Talking about God’s radical design for love, sex, and purity with 400 girls and women isn’t a normal occurrence in this day and age. But that’s exactly what happened this past weekend at the Radical Purity Conference in San Antonio, TX.
We courageously, unashamedly, and tactfully unpacked God’s good plan for our sexuality as women. We talked openly about some of the not-so-often-talked-about areas, and allowed God’s Word to shed light and truth into these relevant topics.
We asked the hard questions, and looked into God’s Word for solid answers.
We quickly discovered that God’s design for purity is radical. It’s completely counter-cultural. It’s unlike anything you see in modern Hollywood. Although it isn’t popular, we discovered how good it truly is for us.
Since God is the designer of our sexuality, He knows how to best define it.
He knows what will bring us the most fulfillment and freedom in these crucial areas of our lives.
Our theme verse for the conference was Psalm 51:10, “Psalm 51:10: Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
If you missed the conference and weren’t able to catch the live stream, I want to give you a quick snapshot of what we talked about, and challenge you to be a woman who chooses radical purity as well.
Session 1: Seeing Through the Lies of Our Highly Seductive Culture.
Our culture doesn’t shy away from talking about, promoting, and portraying varying aspects of sex. Whether we like it or not, we as modern girls, are being fed messages every single day about our sexuality. If we’re on our guard, we will easily (and quickly) get sucked into believing many destructive lies.
In this opening session, we exposed 4 of the most popular lies that we see being promoted today:
- Your Feelings and Emotions are the King of Your Life
- True Liberation is Found by Being Seductive and Raunchy
- Having Sex Before Marriage is Empowering
- There’s Nothing Wrong with Viewing Pornography
We then countered each of these lies with a truths from God’s Word:
- God’s Perfect Word Should be Your Guiding Source of Truth
- True Freedom is Found by Embracing God’s Good Boundaries for You
- God is the Creator of Sex and His Plan is Best and Most Fulfilling
- God Designed Sexual Intimacy and Nakedness to Be Enjoyed Within the Privacy of Marriage Only
Session 2: Reclaiming God’s Radical Design for our Sexuality
God’s design for sexuality truly has become radical. In this session we dug into 4 essential truths for reclaiming God’s radical design in your own life, and living it out on a daily basis.
TRUTH #1: God is the Designer and Definer of My Sexuality
God’s Word must be our guide for how to navigate our sexuality best. God created the male and female and made us to be sexual beings (Genesis 2). If we want answers to our questions regarding sex and sexuality, we must look to the author Himself.
TRUTH #2: God Has a Good Plan for Love, Marriage and Sexual Intimacy
In this section we looked at each of these key areas (love, marriage, and sex) and looked at how God’s Word defines each one of them.
We discovered that true love isn’t built on feelings, but on action and self-sacrifice. Marriage isn’t about an “emotional agreement,” but about covenant keeping and permanent love for another. Sexual intimacy isn’t about simply following our passions, but was created by God to be the permanent seal (the super glue) within marriage.
TRUTH #3: Purity is Ultimately for My Good and God’s Glory
Purity isn’t about “missing out on something,” but about “pursuing God’s best.” Purity is truly about pursuing faithfulness to God by choosing to steer our thoughts, words, and actions away from sexual sin and compromise. The more we pursue genuine lives of purity (in our hearts, thoughts, words, and actions), the more we will reflect the beauty of our Savior.
Session 3: Holiness: Getting to the Heart of Authentic Purity
Our good friend (a true Titus 2 woman), shared with us why simply “looking pure” on the outside isn’t what God is after. God wants us, as Christian girls, to pursue authentic purity from the inside out.
Even though “holiness” might seem like an outdated word, it’s God’s must-have ingredient for embracing lifelong purity. Holiness (being set apart) is God’s solution for experiencing long term freedom in our lives (1 Peter 1:16).
Session 4: 8 Strategies to Help You Fight for Purity
Although our sin may be heavy and weighty in our lives, nothing is too big for Christ to conquer. 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 says, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We must remember that Jesus died because we are sinners, not because we are perfect Christian girls.
In this last and final session, we challenged everyone to put God’s truth into action and shared some practical tools for embracing purity in everyday life. It’s hard! We get it. But with God’s strength, it’s not impossible. However, it is going to require a lot of intentionality in the way we live our lives.
Here are the 8 strategies to help you fight for purity:
- Get in the Word
- Pray for Strength
- Be on Your Guard
- Confess When You Sin
- Get Rid of the Temptation
- Fill Your Mind With Truth
- Find a Group of Christian Girls
- Ask for Accountability
At the end of the conference, we challenged and encouraged everyone to be women who choose to embrace God’s radical design for purity in their own lives.
To be women who trust that God’s ways are best. Women who boldly and courageously embrace God’s good design in their lives. Women who reflect the glory and holiness of our incredible God through the way we live.
I want to encourage you to do what we did at the end of the conference. Take some time right now to pray and ask God to help you “create a pure heart” in your life from this point forward (Psalm 51:10). Ask him to show you how you can better honor and glorify Him in this area of your life.
And then choose to live courageously. All for His glory.
