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How can we develop
godly purity?
Notice I didn't say just purity. I'm NOT talking
about the World's form of purity. I'm talking about God's kind of purity. The
world talks about safe physical relationships between a man and a woman, but
God tells us there is only one way for that physical relationship to be Right
before God and that's when the man and the woman are married to each other.
The world rates movies PG, PG-13, R and much worse, but God rates things as
Right or wrong, godly or ungodly, and Righteous or Unrighteous. This list of
comparisons could go on and on.
The first thing Christian teens need to develop
is godly purity from God's perspective! Titus 2:12 says "teaching us that,
denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously,
and godly in the present age." This verse is a good start to understanding HOW
God wants us to live. Righteously means the right way, God1s way and godly
means to be like God in character. Wow! That's a high calling for Christian
teens, to follow God's character.
Some may be thinking "does the Bible actually
call Christians to that high of a standard?" Let's allow God's word to answer
that question! Ephesians 5:1 "Therefore be imitators of God as dear children."
1 Peter 1:15 "but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your
conduct." Notice Peter writes "all your conduct". An old preacher once said
"all means all and that's all - all means." So born again teens need to honor
the Lord with their whole life style. In order to do that teenagers should
choose activities and friends that will encourage them to live HOLY.
Now let's get practical! How do we live this
kind of PURE life that pleases a Holy God? 2Tim. 2:19, "Let everyone who names
the name of Christ depart from iniquity." What's so hard to understand about
"Depart from"? Let me put it to you a few other ways:
You don't hang around sinfulness,
Gift from sin,
Run from evil,
Give sinful activities the big "adio`s”!
Now some teens like to hang around the mall, the
beach and lots of other places, but where ever you are and where ever you go,
you need to be asking yourself, "is there something here I shouldn't be
hanging around?" You need to live godly in a wicked age! Now you will not run
from evil until you have Fully Surrendered to God! When God is FIRST in your
life, then living godly will be a priority in your life. So that obviously
means when you're NOT departing from sin, that God is certainly not first.
Remember, the Bible says that Christians need to be "holy in all your
conduct." Holiness is thinking like God thinks and desiring like God desires.
What is God pleased with? Whatever they are, you need to do these things. On
the other hand, what does God despise? Don1t do these things!
If you want to live godly, you must give up the
most Crucial part of your body. Most teen guys might think "this means my
muscles." Teenage girls may think "it's my looks." None of these things are
the most important thing on your body that you need to give over to God. It's
your mind! Your thoughts MUST be surrendered fully to God. All your sins begin
in or enter the mind First. So the battle for purity begins in the teens mind.
Romans 12:1-2 says "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God,
which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but
be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that
good and acceptable and perfect will of God." Does this passage mean that
Christian young adults need to present themselves to God for God's service and
design? Yes!
When it comes to living Right before God you
need to say, "Here I am Lord, at your service!" We need to understand that
this giving of yourself does not just happen. It's a process that involves the
mind. People can get addicted to all kinds of habitual habits that are evil
and not good for you. Some get addicted to drugs, others develop habitual sin
problems in their life like fornication, cheating in school, and much more.
People in these sins have given themselves over
or presented themselves to these things. Now to fulfill God's desire for
Christian teens, you need to instead give yourself over to HIM. And you start
with giving the Lord your mind, your thoughts. Not only does your mind belong
to God, but all of you belongs to God. 1Corinthians 6:19 & 20 says "Or do you
not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom
you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price;
therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's."
Think of it this way: You are the temple of God!
God1s spirit is in you. Your mind is the Door to God's temple! Wow! Could that
be true, that our mind is like the door to our temple? Yes!
With our bodily temples we are to worship and
serve God. However, you cannot do that when you have junk, filth, evil in your
mind. Do you remember when Jesus cleansed the Temple? Sure you do! What did
Jesus do? He drove out of God's Temple all that was evil and unacceptable.
Now let's apply that to your life. What's in
your life and in your mind that needs to be driven out? Oh you know what it
is! But now you need to decide. Will I live for God and depart from sinful
activities and evil thoughts or will I serve myself. Proverbs 23:7 say "For as
he thinks in his heart, so is he." What are you reading? What do you day dream
about? It should only be God honoring things. Philippians 4:8 says "Finally,
brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things
are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever
things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything
praiseworthy--meditate on these things."
So you need to think about pure things, Good
things and godly thoughts. Don't think about Junk or Filth. That means you
have to Guard what goes into your mind. You are the guard of your own mind.
You're like a Spiritual Goalie trying to deflect junk and evil from getting
into the net of your mind. Don1t let Satan score straight shots into you mind.
Don't let the world make slap shots into your thinking process.
If you're going to win the battle for purity you
must begin the battle of what goes into your mind. Proverbs 4:23 says "Keep
your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life." Keep
and Diligence are two terms that simply mean GAURD with All your discipline.
Your eyes and hears are the door keepers of your mind. Watch what you let in!
Television, Internet, Magazines, books, Movies, filthy speech of others and
any other wicked thing should be avoided.
Christian teens pay a high price when they allow
foul and putrid things into their mind. Those impure thoughts will never be
erased in this life time. They'll come back to plague you if you let them. It
would be better if you NEVER ALLOWED THEM IN. So Stand Guard! In a Sinful
Wicked world, You’ll have to battle for Purity in your mind. So what's the
best way to develop a pure mind, the best way to surrender your mind to God?
Psalm 101:3 "I will set no wicked thing before
mine eyes"
Let God speak to you through His word the Bible.
Read it!
Memorize it!
Ponder it!
Take it into your heart!
Obey it!
Dwell on Pure things, Righteous things and
godly, holy actions will follow.
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