The Power of Spiritual Purity

It is God’s will that you should be sanctified…
1 Thessalonians 4:3 (NIV)

I invite you to consider what areas of your life contain those not-quite-right things that are permitted to exist, to persist, to remain, or to linger because we are somewhat unsure about what they mean in terms of threat if we were to decide to address it.

All of us deal with this. “I don’t want to confront that because I’m afraid if I confront it, it might open something worse.” “I don’t want to have that conversation, because if the conversation goes sideways, I don’t want the topic to move into another area.”

We feel unsure of the threats that might arise if we were to make attempts to address some of these maladies, these connections in our lives that are causing such bad issues. They may be related to parents or children, jobs or health, finances or future—these crippling toxic habits and demons and weaknesses and annoyances where we would rather avoid the conversation or avoid the encounter because we are afraid to address certain conditions.

It's like saying, “I don’t want to go to the doctor. I know if I go, he’s going to find something.” There are certain parts of our lives that we don’t touch because we are intimidated by the impurity of it all.

And sometimes we are intimidated by the strength of the impurity of a thing more than we trust the power of the purity we possess in Jesus to affect change, to heal hurt, to bring resolution, to provide a vision that is headed somewhere.

We hesitate to face these areas of impurity, not fully realizing that in addressing them, God can help us to:

• finally embrace peace
• stop hurting
• rid ourselves of a crippling habit
• change maladjusted behavior
• transform twisted thinking
• accept God’s amazing grace
• live with peace that surpasses all human understanding
• own our place in the kingdom of God
• enjoy the prevailing presence and ministry of the Holy Spirit

I hear it all the time—the hesitation in many people’s voices about addressing things in our lives because we fear what opening that thing may further present. We pull away from seeking help because we don’t want any poking or prodding. “Leave that alone. Don’t mess with that. Don’t bring that topic up. Don’t even attempt to touch it.”

While reasons may vary for each one of us as to why we do this, I suggest that among them often is the lack of faith we have in the power of the purity that Jesus has nurtured and is maturing in us.

There is this subtle doubt as to whether or not Jesus’s presence in us is really stronger than what the enemy is doing. We doubt whether that purity is strong enough to confront, to change, and to correct the impurity that is wreaking so much havoc in our lives.

We have to learn how to trust the power of spiritual purity.