Purity

Be holy, because I am holy (1 Peter 1:16).

When Jesus forgives your sins, He changes the course of your life. Romans chapter 12 tells us, do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. When we let Christ take charge of our lives, we are reborn; our priorities change and we look at life from a new perspective.

When we think about the Christian outlook on life, one characteristic that comes to mind is a desire for purity. In Philippians chapter one Paul writes, this is my prayer: that…you…may be pure and blameless…filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ. The desire for purity comes from wanting to be like Jesus. Jesus is pure; His every thought, word and deed are beautiful because of their sheer perfection.

We want to be like Christ; we would love to go through life without making a single mistake. Of course, such a thing is impossible; because we are sinful through and through, the only way we can have any purity in our lives is through divine intervention. Jesus extends His righteousness to us, allowing us to experience purity through Him.

What does purity look like? Purity wants to evaluate everything in light of God’s holy Word. Purity rejects sinful desires as distracting and corrupting, a waste of the time and resources God has generously given you. Temptation wants you to try all sorts of different things without giving much thought to the consequences; purity says ‘take your time’, don’t rush into things blindly. Purity doesn’t find humor in dirty jokes, nor is it entertained by gossip; purity chooses refinement over crude behavior.

Those who are pure dislike temptation; they want to preserve themselves for Christ as a woman preserves her virginity for her wedding night. In his second letter to the believers in Corinth, Paul pictures their relationship with Jesus in terms of marriage: I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you to him as a pure virgin. Considering that Jesus died to free us from sin, it just isn’t right to claim Him as our dearly beloved while at the same time embracing sin like a lover you keep on the side.