Growing up in the church I met an array of pastors, pastors wives, worship leaders, etc. Since I can remember, roughly at about the age of 8, I had those people I met prophesying over me that I would lead a generation of girls to purity. Now at that time, and even up until recently, I always thought that call would just entail encouraging girls and young women to remain pure and abstinent until marriage. Boy, is God crazy good about wrecking our presuppositions and surprising us with much more than we imagined. Fast forward about 13 years later, me being almost the age of 21, and just now figuring out what all God wants from that calling and how I'm going to practically live it out.
> Caitlin <
Of Irish origin. Meaning pure.
I'm not a superstitious kind of person, but I do not think it was a mere coincidence that I was given this name at birth and this calling has been put on my life which matches right up the same alley. To live a life of biblical purity I am now realizing means to live it emotionally, mentally, physically, and the given, sexually, (or lack thereof.)
Emotionally ://
This generation is taught through all kinds of media that you should follow your heart and it will lead you to happiness.
Psalm 119:9
How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.
This verse tells me that a person should clearly live according to God's word because it is perfect and holy. When we try to follow our heart we can be caught trying to replace God's will and desires for our lives with the desires of our own heart. This can include being selfish with what job we want, who we want to date, or even maybe where we want to go to school. We need to surrender all of that at the cross so we don't get caught up and distraught when things don't go the way WE planned them. The word tells us in Jeremiah 17:9 that "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" The answer is Jesus and only Jesus. When we place him in a position in our hearts where we are allowing him to have complete control, we are surrendering our hearts desires to Him. Now there will be times where it can be hard to differentiate between our desires and God's but if we keep in mind the purity we are called to have and spend every second being conscientious of the relationship we have with Christ it will be easier to choose His desires above our own.
Mentally ://
Remaining mentally pure I think can be very similar, and even overlap, at points with emotional purity. In addition,when I think of mental purity I automatically think of physical purity because of the process of the thought behind the action. Now I'll get to that next but to understand physical purity, we must look at our mentality. Is it kingdom minded or is it working to please the world and self? We need to wake in the morning and ask God to check our motives. We should be asking God to fill our minds with thoughts of good, pure things that are only glorifying to Him. If we are wanting to live a life in the shadow of Jesus we must be sure to act upon love and not upon obligation. It can be easy as Christians to read what the Word says and have good intentions to live it out practically but forget that our motive should always remain in love BECAUSE He first loved US. Forgetting that can result in us becoming like the Pharisees and doing things to try and please God and judging others when what they're doing looks different than us. Something that helps keep me kingdom minded, is to think upon how God sees others around me and remember that Jesus died on the cross for them and their sins just as He has with me and mine.
Physically ://
As you check your heart and set your mind on Heaven, physically living out purity can become easier but is definitely still a challenge.
1 Timothy 4:12
Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.
We are reminded here that our walk with the Lord must include not only our heart and what that's putting forth but also our speech and conduct. As we talk with spiritual purity we must also walk in the same way. If we are only hearers of the word, and even only "talkers" of the Word, and not doers we are just as foolish as one who knows nothing about Jesus. The way I see it is, Jesus walked out everything that He claimed to be and was. If we are called to follow His example we must also walk the way we talk. To practically do this, I ask myself first if my motives are pure in mind and heart. I then try my hardest that when I want to say something to someone that it be edifying and uplifting and that it reflects the way Jesus lived on Earth.
Sexually ://
1 Corinthians 6:18
Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.
This is something I know a lot of people struggle with. To be completely honest, I've been asked if this is something I struggle with, and by the grace of God, I can say it isn't. Growing up I have been taught to save myself for marriage and that the purpose of dating is to eventually marry. With that in mind, I held myself in high esteem, and I believe it was rightfully so. I know that one day when I get married, I will be able to gladly say that I waited for my husband. I think that's such a beautiful picture of us Christians awaiting the return of Christ. As sin rampages in the world around us, we are called to be steadfast and wait upon the Lord and live a pure life so we can stand before Him and He can say "Well done my good and faithful servant." God has called us to remain pure with our bodies. This verse hits me super hard because it's basically saying that when we partake in wrongful sexual activity, we are actually harming ourselves the most. Keeping in mind the way that God sees me helps me focus on reminding myself that I am worth the wait. YOU ARE WORTH THE WAIT. It doesn't matter what past you have, how many people you've been involved with, or what others may think of you. God has wiped you clean and made you pure. He has forgotten those sins and does not hold them against you. He sees you as SPOTLESS. So when the time comes, FLEE. Don't let the enemy grab ahold of you. Make sure to not put yourself in a situation where you're easily tempted. Run to the arms of Christ. Hold yourself in high esteem. YOU ARE WORTH THE WAIT. YOU ARE WORTHY OF LOVE. YOU ARE PURE. YOU ARE A BEAUTIFUL CREATION DESIGNED TO REFLECT GOD'S PURE HEART FOR MANKIND. YOU ARE LOVED.
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Stand up for purity amongst the generation of people who settle for lust. Stand up for your self worth. Stand up for living a life that honors Jesus. STAND UP PURE ONES. ♥
> Caitlin <
Of Irish origin. Meaning pure.
I'm not a superstitious kind of person, but I do not think it was a mere coincidence that I was given this name at birth and this calling has been put on my life which matches right up the same alley. To live a life of biblical purity I am now realizing means to live it emotionally, mentally, physically, and the given, sexually, (or lack thereof.)
Emotionally ://
This generation is taught through all kinds of media that you should follow your heart and it will lead you to happiness.
Psalm 119:9
How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.
This verse tells me that a person should clearly live according to God's word because it is perfect and holy. When we try to follow our heart we can be caught trying to replace God's will and desires for our lives with the desires of our own heart. This can include being selfish with what job we want, who we want to date, or even maybe where we want to go to school. We need to surrender all of that at the cross so we don't get caught up and distraught when things don't go the way WE planned them. The word tells us in Jeremiah 17:9 that "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" The answer is Jesus and only Jesus. When we place him in a position in our hearts where we are allowing him to have complete control, we are surrendering our hearts desires to Him. Now there will be times where it can be hard to differentiate between our desires and God's but if we keep in mind the purity we are called to have and spend every second being conscientious of the relationship we have with Christ it will be easier to choose His desires above our own.
Mentally ://
Remaining mentally pure I think can be very similar, and even overlap, at points with emotional purity. In addition,when I think of mental purity I automatically think of physical purity because of the process of the thought behind the action. Now I'll get to that next but to understand physical purity, we must look at our mentality. Is it kingdom minded or is it working to please the world and self? We need to wake in the morning and ask God to check our motives. We should be asking God to fill our minds with thoughts of good, pure things that are only glorifying to Him. If we are wanting to live a life in the shadow of Jesus we must be sure to act upon love and not upon obligation. It can be easy as Christians to read what the Word says and have good intentions to live it out practically but forget that our motive should always remain in love BECAUSE He first loved US. Forgetting that can result in us becoming like the Pharisees and doing things to try and please God and judging others when what they're doing looks different than us. Something that helps keep me kingdom minded, is to think upon how God sees others around me and remember that Jesus died on the cross for them and their sins just as He has with me and mine.
Physically ://
As you check your heart and set your mind on Heaven, physically living out purity can become easier but is definitely still a challenge.
1 Timothy 4:12
Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.
We are reminded here that our walk with the Lord must include not only our heart and what that's putting forth but also our speech and conduct. As we talk with spiritual purity we must also walk in the same way. If we are only hearers of the word, and even only "talkers" of the Word, and not doers we are just as foolish as one who knows nothing about Jesus. The way I see it is, Jesus walked out everything that He claimed to be and was. If we are called to follow His example we must also walk the way we talk. To practically do this, I ask myself first if my motives are pure in mind and heart. I then try my hardest that when I want to say something to someone that it be edifying and uplifting and that it reflects the way Jesus lived on Earth.
Sexually ://
1 Corinthians 6:18
Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.
This is something I know a lot of people struggle with. To be completely honest, I've been asked if this is something I struggle with, and by the grace of God, I can say it isn't. Growing up I have been taught to save myself for marriage and that the purpose of dating is to eventually marry. With that in mind, I held myself in high esteem, and I believe it was rightfully so. I know that one day when I get married, I will be able to gladly say that I waited for my husband. I think that's such a beautiful picture of us Christians awaiting the return of Christ. As sin rampages in the world around us, we are called to be steadfast and wait upon the Lord and live a pure life so we can stand before Him and He can say "Well done my good and faithful servant." God has called us to remain pure with our bodies. This verse hits me super hard because it's basically saying that when we partake in wrongful sexual activity, we are actually harming ourselves the most. Keeping in mind the way that God sees me helps me focus on reminding myself that I am worth the wait. YOU ARE WORTH THE WAIT. It doesn't matter what past you have, how many people you've been involved with, or what others may think of you. God has wiped you clean and made you pure. He has forgotten those sins and does not hold them against you. He sees you as SPOTLESS. So when the time comes, FLEE. Don't let the enemy grab ahold of you. Make sure to not put yourself in a situation where you're easily tempted. Run to the arms of Christ. Hold yourself in high esteem. YOU ARE WORTH THE WAIT. YOU ARE WORTHY OF LOVE. YOU ARE PURE. YOU ARE A BEAUTIFUL CREATION DESIGNED TO REFLECT GOD'S PURE HEART FOR MANKIND. YOU ARE LOVED.
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Stand up for purity amongst the generation of people who settle for lust. Stand up for your self worth. Stand up for living a life that honors Jesus. STAND UP PURE ONES. ♥