In the eyes of the world, purity is mainly considered to be sexual – not sleeping around, living together unmarried, or watching pornography. However, I realized that purity has much more to do with our hearts than it has to do with our hands. Our hands do have a role to play in not doing things we shouldn’t but the posture of our hearts towards Jesus is the main issue in purity. What we do with our hands is a direct byproduct of the position of our hearts. When we are pure in heart, we don’t want to do the things of the world. It is just like when you have a brand-new car that you just finished cleaning; you wouldn’t want anything dirty to come inside it.

Purity has more to do with our hearts than our hands. Share on X

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” – Matthew 5:8

Purity Is not a place you arrive at one day; it’s a day-to-day devotion to God.  

One of the best examples of a person keeping their purity in the Bible is the story of Joseph in Genesis 39:6-21.

“Thus, he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate. Now, Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” So it was, as she spoke to Joseph, day by day that he did not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her. But it happened about this time when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside, that she caught him by his garment, saying “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and ran outside.” – Genesis 39:6-12

 Purity Is A Pursuit

“Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” – 2 Timothy 2:22

To be pure of heart, you have to constantly, consistently pursue Jesus. While you can become pure by pursuing Jesus, the day you stop pursuing Him is the day you fall out of purity. Joseph had a lot of things tugging at him, trying to get him to fall away from the call of God in his life. There were so many distractions but Joseph kept his devotion to God.

 If purity is devotion to Jesus, then impurity is divided devotion.

What is attracting our attention? What are we fixing our eyes on when our attention and eyes are supposed to be fixed on Jesus? When something else takes the place that belongs to Jesus, that is what causes impurity. Losing your virginity is not impurity. Many people mistake that. If purity was only about keeping your virginity, then that would mean when you get married, you are no longer called to live in purity. That is not the case. Purity continues in marriage because we are never supposed to stop pursuing Jesus.

The Effects Of Impurity

Fleeing lust becomes much easier when our pursuit of Jesus becomes more consistent. Share on X

In Joseph’s case, his relationship with God helped him not to get distracted and fall into impurity. Staying on track with purity is a path to your purpose. You have to learn to make the right choice in the face of the easy choice. These choices usually are made not when you are in the spotlight but when nobody would know.

If purity helps us see God, then impurity causes us not to see God. Sin doesn’t push God away from us it pushes us away from God. The misconception is that purity is legalism to those who live a lukewarm life. Sin separates us from Jesus. If you feel like you don’t sense God, hear God, or feel God, that is not because God left you but when you sin, you separate yourself from God. That is why you have to take responsibility for your own repentance and coming back to God. A sinning man will stop praying and a praying man will stop sinning. In the same way that pursuing God helps us avoid sin, avoiding God pushes us into sin.

Purity Requires A Choice

The devil will make you think what you’re leaving is better than what you’re pursuing. That is why purity requires a choice, and it will be tested. Purity isn’t saying no to a million things; it is saying yes to one thing – devotion to Jesus. Joseph wasn’t just tested once – the Bible says she continued tempting him day by day and he refused. Staying devoted to Jesus requires an everyday choice.

The choice we are faced with is to practice or procrastinate our purity. The enemy will whisper to us that if we practice our purity – like in Joseph’s case, we might go to prison, but if we procrastinate our purity for this moment, we will experience pleasure. The devil is a liar.

Purity Is not a place you arrive at one day; it's a day-to-day devotion to God. Share on X

The Devil’s Manipulation

What the devil promises with impurity is: 

•  Secrecy. 
•  Security. 
•  Satisfaction. 

When pleasure comes through sin, the only thing that is guaranteed is separation from God. Sin separates us from God. The devil will try everything he can to get us off track with God. He will paint a picture that purity is a waste. What the devil is asking when he wants us to give up our purity is to sacrifice eternity for ‘immediately.’ 

Purity Has A Reward

Rewards of staying pure. 

•  We see the face of God. 
•  We avoid pit falls disguised as pleasure. 
•  We stay on the path that leads us to our purpose.

Fleeing lust becomes much easier when our pursuit of Jesus becomes more consistent. Don’t listen when the devil tries to get you to turn back to the onions you had in Egypt when God is bringing you into a land of milk and honey. He always presents your old bondage as being easier than your new battle. But the scripture says, if God be for me, who can be against me?

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