How to Live a Pure Life
THE CHALLENGES WE FACE TODAY:
- 1 out of 5 children have sex by the age of 12 in America.
- Average age of viewing pornography for the first time: 11
- 94% of children will see porn by the age of 14.
THE BIG QUESTION WE WANT TO EXPLORE TODAY:
How can I navigate all of this and still live a pure life before God?
1 CORINTHIANS 6:16-20 MSG
“There’s more to sex than mere skin on skin. Sex is as much spiritual mystery as physical fact. As written in Scripture, ‘The two become one.’ Since we want to become spiritually one with the Master, we must not pursue the kind of sex that avoids commitment and intimacy, leaving us more lonely than ever—the kind of sex that can never ‘become one.’ There is a sense in which sexual sins are different from all others. In sexual sin we violate the sacredness of our own bodies, these bodies that were made for God-given and God-modeled love, for ‘becoming one’ with another. Or didn’t you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don’t you see that you can’t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body.
1 THESSALONIANS 4:3-8 TPT
“God’s will is for you to be set apart for him in holiness and that you keep yourselves unpolluted from sexual defilement. Yes, each of you must guard your sexual purity with holiness and dignity, not yielding to lustful passions like those who don’t know God. Never take selfish advantage of a brother or sister in this matter, for we’ve already told you and solemnly warned you that the Lord is the avenger in all these things. For God’s call on our lives is not to a life of compromise and perversion but to a life surrounded in holiness. Therefore, whoever rejects this instruction isn’t rejecting human authority but God himself, who gives us his precious gift—His Spirit of holiness.”
MATTHEW 5:27-30 NIV
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.”
If you’re going to stay sexually pure, you’re going to have to put certain things out of your reach and out of your sight!
OBSERVATIONS:
- SEXUAL SIN CAN DEFILE YOUR HEART and COMPLETELY CONTROL YOUR LIFE.
- SEXUAL SIN CAN TAKE YOU TO HELL.
- TO BREAK THE POWER OF SEXUAL SIN YOU HAVE TO GET RADICAL.
PROVERBS 4:20-27 TPT
“Listen carefully, my dear child, to everything that I teach you, and pay attention to all that I have to say. FILL YOUR THOUGHTS WITH MY WORDS until they penetrate deep into your spirit. Then, as you unwrap my words, they will impart true life and radiant health into the very core of your being. So above all GUARD THE AFFECTIONS OF YOUR HEART, for they affect all that you are. Pay attention to the welfare of your innermost being, for from there flows the wellspring of life. Avoid dishonest speech and pretentious words. Be free from using perverse words no matter what! SET YOUR GAZE ON THE PATH BEFORE YOU. With fixed purpose looking straight ahead, ignore life’s distractions. WATCH WHERE YOU ARE GOING! Stick to the path of truth, and the road will be safe and smooth before you. Don’t allow yourself to be sidetracked for even a moment or take the detour that leads to darkness.”
FOUR AREAS THAT YOU HAVE TO GET RADICAL WITH IF YOU WANT TO ENJOY VICTORY OVER TEMPTATION:
- WHAT YOU PUT IN YOUR MIND
Whatever dominates your thoughts dominates your life.
PROVERBS 4:21 TPT
“Fill your thoughts with my words until they penetrate deep into your spirit. Then, as you unwrap my words, they will impart true life and radiant health into the very core of your being.”
ROMANS 12:2 NLT
“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
Throughout the Bible God tells us the way to overcome being conformed to this world is by reading and meditating on His word.
Whatever you put into your mind on a regular basis will form the way you think!
FOUR AREAS THAT YOU HAVE TO GET RADICAL WITH IF YOU WANT TO ENJOY VICTORY OVER TEMPTATION:
- WHAT YOU PUT IN YOUR MIND
- WHAT YOU SAY
PROVERBS 4:24 TPT
“Avoid dishonest speech and pretentious words. Be free from using perverse words no matter what!”
One of the things goes hand in hand with sexual sin is LYING AND DECEPTION!
FOUR AREAS THAT YOU HAVE TO GET RADICAL WITH IF YOU WANT TO ENJOY VICTORY OVER TEMPTATION:
- WHAT YOU PUT IN YOUR MIND
- WHAT YOU SAY
- WHAT YOU LOOK AT
PROVERBS 4:25 TPT
“SET YOUR GAZE ON THE PATH BEFORE YOU. WITH FIXED PURPOSE, LOOKING STRAIGHT AHEAD, IGNORE LIFE’S DISTRACTIONS.”
MATTHEW 6:22-23 NIV
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”
FOUR AREAS THAT YOU HAVE TO GET RADICAL WITH IF YOU WANT TO ENJOY VICTORY OVER TEMPTATION:
- WHAT YOU PUT IN YOUR MIND
- WHAT YOU SAY
- WHAT YOU LOOK AT
- WHERE YOU GO
PROVERBS 4:26-27 TPT
“WATCH WHERE YOU’RE GOING! STICK TO THE PATH OF TRUTH, AND THE ROAD WILL BE SAFE AND SMOOTH BEFORE YOU. DON’T ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE SIDETRACKED FOR EVEN A MOMENT OR TAKE THE DETOUR THAT LEADS TO DARKNESS.”
AT SOME POINT IF YOU’RE GOING TO FULLY COMMIT TO GOD, YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE TO MAKE A DECISION ABOUT HOW YOU’RE GOING TO CONDUCT YOUR SEXUAL LIFE!
WILL I BE A SLAVE TO WHAT MY FLESH WANTS?
OR WILL I BE SET FREE FROM THE CONTROL OF MY FLESH AND OFFER UP MY BODY AS A WILLING SACRIFICE TO BE HOLY WHICH IS MY FULL EXPRESSION OF WORSHIP TO GOD?
