Purify
Proverbs 4:25-27
Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.
The definition of purify:
pur-i-fy: a : to clear from material defilement or imperfection b : to free from guilt or moral or ceremonial blemish c : to free from undesirable elements
As many of you know, my wife and I recently moved into a new condo. Before we could move in however, it needed, as one of my friends called it, some TLC [TenderLovingCare] To me it needed a lot of TLC! But as I began work on our new home, I began to see a formula for pushing for purification in our own life.
1. Identify the Problems
Our new place had several issues that could only be attributed to neglect of the previous owner. The carpet was stained and loose. The paint was old and cracking in some places. And there were parts of the house that just needed to be plain cleaned!
2 Timothy 2:22
Pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Some Areas the bible points out as impure:
Sexual Immorality
1 Thes 4:3-7
It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.
1 Cor 6:20
The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the lord for the body.
It’s important that we define sexual immorality: any form of sex outside of marriage
Do you know why the bible tells us to stay away from sex before marriage? – Protection! The damaging affects this can bring, will hurt you more than you know!
Thoughts
1 John 2:15-17
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world–the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does–comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
This is one everyone struggles with! This is where I believe most of our troubles begin. With a thought…then it snowballs into an avalanche that we can no longer stop or control!
Attitude (Pride)
Jeremiah 9:23-24
This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD , who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD.
Just like our impure actions and thoughts, our pride can be a huge stumbling block and discredits your witness.
Have you ever been around somebody who thinks it begins and ends with them?
Luke 18:14
Jesus said, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
If you have trouble with pride, God will take care of it, just not the way you want.
Words
Ephesians 4:29
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
Does this really need any explanation? Our words are a measure of our heart condition.
Swearing, Gossip, etc.
Priorities
2 Cor 4:18
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
What’s more important to us? These things that are going to hold us back? Or what God has for us?
Most of the time it’s the worldly desires
2. Get Help!
After I saw all the work that needed to be done, I called all my friends that I knew could help. I had a friend help rip up the carpet with me. I had a friend help me lay down wood laminate. I had a friend help paint the walls. Why? Because I knew I could not get it done alone.
Galatians 6:5
Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
If you’re struggling with anything, find someone who can help keep you accountable. It’s biblical!
Proverbs 28:13-Read
He who conceals his sins does not prosper.
When we keep our sins to our self, it festers and gets worse.
If we are truly pursuing God’s purity in our life, we will hear the advice from our brothers and sisters in Christ, and take it to heart.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!
Hear me, you can not do it alone! – I can’t tell you how much it helps me to have a group I can go to. If you don’t, have anyone you can trust, find a pastor or somebody who is concerned with your spiritual wellbeing!
3. Realize, it takes time!
The process of ripping out the carpet took us a full day’s work. Laying the wood laminate took almost the entire week! And painting was about two days on top of that. Good work takes time and effort. The same is true in our own lives! Purification is a process, and sometimes it’s a painful and hard process. Sometimes it means letting go of that unhealthy relationship, or turning off the TV and computer!
Psalm 66:10 tells us that God has “refined us like silver”.
The process of refining silver is a long process of heating the metal until all the imperfections have boiled out. Once the silver is cooled, it is then re-heated again to remove any other imperfections. This process is repeated until there are no signs of anything that isn’t the precious metal.
Here’s where people can get mixed up. They think that because you lose that relationship, or you turn off the computer that your problem is solved. Just because you heat up the silver doesn’t mean it’s refined right? It’s just the first step. You gotta keep heating it, and boil those impurities out!
Bottom-line: if it interferes with our purity before God, it’s going to take time to fully overcome with God’s help and our constant desire for purity.
4. Never Underestimate!
As we got to the end of laying the laminate, we realized we were three planks short of finishing the job! Three stinkin’ planks! Then when we were painting, we came up a little short there too! It can be the same in our walk. We may think that we are above or have conquered what we struggle with, but all it takes is one slip, and we’re right back where we started.
Titanic Story – The Titanic was slated to be the best ship ever built. It as hailed as “indestructible”, but when it hit an iceberg on it’s maiden voyage, it sank. It has since been discovered that it was not the size of the iceberg that sank the ship, but rather that it was rushed to completion before a looming deadline and was created using cheap steel, and poor rivets, ultimately dooming the massive ship.
-Discovery Channel
Matthew 26:41
Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.
Basically, if you know you struggle staying pure in a relationship, either end it or don’t put yourself in situations where you’ll be tempted. Stay off the internet if you now it’ll be too great a temptation!
Say we have a drunk, a bar is probably not the best place for him to hang out!
Don’t underestimate your ability to give into sin! You will fail!
5. The job is never done!
We may have completed the big jobs, but there are still a lot of little things that need to be done to make it compete. I’ve learned that as a homeowner I will always be doing work on my home. Even this morning I found something that needs to be fixed!
2 Chronicles 15:7
Be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.
You say you’ve overcome your temptations? Great! Keep working at it! And while you’re doing that, look for other areas in your life that could use God’s fixing (i.e.: devotions, study time, prayer) and you’ll find your life to be more a fulfillment of God’s purpose.
We will always be a work in progress, until we enter into heaven!
Romans 6:13
Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.
