Your most valuable possession is who you are. “…whatever things are pure…meditate on these things” (Philippians 4:8 NKJV).
In every area of your life, God wants you to be pure. We often think of the word purity and associate it with sexuality and how God wants us to remain pure and holy in that area of our life. But God wants purity in every area of your life.
From a godly perspective, it’s better to be holy than happy; to be honest than rich; to be sanctified than only saved; and to be pure than popular. “The wisdom from above is first of all pure…” (James 3:17 NLT).
The danger we all face in our lives is mixture. It is where we do not seek to keep things pure and end up allowing a mixture to occur. The worst part is we even justify the mixture as if we are doing so out of an enlightened and superior understanding.
It’s better to be an outcast and alone with God than to be popular in the eyes of men. “So Jesus said to them, ‘You try to justify your actions in front of people. But God knows what’s in your hearts. What is important to humans is disgusting to God’” (Luke 16:15 GW).
Too often, in the name of unity, we allow a mixture which, from the perspective of heaven, defiles that which is pure. We consider inclusivity as a greater good than purity, but in the process allow the world to corrupt our thinking.
Peace with God means war with the world. “You are like an unfaithful wife who loves her husband’s enemies. Don’t you realize that making friends with God’s enemies—the evil pleasures of this world—makes you an enemy of God? I say it again, that if your aim is to enjoy the evil pleasure of the unsaved world, you cannot also be a friend of God” (James 4:4 TLB).
Holiness is to be separated from everything that is unholy. The world’s ideal of inclusion has no place in the minds and hearts of God’s children because darkness cannot be inclusive with that which is light.
Darkness cannot minister to darkness, but only join it. Light cannot join darkness, but only change it. Minister in love, because there is no defense against love, just like darkness cannot resist the light. Jesus taught, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16 NKJV).
The world may call you divisive because of your positions, and rejoice whenever they say that. God divided the light from the dark, and anyone who tries to join them will only end up in the darkness of this day we live in.
You cannot be joined to darkness and also walk in the light. “…God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth” (1 John 1:5-6 NKJV).
We understand the benefit of drinking pure water. How much poison can you add to the water and have it remain pure? None. So it is with your life; keep it pure and unstained with the poisonous ideals of the world around you. Stop adding poison to what should be pure.
It’s only when you overcome a big sin that you can see how big all your other “little” sins are. “…Do you not know that [just] a little leaven ferments the whole batch [of dough, just as a little sin corrupts a person or an entire church]?” (1 Corinthians 5:6 AMP).
The greatest danger in our churches today is the mixture of the ideals and the culture that surround us, where the Word of God has the mixture of the opinions of man and is adulterated into something that is pleasing to the world around us.
A pure God won’t bless an impure ministry. “Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God?” (James 4:4 NLT). “You shall not sow your vineyard with different kinds of seed, lest the yield of the seed which you have sown and the fruit of your vineyard be defiled” (Deuteronomy 22:9 NKJV).
If you want a pure ministry, you need the pure Word of God to reign over your teaching regardless of how many in the church would be uncomfortable. In truth, it is the collection plate that has more power than the Holy Spirit in most churches in our day.
If you water down the truth of God to make it easier for people to swallow, then you’re mixing in the lies of hell, and you’re leading people in the wrong direction. “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He reprove you, and you be found a liar” (Proverbs 30:5-6 MEV).
The more mixture you have, the less pure it will be. This is as true with the elements on earth as it is with the Word of God. “Like newborn babies, long for the pure [spiritual] milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation” (1 Peter 2:2 NASB).
It is the traditions of man and the social norms in our day that corrupt the purity of God’s Word in our day. People are more tuned in to capitalizing on a pronoun for God than they are to living a life consecrated to Him.
Don’t preach to be popular lest the power of God be diluted by the opinions of man. Jesus schooled the religious of His day, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition …making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down” (Mark 7:9,13 NKJV).
The greatest danger with mixture is when what is mixed in is so subtle and hidden beneath what should be pure. A sprinkle of lies in the midst of truth is like poison mixed in with your water; you may not see it, but it can destroy you from the inside out.
If you become like the world to reach the world, you’re going in the wrong direction. “Always set an example by doing good things. When you teach, be an example of moral purity and dignity” (Titus 2:7 GW).
None of us is pure. Pray that God would show you where you are not. Be humble enough to let God show you where you are wrong. Be weak enough that you ask God to help you overcome. God can do anything if you would only let Him.
Why only eat food someone else has chewed on? Chew it yourself! Eat the fruit right off the vine, and just pick up your Bible. Eat spiritually to grow spiritually. “Your word is very pure; therefore Your servant loves it” (Psalm 119:140 NKJV).
Child of God, I am praying for you on this day. I pray that you would seek purity in your life, your relationships, your job, and especially in your ministry. Whatever is pure, seek that out, and determine in your will to keep it pure in your life.
The best way to change someone else is to be a good example for them to follow. “…Be an example to show the believers how they should live. Show them by what you say, by the way you live, by your love, by your faith, and by your pure life” (1 Timothy 4:12 ERV).
Whatever impurities you have allowed into your life, choose today to let the Lord change you. Ask the Holy Spirit to shine His light brightly inside you, such that anything not of the light would be purged and removed forever.
Blessings to you always,
Paul Balius
Go deeper
If this spoke to you, there is more. Paul Balius has written a book called “The Promise of the Holy Spirit”. It goes deeper into all of this, for anyone who senses they were meant for something more.
Paul has written three books. See them all
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” There is no greater reward to pursue such purity.
Be blessed
BT
Yes; thank you, beloved brother, for stating that such is so. Even in this lifetime, this side of heaven, the purer the heart, the more the eyes of the heart see the One Triune God, expressed, manifested, and demonstrated as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is our exceeding great Reward, even in the here and now, by our vital-most conscious union, and intimate, abiding love communion with Him, and is our infinitely incomparable heavenly Inheritance everlasting. No finer fascination nor more ardent affection and acceleration of spirit and soul experientially exists, temporally or even eternally. By His munificent mercy, grand grace, and ceaseless compassion, that is why our first initiative and most excellent energy, in apprehending all that for which He has apprehended us, is to ever exult in and extravagantly extol Who He Is, as our forever First Love and forever Future, our all-transcendent Treasure.