“If your right eye causes you to
sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of
your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right
hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to
lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell”
Matthew 5:29-30
This past month, our youth took part in a Purity
Conference. The weekend seminar was
intended to provide the youth with a biblical understanding concerning purity
as it pertains to relationships as well as to facilitate a deep understanding
of the truth that purity begins within the heart. Matthew 15:18-20 declares, “But the things
that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.'
For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality,
theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man 'unclean'…"
My brother and sister in Christ, it all starts with
our hearts. What goes in will eventually come out. If you eat junk food, at
some point you’re going to suffer the consequences and get sick or become obese. If you allow impure things into your life
eventually impure things will come out. As
Christians, we must guard your hearts.
We are duty-bound to commit to keeping the ungodly out and put godly in.
The logical next question is… how is the
accomplished? I believe that the Bible
answers telling us that purity of heart requires something drastic. With the way that our faith is under attack
in our present culture, believers and the church as a whole must do something extreme. Scripture beckons us… it gives us a
call-to-arms in Matthew 5:29-30 to be radical.
This will mean surrender to self.
This will mean forgoing that which we may desire. If we aspire to live a life that honors God,
to have a pure heart, then we must live a life of extreme, uncompromising
faith. We must be a passionate, devoted
disciple willing to drastically remove all that does not honor Him from our
lives. This is was our call to the youth
and this is my call to you!