Living a Life of Purity - Part 2 - Mental and Spiritual Purity
{so far...}
So far in our series about Living a Life of Purity, we have talked about physical purity, and what it means to be a virgin. We talked about how the world defines 'purity' (not having sex) and how God does (set apart, a heart attitude). If you want to read post 1 again (or read it for the first time before reading this) please click HERE.
And so now, we are going to move on to Spiritual and Mental purity. Curious about how that works? Keep reading. :) And please remember to comment at the end of it all - I'd love to hear your thoughts!
{definition of purity}
In the dictionary, the word ‘purity’ is described as being…
• undiluted or unmixed with extraneous material
• the state of being unsullied by sin or moral wrong; lacking a knowledge of evil
• honour; virtue or chastity
Oswald Chambers defined purity in this way…
“…purity is something that has been tested and tried and has triumphed, something that has character at the back of it, that can overcome and has overcome.”
Elizabeth Elliot described purity as…
“… freedom from contamination, from anything that would spoil the taste or the pleasure…It means cleanness, clearness—no additives, nothing artificial—in other words, “all natural” in the sense in which the Original Designer designed it to be.”
• undiluted or unmixed with extraneous material
• the state of being unsullied by sin or moral wrong; lacking a knowledge of evil
• honour; virtue or chastity
Oswald Chambers defined purity in this way…
“…purity is something that has been tested and tried and has triumphed, something that has character at the back of it, that can overcome and has overcome.”
Elizabeth Elliot described purity as…
“… freedom from contamination, from anything that would spoil the taste or the pleasure…It means cleanness, clearness—no additives, nothing artificial—in other words, “all natural” in the sense in which the Original Designer designed it to be.”
{mental purity}
I think this is the aspect of purity that most people would find the hardest to keep. This type of purity is relating to what we think, imagine, do with our eyes and mind. So, it could include thinking about doing something inappropriate with someone else, or someone else wearing something inappropriate. Pretty much, it's about how we think about and view other people.
If purity is 'unsullied by sin', we are contaminating our minds when we think about other in the wrong ways. That is the simple truth of it. Or when we view images that we know are wrong, and still look, we are corrupting our eyes and bringing unGodly influences into our minds.
I don't know about you, but I don't want my imagination controlling me. If that was the thing that directed how I live, my life would be in shambles. If I was forever imagining that I was a princess, locked in a tower, waiting for my prince, there would be SO many things that I would miss out on in life.
Instead of letting my imagination go, I need to bring it into captivity and let my Spirit control my thoughts... Check out what the Bible has to say about this...
To me, this verse is talking about two things. Let's have a look at them both...2 Corinthians 10:5
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
The first one is: DEMOLISHING. Knocking down. Little kids love to do it, but I think it something that most people try to grow out of - they change from being destroyers to trying to fix everything and build everything back up. While that's a good idea, I think we need to knock down before we build up. We first need to destroy, get rid of all of the things in our mind which are against the will of God before we can begin to fill ourselves with the Truth.
So, how do we do this? It's really simple - ask God. :) Ask Him to clear your mind of those things and to bring your heart into line with His. Ask Him to take over control of your life and your thoughts and then move on to step 2, which is...
BEGIN TO LIVE. Start to fill your life with Godly influences. Ask a trusted adult or friend to keep you accountable. Share your struggle with someone and get them to check up on you often, to see how you are going. Replace the bad stuff you were feeding on before with Godly influences and spend that time you used to sin in reading God's Word and studying the Bible. It's the best thing you can ever do for you faith.
And don't forget to pray. Bring your struggle before God daily and seek Him to change your heart desires and motives, so that they are pure and holy like Him. I promise that He is faithful and will bring His power into your life when you truly seek Him will all of your heart.
{spiritual purity}
This is a bit of an unusual one, and I don't know if I've ever heard anyone else particularly talk about it. But hey, I'll give it a go!
So, we have defined purity as being uncorrupted by extraneous material. What does this mean? It pretty much means that the thing which is pure has not been made unpure by having other strange substances added to it.
To me, it's very simple. This means that my Spirituality should not be corrupted by influences which are not from God. I need to be active in protecting my soul from being marked by things of the world or the devil, and let my life only be changed and influenced by God's Word and things of Him.
{in conclusion...}
We are God's children. We have chosen to serve Him no matter what. And, as this passage reminds us, that means we have chosen to serve Him in purity. It means that no matter what the world says, or does to us, we will stand strong and protect ourselves from the evil influences which bombard us keep our hearts solely set apart for the good works of God.2 Corinthians 6:4-10
Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
{a sneak peak into part 3}
In part 3, we are going to answer any questions you have. So, please, ask away! :) Post a comment. :) I'd want to get as many questions as I can, and I will post all reasonable questions I receive, so, ask away! :)
God bless you this week!
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