Purity

Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.

1 John 3:2-3

If you live in a place that’s cold in the winter, you know the beauty of freshly fallen snow, especially when big, soft flakes coat the ground and bare tree branches with a blanket of white. Things that usually look dingy are bright white with the blanket of newly fallen snow. That’s what God’s forgiveness is like. Isaiah 1:18 says, “‘Come now, let’s settle this,’ says the LORD. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.’” God cleanses a person’s heart and frees it from sin. He makes a person’s heart pure.

In today’s verses, God tells us to keep ourselves pure after we’ve been forgiven. When God tells his princesses to stay pure, he means that they should avoid sin.

One thing that helps keep you pure is being careful about the things you see and hear. Images you see on movies or television shows stay in your mind. So do song lyrics. When they are about things that don’t honor God, they pollute you. When you choose to say things that are unkind or rude or act in ways that don’t show God’s love, that pollutes you. It’s very important to guard your heart from things that don’t bring God glory. If you aren’t sure what things honor God, just imagine how you’d feel if he walked in and saw what you were doing. Would he be pleased? Would he tell you, “Good job”? Or would you cringe in embarrassment?

Remember the freshly fallen snow? How does it look after cars have driven on it? After people have walked on it? It no longer looks fresh and pure. That’s what happens when someone allows sin into her life. The purity is replaced by sin and guilt, and the whiteness turns dingy.

You can avoid that by asking God to help you honor him in what you say and what you do. That’s a prayer he loves to answer.

Find a picture of freshly fallen snow in a magazine or online, or draw one yourself. Tape it where you will see it each day so it can remind you to ask God to guide your choices and keep you pure.