Purity is the state of being undiluted, or unmixed with extraneous materials. Additionally, purity in a spiritual sense has to do with freedom from sin or guilt, combining with the sexual aspect of chastity. Certainly, we never will be free from sin while on this earth, yet with the forgiveness of God, we are free from guilt. As Christians, we are brides of Christ, and He desires all of our love! That sounds like a level of requirement that we simply cannot uphold, yet that is not God’s point of view. Because an omniscient God created us, He comprehends every false desire in the minds and hearts of His sheep. Instead of condemnation, God’s desire for us is that through the journey, we will learn to trust Him more, to follow Him more and most importantly, to love Him more.
3 We give no offense in anything, that our ministry may not be blamed. 4 But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, 5 in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings; 6 by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, 7 by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, 8 by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; 9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
2 Corinthians 6:3-10
The list above does not paint the Christian life as a simple walk in the park. Instead, the words spoken by Paul point to a higher calling in the midst of turmoil. There is no great difficulty in loving those who love you, but when we treat our enemies with love, it demonstrates that our hearts are operating under a higher power, the power of the Holy Spirit. If we cannot love others, we cannot love God. Sometimes as believers, we have the audacity to judge where unbelievers are walking, especially in regard to their sinful ways and lives. Yet the ugliness that we perceive in their lives is truly, ugliness in our own lives. God created them just as He created us. Instead of judging them, we are called to love them, as that love may be the shining light in their world of darkness, pointing them just as it did us to a God who loves!
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
1 Corinthians 13:1
One of the greatest challenges as believers is to keep that love of God at the forefront of your minds and hearts. Sometimes, the Lord will reveal locked doors, protecting areas of our lives that we are holding onto, unwilling to give Him the key. Those areas may be different in each of our lives. Examples would be the desire for more money, more status or more accolades from men. Are your business ethics identical to your ethics at church? God doesn’t want parts of us. He doesn’t even desire to have most of us. Instead, God desires all of us! Whether we want to give Him the key or not, He is going to open that door! That is the Christian journey summed up in a nutshell.
He must increase, but I must decrease.
John 3:30
John the Baptist’s statement speaks volumes. As we grow in the Lord, we should become more like God. Our Lord does not accomplish that transformation by turning a light switch, though if He desired, He could. Yet He wants us to desire more of Him in our lives.
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
Philippians 2:12-13
“That all things are possible to him who believes, that they are less difficult to him who hopes, they are more easy to him who loves, and still more easy to him who perseveres in the practice of these three virtues.” --Brother Lawrence, from “The Practice of the Presence of God”
Believing is more than thought; it is belief in action, also called faith. Hope is the desire to be with Jesus, along with the expectation of obtaining that desire, with joy being the companion of both the desire and expectation. Yet those will pass away, for when we see Jesus face-to-face, faith and hope will no longer be necessary. Love, though, will remain for all of eternity! By loving others now, we also love God. We can love Him through every aspect of our lives, not just Bible study, fellowship and prayer. Are there moments of your life when God departs from you? No, as He has set up His tabernacle in your soul, never to depart. As He will never leave you, how can you leave Him? Worship the Lord in every part of your life, and let your love for others (and for Him) be at the forefront!
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
1 Corinthians 13:4-10
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