What If You Are Not Pure Anymore?

   Some of you may be wondering, “is it too late for me? Am I too far gone that I could ever be washed clean, be made pure?” Some of you may have made the choice to sin when you didn’t even know what you were doing was wrong, or a sin. Others of you may have made a conscientious choice. You knew what you were doing was wrong but you chose to gratify your carnal desires for a temporary high. Is it too late for you?

   Here’s the thing. Sin is like a cage, or a jail cell. You are inside it thinking that you are on top of the world but it is a temporary fix. It’s like putting a band aid on a cut then cutting it open again yourself. You are trapped but it doesn’t seem like you are because it’s your choice to keep sinning. Now, you may be saying, “if this is something I can choose to escape then why am I in the cage or jail that is locked?” The door isn’t locked. The door is wide open. You just have to choose to take one step, then another, and another until you are out and free.

   Who opened the door you may be asking? Jesus did. He died to take on the blackness of your sin. If you accept him as your savior and cleanse yourself in his blood then you are free. The chains, the cell, the bondage of sin holds you no more. It cannot be that easy, can it? 1 John 1:9 says: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” He forgives our sins and cleanses us from ALL unrighteousness. That time you lied about where you were going. The time you stole candy from the store. When you bought that dope to get high. When you were in your room alone looking at porn. The time you lost your patience and yelled at your family in anger. ALL OF IT IS WASHED AWAY!

   But it is your choice. You can choose to stay in the jail with the door open. Or you can choose God. You can choose purity.

   So, what is your choice? If you have already chosen purity, how can your continue to grow in God and stay pure?

https://youtu.be/3DivZbSv4JI

Why Stay Pure?

   Okay, stay with me on this one. Obviously, there is the simple answer of “God tells us to remain pure.” That is true and a good enough reason why we should stay pure. But that reason hasn’t seemed to convince everyone in the world as many have chosen the path of sin rather than purity. 

   The thing is many of us have fallen so far away from the Lord that we think that this life is all we have. If this life is all we have then should we not carpi diem? Or live life to the fullest? Should we eat, drink and be merry? If this is all we have and all we believe in, then that makes sense.

   But God’s word tells us that death is not the end. In God’s great grace, he sent his son to be a perfect sacrifice for all of our sins. He did this so we could spend eternal life with him, so long as we accept Christ as our savior, believe in him, and confess that we are sinners. John 3:36 tells us “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” God is a God of love. He loves us all. He wants us to all be with him in eternity. Yet, he cannot be with anything unholy. If we are not washed clean by Jesus’ blood, then we will face God’s wrath.

   Some people believe lies. Lies like: “this life is all there is.” “God could never forgive all I have done.” “No one could ever love me because I am unworthy.” “Hell is where all my friends are going, and it will be a party. I don’t want to leave my friends.” They make jokes. They feel depressed. They feel alone. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Even if you take away the argument for God telling us to stay pure, you cannot take away the argument that if there is life after death, and if God tells us there is only one way to gain that life, you must make that choice to follow him or be doomed.

   We must follow the words of Psalm 119:37: “turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.” The things and pleasures of this world are temporary. Even if you are the richest man in the world, even if you have sports cars, a mansion, gold, jewels, the latest technology, and more but you don’t have God you have nothing. You cannot take anything you have on this earth with you into eternity. Money, drugs, alcohol, and other things that bring you temporary pleasure are destroying you. You are losing yourself to a world that lies; you are losing yourself to worthless things. But that’s your choice. You can choose the temporary pleasures of this world, or the pleasures of eternity for all time.

   So, are you staying pure? Have you made the choice to follow Christ or yourself? How can you turn your eyes from worthless things today?

https://youtu.be/6WPRac8xeBU

Purity in Couple Relationships

   Now we are finally to the part where we talk about the purity that most people think of when they hear that word: purity in couple relationships. When you finally meet someone, you feel you can spend the rest of your life with, it will feel right. God created humans with two genders: male and female. He created their parts to fit together. He created sex.

   Before I go any farther discussing sexual purity, I want to put in a PSA here. I went to a public high school then a Christian college. In high school I learned about sex and how it works. When I got to college, some of the girls in my dorm went to Christian schools their whole life. Some of them did not know how sex works. They didn’t even know about their own bodies! When I asked them what they were taught about sex they said, “not much.” Most of them replied with the idea that they were told sex is icky and we shouldn’t talk about it.

   Mouth drop on the floor here. If sex isn’t good, why did God create it to be bonding? Why did he create it and make it feel good to do? Why did he make it as the way to reproduce? Sex is good, in the context of marriage. And yet, churches don’t teach that. Christian schools don’t teach that. Parents don’t teach their children that. In all my years serving as a soccer coach at a Christian college only one player who I have asked what she was taught about sex had a good answer. Her parents taught her that sex is beautiful in the context of marriage. That it should be saved for when a man and a woman love one another and are married. That’s what we should be teaching others. Thus ends my soapbox.

   Relationships nowadays are very different than relationships back in Bible times. In Bible times, there was no dating. Today we have dating, dtr, engagement, then finally marriage. And, there’s no set time as to how long each of those things can take. Thus, why staying pure in relationships can be so hard. You are spending time getting to know someone to see if you want to spend the rest of your life with them. The more time you spend, the closer you get. The closer you get, the CLOSER you want to be (if you catch my drift).

   This is when temptation comes into play. God has made it clear in his word that we are not to be sexually immoral. 1 Corinthians 7:2 says: “But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.” He doesn’t say each man should have a friend with benefits, a concubine, or a prostitute. Each man should have ONE wife. God has also made it clear the dangers of having sex outside of marriage. Each time you have sex with someone, you are bonding with them. You are connected. You are one. All this can be seen in chemical reactions in your brain. There is also the danger of STDs when you sleep with more than one person.

   Knowing all of this, how do we stay pure even when it is hard? Psalm 119:9 holds the answer. “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.” We have discussed how purity begins in the heart. If you have a heart for God, you will read his word to get to know him.  As you get to know him, you will not only have more of a heart for him, but you will also know his word more. His word can help you guard your heart. You can pray when you feel tempted or weak. I know it sounds like a simple answer, but it doesn’t mean it is easy. God doesn’t always ask us to do what is easy. He asks us to do what is right.

   So, are you pursuing purity in your relationships? How can you grow closer to God?

https://www.healthline.com/health/love-hormone 

https://youtu.be/ueX8bUxIFPQ

Purity in Mind

   Many of you know I enjoy Disney movies. They have catchy songs, and you can pull good messages out of many of them. Yet, I don't agree with the basic doctrine of Disney which is, "follow your heart." Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" We are not to follow our hearts. Yet, when we become Christian and try to follow God, the desires God's heart should begin to become the desires of our hearts. 

   And yet, we are still imperfect. We still sin. Many of our sins come from our mind. We are tempted to, like a dog, go back to our vomit or sin. Many of our sins have to do with our eyes. We see something we want; we think/know we want it, then we face our choice. Will we sin or not? Oh yes, we may go through a struggle in our minds of pros and cons, but we know the truth. We know the answer. We know we should not sin.

   Even more so, we should be growing in God so much that battles in our minds don't go on as long. Why? Philippians 4:8 says "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Our thoughts are not to be on the things of this world. Everything here is temporary. The only things that matter in eternity is our soul and the souls of others. Whatever work we do to gain things here isn't worth it. The work we do for the kingdom, that matters.

   That's why our thoughts should be pure. We should be focused on the excellent things of the Lord. We should wake up thinking: "God please help me serve you and your kingdom today." Then, when we face battles of the mind, we can keep our eyes and our thoughts fixed on God. 

   So, are you following Philippians 4:8? When you face temptation and battles in your mind what do you do? How can you keep your eyes and thoughts focused on God?

https://youtu.be/ZzgyoUrjOcg