Video Transcript
When you hear the term ‘keeping pure’, people will sometimes associate that with ‘As long as I’m not sleeping with anyone, I’m pure’, you know? ‘I’ve not – I’m not sleeping with people, maybe I’m a virgin or not a virgin or I’ve made a decision to be abstinent, I’m pure’. But I think purity has more, there’s more elements to it, and just because you’re not sleeping around the question now is, are you doing anything else? What are you thinking? What are you watching? What kind of music are you listening to? What kind of friends are you hanging out with? How are you dressing? All these things, I think, contribute to the conversation on purity. We shouldn’t isolate keeping pure to just what you do with your physical body but also what you do, what’s happening in your mental state, and what’s happening in your life as well. Because it’s equally possible to not be sleeping around, yet you’re addicted to pornography so how would you explain that? Is that still being pure? Or, ‘I’m not sleeping around but I’m watching things that constantly arouse me or I’m dressed in a way that arouses others and I know that’. So is that pure? I guess that’s another question to have. Because the Bible also talks about if you look lustfully at a woman you have, it’s the same as committing adultery, you might as well have slept with her because it’s in the same category. But I think the grace of God is available in this journey, we’re in a world, a fallen world, as they say, and the challenges are real, staying on the path of purity is tough but I believe it’s very much worth it. And God who says ‘Be holy, as I am holy’ wouldn’t have said that if it wasn’t possible.
It’s tough, but with our spiritual disciplines, it’s possible. I’m not here to say that I know it all, or I’ve reached where I’m going, but I’ve tested this area a little bit in terms of God’s grace and I thank God that it’s working. And if you ever fall short in this area or another area I think it’s worth mentioning as well, sometimes people feel that if they ever make a mistake ‘I can’t go back, can’t pray again, I’m going to stay away from church, oh no people are going to be judgemental’, God is in the business of second chances. God is in the business of third chances. However, don’t use his grace as an excuse to keep sinning, because the reality is sin has its consequence, God will forgive you, but sin still has its consequence. So, as one wise man said, ‘If you decide to commit murder, or something like that, and you ask God for forgiveness, He will forgive you, but He’ll forgive you from the prison’. You’ll be in prison, you enjoy prison, but he’ll forgive you from there. In the same way, if you decide to engage in sexual immorality or casual sex, and a baby comes out of it, you can’t say ‘Oh God forgive me, this child is no longer mine’. No, God will forgive you, but that child is still your responsibility, regardless of what age you are, whether you’re ready for a child or not, you have just created one. So, please bear in mind these as well, that there is always, we have to be responsible for our actions, for sure.
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