The Pure Life
Focus Scripture
"Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”" — 1 Peter 1:13-16 NIV
"Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life." — Proverbs 4:23 NCV
"Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life." — Proverbs 4:23 NCV
Introduction
The Promise of Righteousness is this “God makes us righteous by our faith in Jesus Christ.” God is eternally righteous and he makes us righteous by our decision to actively believe in Jesus. This means that the stain of sin that we’ve so desperately tried to remove, God did so simply by our faith—how we think. God has purified our lives and now it’s time to live out the pure life he’s given us.
Peter instructs us to be holy just as God is holy. A holy life is a pure life and the key to a pure life is a pure mind. Purified thinking leads to purified living. Therefore, holiness begins with our heads—it begins in the mind. God makes us holy by our faith but we must be holy by our choice. To be holy is to decide daily to live in a way that’s pure, blameless and consecrated (set apart for God’s special use). This week, we will focus on how to live a pure life.
Peter instructs us to be holy just as God is holy. A holy life is a pure life and the key to a pure life is a pure mind. Purified thinking leads to purified living. Therefore, holiness begins with our heads—it begins in the mind. God makes us holy by our faith but we must be holy by our choice. To be holy is to decide daily to live in a way that’s pure, blameless and consecrated (set apart for God’s special use). This week, we will focus on how to live a pure life.
This Week's Devotionals
Day 1: Be Holy
Day 2: Guard Your Mind
In our focus text, Peter made it a point to tell believers to be alert and fully sober in as he urged believer to walk in purity. He understood that our success was highly dependent on the quality of our thoughts. The more I study the word of God, the more I realize that our fight isn’t physical but both spiritual and mental. While Paul made this clear in his famous text concerning spiritual warfare in his letter to the Ephesians (Chapter 6), this was not a new concept at that time. Centuries before him, a wise king said “Be careful how you think, because your thoughts run your life” (Proverbs 4:23 NCV). The truth is, the greatest fight of our lives is the fight that takes place in our minds.
It’s the desire of Satan to keep our minds distracted and seized by stress, anger, bitterness, worry, lust and greed, among other things. Therefore, we must make an intentional effort to guard our minds, not just from the obvious things like sex but the subtle things like content that promotes dishonesty, dissension and manipulation. God made us pure by our faith, but we must protect that purity by protecting our minds. One key way we guard our minds is by establishing boundaries to keep out toxic ideas that lead to toxic thoughts. This may look like evaluating the content we watch on Netflix or being mindful of the music we listen to.
Let me show you what this looks like. Chanell and I enjoy listening to R&B love songs from the 80s, 90s and 2000s. One day we were listening to a playlist on YouTube and there were some really good songs that came up but there were also some songs I asked her to skip as soon as they came on. The reason for skipping is because the theme of the song promoted ideas that I didn’t want in my life, such as infidelity, divorce, and breakups. By skipping over these songs, I upheld the boundary that protected my mind from things that could contaminate my thinking. What are ways that you can protect your mind to protect your purity?
As we walk in holiness, we must make it priority to guard our minds at all times. This is how we live a pure life.
It’s the desire of Satan to keep our minds distracted and seized by stress, anger, bitterness, worry, lust and greed, among other things. Therefore, we must make an intentional effort to guard our minds, not just from the obvious things like sex but the subtle things like content that promotes dishonesty, dissension and manipulation. God made us pure by our faith, but we must protect that purity by protecting our minds. One key way we guard our minds is by establishing boundaries to keep out toxic ideas that lead to toxic thoughts. This may look like evaluating the content we watch on Netflix or being mindful of the music we listen to.
Let me show you what this looks like. Chanell and I enjoy listening to R&B love songs from the 80s, 90s and 2000s. One day we were listening to a playlist on YouTube and there were some really good songs that came up but there were also some songs I asked her to skip as soon as they came on. The reason for skipping is because the theme of the song promoted ideas that I didn’t want in my life, such as infidelity, divorce, and breakups. By skipping over these songs, I upheld the boundary that protected my mind from things that could contaminate my thinking. What are ways that you can protect your mind to protect your purity?
As we walk in holiness, we must make it priority to guard our minds at all times. This is how we live a pure life.
Day 3: Capture Your Thoughts
Once we have put in a good mental defense system around our minds, we must then turn within our minds and examine what’s already there. Much of what we do consistently is based on recurring thoughts that cycle through our minds at different times or whenever prompted. Whether good or bad, these established thoughts continue to reappear during certain situations or events, triggering our reactions and influencing our responses. In daily efforts to live a pure life, we must learn and develop a valuable skill called The Capture of Thought. Apostle Paul mentions this offensive maneuver in his letter to the believers in Corinth, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV). In order to live a pure life, we must learn to capture our thoughts and align them with them with Jesus Christ.
Day 4: Confront the Compromise
God is holy and we were made in his image and likeness. God doesn’t change like shifting shadows and neither should we (James 1:17). Essentially, holiness is a call to oneness. By definition, holy is pure, blameless and consecrated. When we choose to be holy, we choose to be single-minded in our purpose and that’s for the cause of Christ.
The challenge we face is that we live in a world where compromise is common. Where we blend beliefs and lifestyles like kids with drinks at a soda fountain. This commonality makes it’s possible that compromise may have crept into our lives and we do not realize it. This makes it important that actively examine our lives and confront the areas of compromise in our hearts.
The challenge we face is that we live in a world where compromise is common. Where we blend beliefs and lifestyles like kids with drinks at a soda fountain. This commonality makes it’s possible that compromise may have crept into our lives and we do not realize it. This makes it important that actively examine our lives and confront the areas of compromise in our hearts.
Day 5: Repent
To repent is to change how we think, and repentance is the turning of our hearts (minds) to God. The pure life is not a perfect life but a repentant life. We’ve identified that holiness is not so much physical as it is both spiritual and mental. Holiness is a choice. We’ve decided to be holy and repentance reaffirms that decision.
One trap that we can easily walk into is to believe that we’re strong enough on our own to live a holy life. This thought can quickly develop into a prideful spirit in an attempt to be holy without the Holy One. It’s a lot like when our daughter, Elisha, began to explore her independence around the age of 8. She wanted to prove to us that she didn’t need our help. So she’d do all sorts of things like doing her own hair and cooking her own breakfast. Even when it came to her homework, Elisha was so determined that she’d hit rock bottom before she asked for a hand. Once there, we’d step in and remind her that it’s ok to ask for help. In a sense it’s wonderful that she’d try to do things on her own. But when she found that she couldn’t do something, the pain of failure would crush her and she’d become a prisoner of her pride until we come and show her the way out.
But if I be honest, I see much of myself inside of Elisha. I believed the lie that I could be holy without the help of God. That idea lead to pride that manifested in all kinds of ways. Sometimes it would be a skipped prayer or study time. Sometimes I’d keep praying but would pray for everyone else except myself. These subtle changes in direction leads to subtle compromises over time. Those compromises often lead to a moment of failure that crushes my heart and I too would become a prisoner of my pride. That entire time, God never forces himself upon me, instead he waits like the good Father he is, for me to come to my senses. When I turn to him—when I repent, he reminds me of the blood of his Son that redeems me and his grace that gives me strength where I’m weak.
Chances are, you’re a lot like me and you’ve been fooled to pursue perfection without the Perfecter of our faith, Jesus. I encourage you to walk in repentance. Make the daily decision to change how you think and turn your heart to the Father. He knows that we need help and he's ready to give it. Remember, the pure life is not a perfect life, but a repentant life.
One trap that we can easily walk into is to believe that we’re strong enough on our own to live a holy life. This thought can quickly develop into a prideful spirit in an attempt to be holy without the Holy One. It’s a lot like when our daughter, Elisha, began to explore her independence around the age of 8. She wanted to prove to us that she didn’t need our help. So she’d do all sorts of things like doing her own hair and cooking her own breakfast. Even when it came to her homework, Elisha was so determined that she’d hit rock bottom before she asked for a hand. Once there, we’d step in and remind her that it’s ok to ask for help. In a sense it’s wonderful that she’d try to do things on her own. But when she found that she couldn’t do something, the pain of failure would crush her and she’d become a prisoner of her pride until we come and show her the way out.
But if I be honest, I see much of myself inside of Elisha. I believed the lie that I could be holy without the help of God. That idea lead to pride that manifested in all kinds of ways. Sometimes it would be a skipped prayer or study time. Sometimes I’d keep praying but would pray for everyone else except myself. These subtle changes in direction leads to subtle compromises over time. Those compromises often lead to a moment of failure that crushes my heart and I too would become a prisoner of my pride. That entire time, God never forces himself upon me, instead he waits like the good Father he is, for me to come to my senses. When I turn to him—when I repent, he reminds me of the blood of his Son that redeems me and his grace that gives me strength where I’m weak.
Chances are, you’re a lot like me and you’ve been fooled to pursue perfection without the Perfecter of our faith, Jesus. I encourage you to walk in repentance. Make the daily decision to change how you think and turn your heart to the Father. He knows that we need help and he's ready to give it. Remember, the pure life is not a perfect life, but a repentant life.
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