#IChoosePurity [Part Three]: How God made me pure

“Ok, so we have all done things that make us ‘impure’. What now?”

Every choice you make has consequences. Little rebound here, little fling there, little date with the guy you know you will never date, but hey, he makes you feel beautiful – and besides, what harm could these things do right?

Well, here is what God has shown me through my journey about purity:

I have had relationships before but I’ve never slept with anyone before. So I’ve always considered myself as pure. However, I have compromised – in all areas of the heart. And what I did was I suppressed all of it. Telling myself I don’t have to feel guilty or ashamed because I was justifying being reckless with my heart by saying “I’ve never done the ‘deed’, so I have nothing to feel bad about.” (Yes, I didn’t even want to say the ‘S’ word).

Then one day the pot’s lid couldn’t contain what I tried to deny, and all those memories of things I’ve done and felt and thought caught up with me and the pot boiled over. I was on my knees sobbing in front of God saying out loud to Him: “God, I am so ashamed of what I’ve have done with this guy and that guy!” And I went through the list of every big and little thing that I have done that I wasn’t proud of…until there was nothing left.

As I was sitting there, so extremely vulnerable before Him on my bedroom floor, He gave me an image of a little spotless white cloth (your heart) that we each get at birth. Then through life we tell lies, think about lustful things, compromise in relationships, judge ourselves, judge others, etc. And each of these things results in stains on our cloths: some bigger and more permanent than others. Then we try to wash these clean with Jik and Omo and soap by going to therapy, or to indulge in self-help books, etc.

But as I was sitting at His feet with my face in my hands with shame, He showed me that by laying each little (and big) thing I have done that made me feel guilty and ashamed down before Him,  I gave Him the opportunity to take my hands in His, lifting my chin up to look at His beautiful face, and to lead me to sit on His lap like a little child – I gave Him the opportunity to erase each stain – bit by bit – until it was completely spotless.

Then, when my cloth was finally spotless, He took it and put it in His heart, replacing my heart (my cloth) with His. Now His heart was beating in my chest; His blood was flowing through my veins; His breath through my lungs. I am clean. I am white as snow. The enemy and my past have no more hold on me or my heart. I am free of guilt. I am free of shame. I AM PURE.

And since that I have been more careful and responsible with what I expose myself to and what I allow in my life. I want to be clean and free for my husband, because that is who I believe he deserves. So living purely is the least I can do for him.

IT COMES DOWN TO LOVING YOUR FUTURE SPOUSE THROUGH THE WAY YOU LIVE.

Part Four looks at Purity as a Lifestyle.