Every Christian has something to say about purity, be it right or wrong, loose or conservative, broad or specific.
Purity is a vital element of our walk with God—and one, it seems, that many are missing. Christian girls are pros at talking the talk and getting on mission trip and youth conference “highs for Jesus,” but when it comes down to making right choices, standing blameless before God, and keeping pure, humble, and full of the fear of the Lord—there’s a disconnect.
Purity is not a ring, a book, or even a commitment, though all of those can be good things!
But without actively maintaining our whole selves according to God’s Word, those are only symbols and “good Christian girl” clichés.
Often we limit the purity discussion to staying pure in guy-girl relationships, saving ourselves for our future husbands, that kind of thing; but purity goes way deeper than just romantic relationships. Purity happens when Jesus in us begins to change us and remove the gross filth from our hearts, minds, souls, and spirits.
He sanctifies us, meaning He washes us in His truth and in His healing blood.
Physical purity is just a start, but when we realize whose we are (God’s), it changes the way we view, carry, treat, and represent our bodies. When God made us, He modeled us after Himself (Genesis 1:27). As Christians, we have the Holy Spirit of God Himself dwelling within us—our bodies are His temple! 1 Corinthians 6:19–20 tells us plainly that we were made to glorify God with everything we have, including our physical bodies.
It’s possible for someone to be pure on the outside but filthy on the inside (Matthew 23:28). Sins committed in the quiet secrecy of our hearts and minds are still sins to God. He can see every single thought that slips through our minds, and every attitude, desire, motive, and idea that we entertain in our hearts. When we truly begin to believe that, we straighten up our act.
We’re being monitored under a whole new level of accountability!
As we evaluate our lives, total purity begins to look impossible. Even if we’re pure on the outside, we still have impurity on the inside. It’s nearly impossible to tell if the motives behind our actions are completely pure. We try to live a pure life, but we mess up and fail every single day. Maybe we’ve even made some big mistakes in regard to purity. Is there any hope?
With Jesus, there is always hope.
1 John 1:7 says, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” There is power in the blood, friends. When we become Christians and Jesus enters our hearts, we are made new, whole, pure! From that point on, Jesus begins sanctifying us.
Even though Christians have been given a new nature, sometimes our flesh still wants to live in its “glory days.” Jeremiah 17:9 tells us the hard truth: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” Not us, that’s for sure.
How did all that impurity get there?
Sure, bad outside influences can fuel the fire, but Jesus says in Mark 7:18–23 that the evil comes from within our hearts. We were born sinful—that’s why we need Jesus to save us! Purity can still be a struggle. Ephesians 4:22–23 directs us to put off our sin nature. In a world determined to lure us into all the sin it has to offer, Psalm 119:9 clues us in on how to stay steadily pure.
Even when we mess up, Jesus is there to wash us clean.
The story of Jesus washing His disciples’ feet in John 13:5–11 is symbolic of how Jesus washes us when we get spiritually “dirty.” Jesus tells us that we are made clean because of Him (when we become saved), but we still need Him to wash our feet. As we walk through life, our feet can get dirty, and we need Jesus’ constant forgiveness and cleansing blood in and over our lives.
True purity does not mean we’ve never sinned.
But it does mean that we are clean because of the perfect, spotless Lamb living in our hearts—that’s Jesus, and He’s washing us clean every day. He’s sanctifying us and making us pure as we walk through life with Him. We may get dirty at times, but Jesus forgives if we repent before Him. He is for us! Living according to the Word of God and being led every step of the way by the Holy Spirit—that, my friends, is true purity.
What do you think?
1. What areas of impurity (in your own life or in general) have you dismissed as socially acceptable or “okay” because they are not generally seen as “bad”?
2. How can you be pure in body, mind, soul, and spirit—not just in public, but before the Lord?
FREE GIVEAWAY
We are so excited for the release of Devoted: A Girl’s 31-Day Guide to Good Living with a Great God. To help Marjorie celebrate the launch of her new book, we are giving away 3 free copies. Leave a comment in the section below (answering one of the questions in the blog) to automatically enter yourself in the giveaway.
About the Author: Nineteen-year-old Marjorie Jackson is the author of two books thus far—The Greatest Book You’ve Never Read, written to get young people excited about reading the Bible, and Devoted: A Girl’s 31 Day Guide to Good Living with a Great God.
She is the oldest of five wildly energetic, half Guatemalan girls. She enjoys playing the piano, hand lettering, art, musical theater, Italian cream sodas, learning about different cultures and languages, and talking away with family, friends, strangers… pretty much anybody. Connect with her on instagram, @marjorie.e.jackson!
A portion of this article was taken from Devoted by Marjorie Jackson with permission from Barbour Publishing.
