Placing Value on Purity

"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." Proverbs 4:23

Imagine a glass of water. You just poured it straight out of the refrigerator and you're thirsty. It looks cool and refreshing as the condensation forms outside of the glass. You can't wait to have a big drink and quench your thirst! Now, imagine you pour just a dash of salt into your glass. It falls to the bottom and rests. You can barely see it there and soon it dissolves. Next you add a dash of sugar, followed by a few tiny drops of white vinegar. How does your water look now? Still looks pretty clean, right? To some it might even look pure and drinkable, but you know what's inside of it that others can't see. Do you really want to drink it now? How important was it, in the moment of thirst to have a fresh, clean, pure glass of water to drink?

The topic of this blog is so countercultural today. I could write for days about the things our culture does place value on, but today my heart is planted on purity. Unfortunately, our children are being raised in a world that does not value a pure mind, or heart or body. In our society, the word pure has become meaningless when referring to a person. Some might go as far as to say its a "religious" term or "bible word". Is it really so old fashioned that we just dismiss purity as something unattainable in current times? I've noticed that even in Christian settings, the subject of purity is all too often focused only on sexuality. It is so much more than saving yourself for marriage and avoiding sexual temptation!

I had a conversation a few months ago with a friend of mine. She mentioned that she had overheard her daughter and some high school friends talking about things they would "never do". Now, thank God they were saying they would "never do" these things; but for the sake of this blog the point is their discussion topic. Some of the things they were talking about were sexual in nature as we could "expect" from high school kids in this generation right? I mean, they're exposed to immorality everywhere they go so what else do we expect them to be discussing with their friends from time to time? I thought about this conversation for days and I could not get it out of my head. Why was this something we didn't like for them to be discussing, yet, we dismissed it as "normal"? Why do we just overlook immorality in our speech or in the TV shows we watch, books we read, YouTube videos we circulate or conversations we have?

These questions come to mind in my own home where God has entrusted us with two precious little girls and a baby boy. These may be questions you've had in your own homes. What do we "expect" our children to discuss with their friends? And, when they ask us questions about things they've seen or overheard (that, based upon our convictions are immoral), how do we respond? Truthfully, there are times when I find it difficult to explain something for fear of appearing judgmental or condemning of someone. (This is another blog post for another day) How do we teach them to place value on purity when the majority of the population and their peers do not? Are the things that come out of our won mouths pleasing to God? Are the programs we allow on TV and the movies we buy for the kids moral? I too could definitely use some work in this area. I wonder what our kids would think if we watched a show that was contradictory to what we have taught them was right. Is something immoral supposed to be okay because its on TV and we're not doing it? I don't think so. Our kids are bombarded with temptation and corruption everywhere they turn. Us as parents need to stand strong in what we believe and live out what we're trying to teach our children. If it isn't okay for us to act immorally, it isn't okay for us to laugh at someone else behaving that way on the TV screen.

This topic of purity is close to home for me. God has blessed me with the honor and responsibility to raise children. To be honest, it's every bit of scary in the world that we live in. I believe in the value of purity because I, as many can relate, have lived some not so pure moments in my life. I have seen and done things that have had a lasting impression on me and my life and my relationships. Praise God that I am saved and cleansed by the grace and power of Jesus, however, my memory is not erased. How I've wished many times that I could turn back time and make a different choice. I would have not watched certain movies that haunt me to this day and opened a door to fear in my life. I would not have looked at porn with my friends (knowing that I shouldn't) that has given me a distorted idea of sex. I would have remained pure in my body and ran from temptation until I married the love of my life. I do believe that God has taught me valuable lessons through the mistakes I've made in my life and the same will be true for my children as they walk their own paths and have their own experiences. But I know that The Lord's heart was grieved as He watched me in pain, walking through the regret of my own choices. I believe God intended for me to avoid temptation and keep my mind and heart pure. He doesn't want us to have to learn from our mistakes. He wants us to seek Him first and yield to His will for our lives and not our own. This is a hard lesson as an adult. But as adults, having learned a thing or two, it is our job to teach our children to value their purity.

As we saw in the analogy of the glass of water. impurity can happen ever so slightly. A little salt here, a little vinegar there. Even a dash of sugar that could taste sweet hindered the purity of the water. It doesn't have to be obvious to everyone. Immorality takes many forms in today's culture. What things are we just accepting as "normal" that are really adding a little salt to our glass of water?

..Don't fool yourselves. Those who live immoral lives, who are idol worshipers, adulterers or homosexuals - will have no share in his kingdom. ... I can do anything I want to if Christ has not said no, but some of these things aren't good for me. Even if I am allowed to do them, I'll refuse to if I think they might get such a grip on me that I can't easily stop when I want to.
1 Corinthians 6:9b, 12 (TLB)