Set an example part 5: Purity

There’s an ice cream stand close to where I live.  On a given summer evening, one can always spot at least one girl who has the mistaken belief that she’s at the beach, rather than a place where families go for a frosty treat.  It’s sad really, that these girls feel the need to dress (or not dress, as the case may be) in such a way that draws attention.  What they probably don’t realize is that the attention they’re getting isn’t really the kind they want. 

When it comes to the issue of purity, I think we first need to talk about modesty.  Michael Hyatt raised 5 daughters and shared with his readers that he never had rules for them regarding modesty.  Instead, he had 4 “guidelines” for them to consider before leaving the house every day.  These guidelines allowed them to make their own decisions regarding wardrobe, but also gave them some things to think about while making the decisions. 

These are the guidelines he gave them: 

1. If you have trouble getting into it or out of it, it is probably not modest.
2. If you have to be careful when you sit down or bend over, it is probably not modest.
3. If people look at any part of your body before looking at your face, it is probably not modest.
4. If you can see your most private body parts or an outline of those parts under the fabric, it is probably not modest.

I love those because they fit in so well with what the Bible has to say about the issue of purity:

But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.  ~ Ephesians 5:3 (emphasis added)

Not even a hint.  Not in the way we dress.  Not in the things we watch and read.  Not in the things we talk about.  Not even a hint. 

I think this verse applies nicely to the other areas we’ve been talking about for the last couple of weeks too.  If we’re going to set an example in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity, we need to keep a close eye on ourselves. 

And as soon as even a hint of sin creeps in, we need to repent – to turn and run as far away from it as possible – and we need to ask our Father in Heaven to deliver us from evil.  We are His mouth, His hands and feet, His ears and arms on earth. 

As we set an example, we need to think ahead and ask ourselves, “Will what I’m about to do or say reflect Christ to the world?”  And if the answer is no, don’t do it!  We have been given a lot of responsibility.  It is God and God alone who will enable us to fulfill it!  Praise be to God! 

How can you set an example in purity, especially for younger and newer believers?  Thinking back over our discussions that last two weeks, in which area of life can you most easily set an example?

 

Set an example part 4-B: Faith

NOTE: In order to keep with the flow of this second part of our discussion on faith, we’ll take our Midweek Mental Health Break on Thursday this week instead of today.  Hope you don’t mind!

When I was writing Yesterday’s post (the prerequisite to today’s), I was eating pizza.  As I write this one, I’m eating a Sky Bar.  If you’ve never had one, it’s a chocolate bar that has four sections: Caramel, Peanut Butter, Vanilla Cream and Fudge Cream.  They’re fantastic!  This has nothing to do with today’s post, I just thought I’d share…

Ok, getting back to the topic at hand, let’s keep going with the things our hearts would do well to believe:

I am who God says I am: I am His beloved child, chosen and adopted into His family.  I am a co-heir with Christ of God’s heavenly kingdom and all spiritual blessing.  I have been bought with the blood of Jesus and set free from the grip of sin and death.  Nothing can separate me from God and His love.  I am His and I exist to bring Him glory. (Ephesians 1:3-14)

I can do all things through Christ: It is Christ who gives us the strength to live out our lives for God’s glory.  It is Christ we serve and it is in Christ we find our rest.  (Philippians 4:13)

God’s Word is alive and active in me: As we spend time studying, meditating on and memorizing God’s Word, it becomes a part of who we are.  It shapes the things we say and the things we do.  It affects our attitudes and our reactions to the bends in the road.  When we devote ourselves to Scripture, we are changed.  (Hebrews 4:12)

When we allow these five statements to penetrate our hearts and govern our lives, our faith is made stronger.  We no longer fear what life will bring our way because we know that God only allows those things in our lives that will bring glory to Him.  He is the filter through which every trial must pass and then He is the strength we need to endure.  He is our all-sufficient, powerful, loving Father.

The life lived in faith will not be an easy one, but it will be victorious.  And it will set an example for the believers.

How do you keep the faith?  To which promise of God are you clinging today?

 

Set an example part 4-A: Faith

You know how everything tastes better when you’re really hungry?  Allow me to give you an example: I’m presently eating leftover “pizza”. (Those who know me well know of my struggles accepting the New England definition of pizza and understand why I put it in quotes.  For those who don’t, I grew up 40 minutes outside New York City and therefore have very strict standards for things like pizza and bagels.  New England sadly, fails to meet those standards with frightening consistency…Who cuts a round pizza into squares?!?!)  Anyway, this pizza I’m eating barely had time to warm up before I snatched it from the toaster oven.  The crust is soggy, the cheese is strangely coagulated and it’s a bit greasy.  But I gotta tell you, right now, it’s the most delicious thing to ever pass my lips!

The hurting, questioning heart often experiences the same phenomena.  It wants so badly to feel some relief that it will devour whatever “pizza” happens to be nearby.  In moments of sheer desperation, we are willing to believe in whatever will make us feel better.  For many people, this means trusting in superstition, luck, karma, etc.

The mature Christian, on the other hand, knows that placing our faith in anything other than Christ will leave us feeling hungry and unsatisfied.  But what happens when what we know in our heads just can’t seem to make it to our hearts?

I’m going to borrow from Beth Moore’s study Believing God a bit as we explore ways we can strengthen our faith and thereby be the example we’re called to be.  In the study, Beth provided five specific things we need to believe in order to strengthen our faith and I want us to take a look at them.  (To keep this post from becoming an epic novel, we’ll cover the first two today and the others on Thursday.)  As we move through life, our hearts would do well to believe the following about God:

God is who He says He is:  If we do not believe that God is who He says He is in His Word, nothing else matters.  We must believe that He is the Creator, the Ruler of the world, the Sustainer of life, our Savior, our Redeemer and our Hope.  (Colossians 1:15-20)

God can do what He says He can do: The God who spoke the world into being and the God who raised Christ from the dead is the very same God who reaches out to us with all power, authority and glory.  Nothing is too big for Him.  And nothing is outside His notice. (Ephesians 1:18-21)

So what if you’re stuck on these two?  What if you don’t fully believe that God is who He says He is and that He can do what He says He can do? 

First, pray.  Our faith in God comes from God and he gives it freely to the one who earnestly seeks Him (Mark 9:14-24).  Ask Him for the faith to believe.

 Second, repeat these truths to your heart over and over again.  Whenever doubt creeps in, remind yourself that God is who He says He is.  Whenever something seems overwhelming, tell yourself that God can do what He says He can do.  And He says that He can rescue you, heal you, free you and give you a new, abundant life full of exactly what He knows to be best for you (James 1:17)

Begin today to set an example for those around you by taking God at his Word.  God can not lie (Hebrews 6:18).

How do you know that God’s Word is true?  What experience have you had that you can use to point others to the Truth?

 

Set an example part 3: Love

A wealthy man and his wife are walking down the street toward their car after a nice dinner out.  As they round a corner, they almost trip on a young woman laying on the sidewalk.  They stop, looking down at her.  “She’s probably a drug addict,” the man says sadly.  “What do you think she was before she became a drug addict?” his wife asks.  “I don’t know.  She might have been a prostitute.”  “And before that?” she asks.  “Well, before that,” he says thoughtfully, “she was probably just a little girl.”  The man and his wife exchange a look, then they pick the young woman up, put her in their car and take her home to care for her.

Every person you will ever encounter, no matter how rich, how poor, how attractive, how sick, how friendly, or how rude, was once a little boy or a little girl.  Spend an afternoon in the park and you’ll see future lawyers, doctors, teachers, mothers, fathers, astronauts and firefighters.  Spend an afternoon in the park and you’ll also see future murderers, drug addicts, thieves, and prostitutes.

When we begin to see the person behind the circumstance, it becomes so much easier to love that person.  As followers of Christ, our lives ought to be defined by how we love.  Jesus said that the world would know who was and was not His follower by the way they love others (John 13:35). 

Remember, that man who cut in front of you at the grocery store is loved by God.  That woman sitting on the sidewalk downtown is loved by God.  That teenager who cut you off on the road and then flipped you off is loved by God.  Your neighbor who keeps walking his dog on your lawn is loved by God.

You are loved by God.

As people dearly loved by our Creator, what right do we have to withhold His love from those around us?  As those who call ourselves by Christ’s name, how can we move through life and not show His love to every single person we meet, every single day?

We are called to set an example for others in the way we love.  Let’s start by remembering that no one on this earth is unworthy of our love, because no one on this earth is unworthy of God’s love.

Who has shown love to you when you didn’t “deserve” it?  To whom do you need to show love today?