Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been blogging a lot about purity. You might be wondering why I’m focusing on this topic.

You see, I’ve had this book sitting on my shelf for quite a few years. It’s called When God Writes Your Love Story by Eric & Leslie Ludy. When I was a young girl, probably about 13 years old, I read Leslie’s book Authentic Beauty. It was a gift from my mom, and I loved it. But she also gave me When God Writes Your Love Story, and for some reason, I never got around to reading it. So instead of continuing to let it collect dust, I picked it up about two weeks ago and have been absolutely loving it ever since.

If you’re over 18, I know what you’re thinking. “I’m too old for this stuff. I already know about purity. Why would I read some childish book about it?”

Well….you’re wrong! If anything, this book is having more of an impact on me at 21 than it ever would have at 13! It’s never too late to learn what scriptures say on the topic. It’s never too late to let God have the pen of your love story.

So anyway, while reading, I pretty much just gave up trying to highlight and sticky-note the book because every inch of all the pages would be covered. (What’s the point of bookmarking or highlighting a whole book? In the end, if everything is neon colors and covered in sticky notes, nothing will stand out anymore. Lol.)

I’ll probably end up blogging about this topic, including the book, many many times. So don’t be surprised. And today I want to write to encourage you, even if you think you know everything there is to know  about purity, to bear with me and learn with me. Here’s today’s topic…

It’s not just about the physical

Often times, I think we place an invisible “physical” before the word “purity” when we’re talking about this stuff. But it’s so much more than that. (Although I am NOT downplaying the seriousness of physical impurity. Check out 1 Corinthians 6:18 if you don’t know what I’m talking about.)

In fact, another form of purity we should strive for is purity of the heart. Check out this quote from Eric & Leslie’s book. This is from a chapter written by Leslie:

In my dating relationships, I damaged my precious pearl of purity. I felt dirty and used because of it. But the damage didn’t just happen when I “went a little too far” physically. Giving away this treasure started the moment I gave away my heart and emotions to men who were never meant to receive that gift. I had been careless with my treasure. I had allowed my heart to become battered and broken.

I used to think that the unbearable devastation of “breaking up” with a boyfriend was just a natural part of the dating process. But there was nothing natural about it! It was a pain God never meant for me to experience. The valuable and delicate pearl of my purity had been ripped too soon from its protective shell, then tossed back, damaged and bruised.

What a way to look at purity! Maybe you’re reading this today and yes, you are physically pure, but you’ve been emotionally damaged in past relationships. Long story short, your heart has been ripped out of your chest. Maybe even multiple times.

Or maybe you’ve lost your purity both physically and emotionally. Or maybe you’re a guy, and you’re thinking, “this blog is for girls only.” Well, no, it’s not. It’s for you too, gentlemen, even though you’re not as emotional as we girls are. Think about it this way: do you think your future wife would want to know how many times you’ve given a girl your heart, aka, told her that you loved her? (The correct answer here is “no.” :))

No matter who you are, how old you are, what gender you are or how much of your “precious pearl” you have left, there is still hope for you. In Jesus. By the grace of God and through repentance, you can restore your pearl back to its original, natural beauty. Then I’d encourage you, if you desire to be married one day, to start praying for your future spouse and asking God to show you ways that you can honor that person (i.e. not prematurely giving yourself away, physically or emotionally) right here, right now, even if you haven’t met them yet. (Who else just starting singing Michael Buble in their head? Okay, nevermind…)

The story doesn’t end here. I want to share with you much more about what I’m learning concerning purity. But this entry is getting long, so I guess we’ll have to just wait…

Thanks for reading.

Jen

Authentic Beauty Christianity Emotional purity Eric Ludy Faith forgiveness god Jesus Christ Leslie Ludy Pearl Physical Purity Psalm 51 Pure hearts purity religion Repentence sexual immorality When God Writes Your Love Story