I learned a lot about the difference between purity and virginity during this season of my life. Purity is a way life, and my virginity is something I give. What mattered, was what I chose to do with what I now knew about the value of my purity.
I wondered a lot how my future husband and I would protect our purity before marriage, and if I really had the strength to fight it. This was when the Lord began challenging me with the idea to not kiss my boyfriend until he was committed to me enough to be my husband.
My first response to the Lord was, “Absolutely not. What kind of man would even want to be with me once I told him we cannot kiss?”
However, as the Lord began to soften my heart I chose to take a huge leap of faith — I decided to wait until I was engaged to kiss my husband. (Let’s get things clear here before you go jumping to conclusions — I’m not saying kissing is a sin or that everyone has to wait until marriage. I’m simply telling you my story and how God chose to challenge me to trust Him more.) I made this commitment before my husband and I were even dating.
The funny thing is that God was already dealing with my husband about waiting to kiss his future bride. When Rony and I chose to not kiss, God introduced us to so many new avenues of romance that I never knew even existed. It truly awakened something special.
The choice to protect my purity, a gift that God gave me, began in my mind and in my heart first. Sometimes we have to get to a point where we are willing to do whatever it takes to keep us from compromising.
So, I would ask you — Are you willing to do whatever it takes? Are you willing to destroy any DVDs, magazines, websites, etc. that keeps you tempted to pornography and hurts your marriage or lack thereof? Are you willing to stop talking to someone who continually causes you to lust? Are you willing to set physical boundaries with the person you are with, even though the world would say it is not normal?
Are you willing to pray and truly listen to what God has to say to you in his Word, or are you too afraid to even go there with Him? Often, we deliberately choose to avoid God’s Word because we know that it may say something we don’t really want to hear. Some portions of Scripture can be so clear that it’s almost frightening. Let’s take 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 for example:
18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
In conclusion, we must be willing to do whatever it takes to protect ourselves from falling into the sins of our biggest temptations. Purity is now!
For a followup post visit, “I Kept My Virginity, But Not My Purity: Part Two”
