What about Purity? #WAP
We live in a sexualized world. Sex appeals to our carnal nature and that is why everyone is buying it.
Most advertisements show women dressed in revealing clothing. The item sells because men want women who look like her, and women want to be like her.
They sell us sex on social media when we like and comment on photos of people because of how sexy they look. Most likes are given to a guy when he is shirtless or when a woman shows cleavage or the shape of her behind. Sex is in every movie and Netflix series. Sex is in almost every popular song. But we must ask the question, What About Purity? Where are the people pushing for purity of body mind and spirit? Many parents are afraid to talk about it, many churches shy away from addressing it in a real way. But What About Purity?
We are all prone to attraction from sex because it is completely normal. God made all humans as sexual beings. We have an inner desire to be fruitful and multiply. However, we need God’s help to learn how to control our desires and develop a pure mind and a pure heart.
Let us pray.
Sexual Purity is becoming a lost art. Gone are the days when young couples make pledges to keep their mind and bodies from sexual sin. It has gotten so bad that there is now a trend where brides no longer wear white because they don’t believe in sexual purity before marriage.
There are voices on the internet that have been bashing the “purity culture”.
They claim that the requirement to be sexually pure is not only unnecessary but a burden in the modern world. They speak about the negative psychological effects of encouraging a culture of purity.
In the past, many societies have cast aside young people, especially girls, who have lost their virginity.
There was once a law in Italy that allowed a rapist to go free if he married his victim, in fact, the victim was also forced to marry her rapist because she would have been considered to be impure and no man would want to marry a girl who was not a virgin.
There is a popular story about a girl named Franca Viola, she was the first Italian woman who publicly refused to marry her rapist. On 26 December 1965 when she was just 17 years old, she was kidnapped from her home and raped multiple times. Her rapist then called her father to request her hand in marriage. Fearing for her life, he agreed, so they would return his daughter safely. When she got home, her father promised her that he would support whatever decision she made about getting married to her rapist. She told him she did not want to marry him, so they reported it to the local police and her rapist was arrested.
Franca and her family suffered a lot of persecution and rejection by the people to the point where the Italian media and even the Parliament got involved in the case. Still, Franca was determined. She insisted on fighting the centuries-old, cruel, marrying your rapist tradition.
In the end of the trial, her rapist was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Franca on the other hand got married just three years later at the age of 21 to a childhood friend who vowed to protect her against anyone.
By then, Franca had gotten nationwide recognition and commendation for her courage and victory from the president, as well as Pope Paul the sixth. As of 2021, Franca Viola currently lives with her husband and their three children. The brave 73-year-old will always be recognized as the first Italian woman to fight against the bride kidnapping tradition in Italy.
After Franca was raped, did she lose her purity? Type your answer in the chat and let me know your thoughts.
What then is sexual purity? Is the fact that you are a virgin make automatically sexually pure? If you never knew the answer to this question I am going to shock you tonight.
Sexual Purity isn’t virginity. There are many people who have had sex multiple times, yet they are more sexually pure than some virgins who have never had sex. But how could this be? Let me repeat Sexual Purity isn’t virginity.
Jesus made this very clear in Matthew 5:28 “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Basically, what this is saying is that God considers adultery and lust in the same category. This is not only for men but for women also.
I want to be clear that I am in no way taking away the importance of physical purity. Remaining a virgin until marriage is still important, it protects you from having a corrupted sexual experience that could affect you all the way into marriage, or even prevent you from wanting to get married.
1 Corinthians 6:18 -20 says “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.”
When we sin against the body we are dishonoring God who gave it to us. We also want to make it clear that when someone is raped or sexually abused, they did not sin against their own body. They have not lost their sexual purity. The sin and sexual impurity are only on the part of the rapist.
All sins against the body start in the mind. The bible says in James 1:14 – 15 “each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” First the Devil comes in with his temptation, but temptation is not sin, we sin when we allow the temptation to entice us and we start to desire the sin like Eve desired the fruit. Satan plays on our pride and tries to convince us that we deserve whatever we like, even if it goes against God’s will.
It is at this point that we need to take the advice given in our sermon last Sunday and Vax-Sin-Hate. If we HATE sin, we will have no desire to sin, and Satan’s temptation will have no effect.
Because sexual sin starts in the mind, we have to guard the avenues of the mind. Instead of hating fornication, many of us have fallen in love with it because of the things we watch and listen.
If the stars in your favorite movie or Netflix series love to fornicate, then we will find no problem with fornication. Nowadays, every movie has a gay person. Once we start to normalize homosexual relationship in our heads, we no longer hate the sin. Till Satan creates the perfect situations and before you know it you are supporting gay marriage and God forbid, having homosexual experiences.
We need to Vax-Sin-Hate, to protect ourself from the dreaded virus of sexual immorality that is destroying our nation and our world. Developing a hate for sexual sin will not be possible if we have Cardi B’s music as our anthem.
We cannot hate sin if we are watching pornography. Porn doesn’t only create a terrible addiction that can go on into adulthood, but it also gives an unrealistic and corrupted view of sex. We have to cut off these distraction that will make it impossible for us to have sexual purity. Purity start in the heart, if our heart is in love with the things of this world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, we will never attain purity.
Many also believe sexual purity ends after marriage. The bible says the marriage bed is undefiled, this mean it is pure. Sex in marriage is a pure expression of the love between husband and wife. If this form of love is expressed to anyone else in thought or action, the marriage becomes defiled. If we cannot learn to control our sexual desires and maintain sexual purity before marriage, it will not become any easier after marriage.
Purity does not end after marriage.
In spite of the things you have done, listened or watched in the past, Jesus wants to make you over again. He wants to sanctify and cleanse you by the washing of water and the word. He wants to glorify you, to present you without spot or wrinkle or blemish. Only Jesus can remove your sexual impurity and make you sexually pure again. He has to ability to restore your virginity, like you have never sinned in the past. Don’t listen to what the Devil might say, you are valuable, you are priceless, you are beautiful, and Jesus want to make you holy and pure.
Do you find it hard to maintain your sexual purity? Have you allowed movies, pornography, music, or sex to corrupt your sexual purity? Do you have addictions to things that corrupt your connection with God? Are you struggling to break these addictions and need prayer to help you overcome temptations? Do you believe that God has the power to restore you again?
All Jesus asks of you today is that you surrender your thoughts, desires, and actions to his control. Admit that you do not have power to do it on your own, this is a spiritual battle and you need God to intervene on your behalf.
Will you give it all over to him today? Do you want to become pure today? If this is your desire, pray this prayer with me.
Heavenly Father, you are all powerful, you are my salvation. I surrender my thoughts and actions to you today. I know that only you are able to make me pure. May your will be done in my life. I repent of my past mistakes and destructive habits. Please forgive me of my past. Transform me, renew me, wash and cleanse me, please make me whiter than snow.
Help me to shun temptation, to only look at things that are lovely, true, virtuous and of a good report. Allow me to always see my way of escape, so I can live pure in your sight. Amen
