your sins. This won't be easy, but it is possible and a lot better than having to live the rest of your life holding on to whatever mistakes you made.

I have two songs that I want to mention for this devotional. First is You Are More by Tenth Avenue North. This song really emphasizes the fact that God still loves us despite our mistakes and failures. The other song is Priceless by for King & Country. This song reminds us of a woman's worth and beauty despite what society says. I will add Priceless to the media portion of this devotional, but I highly encourage you to search and listen to You Are More as well if you haven't heard it before.

I believe that music can highly influence our thoughts and actions and I love to relate everything to song lyrics when possible. I hope you have a great day and please comment or message me if you have any questions. Thank you for reading!