WHAT DO I DO?

From our previous discussion, we discussed Sexual Purity and God’s intention as regards sexual purity. Now, the next question will be how do I remain sexually pure? Another question will be, is there hope for a person who has not stayed pure in the past? This article seeks to answer some of these questions and proffer some solutions.

To address the Second question, it is important for us to note that scriptures admonish us that the man in Christ is a new creation, the old is gone and the new has come. (2 Cor 5: 17) God is no longer seeing you through the lens of your past and you must also not see yourself through your past. Ephesians 2 puts it so beautifully:

“Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)” Ephesians 2:1-‬5 NLT‬‬‬

Apart from seeing yourself through the lens which God sees you, there are practical steps contained in the Bible on Christian living, and also staying pure. Jesus taught them, the apostles also taught them. In the passage we discussed in our earlier blog post on “What is Purity”, Jesus in teaching on True purity explains that it is not what goes into our mouth that defiles us but the words that come from our mouth and the words we speak comes from our heart, this is what defiles us. (Matthew 15: 17-19) Therefore, we are instructed in Proverbs 4: 23, 

“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of Christ” (NKJV)

“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life” (NLT)

You must control what goes into your heart. We are in a generation where there are information in abundance and an easy access to several information, as a believer seeking to walk in purity, you must access what you allow your mind to feed on. Not everything should be allowed to affect how you think. 

Also, Paul admonishes us to renew our mind. We all live in an environment where the ideas and customs are contrary to the world of God. Romans 12: 2 says “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.”(NLT)

We must be intentional about constantly renewing our mind with God’s word. In renewing our mind with the word, we learn to think the way God thinks. For example, when the world says it is okay to hate your enemies, Jesus admonishes us to love our enemies and pray for them. (Matt 5: 43-45). Also, he taught earlier in this passage that any man who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matt 5: 27-28).