Purity

Friday 10/11/2013 6:23 AM

My devotional theme for the week is purity.  I’m not sure why but, when I think of purity, the first thing that pops into my head is sexual purity.  I live in a society in which we I am told that anything goes as long as it is between two consenting adults but I believe that the deepest kind of physical intimacy should only be expressed between two people who are fully committed to each other.  Call me a prude if you want but I believe that sex outside of my marriage would compromise and eventually ruin the relationship I have with Jaci.  I have invested over thirty-five years in that relationship, we have nurtured and raised three children and I am not willing to risk destroying all of that for a quick roll in the sheets with someone with whom I have no history.

Today I read an excerpt from Discipline and Discovery by Albert Day that gives a different, and I believe better, definition of purity.  He writes, “Purity means freedom from anything foreign to the essential character of a thing.  Pure water is water in which there is nothing but H₂O.  Pure poetry is poetry that has nothing in it that is alien to the nature of poetry – no doggerel, no lumbering prose, no acrid didacticism.  Pure science is science that has no extraneous or irrelevant interest, but is concerned only with objective reality.  A pure person is one in whom is nothing alien to the character which was God’s intention for him.  That intention was a finite being, in quality like God himself.”  God’s intention is that the fruit of his Spirit fill my life.  He wants me to be filled with love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  That is a much broader view of purity than simply refraining from sexual contact outside of my marriage, which probably best fits into the category of self-control.

The real difficulty lies in determining the best way to remain pure in that broader sense. What is the best way to pursue that kind of character and avoid the things that would compromise that character?  For me it is most difficult to control my mind.  When my thoughts stray and I begin to think of ways to get revenge when I am wronged, when I think of ways to get attention when I feel ignored, when I think of ways to satisfy my cravings when I feel like I am in want, then I jeopardize my purity.  That is probably why Paul gives the advice he does in Philippians 4:8-9, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.  Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice.  And the God of peace will be with you.”  The United Negro College Fund has a motto: the mind is a terrible thing to waste.  I would argue that the mind is also a difficult thing to control but, if I want to remain pure in the broader sense of the word as suggested by Day, it is imperative that I do so.