31days // Advice

My friend Hilda asked a really great question that I thought deserves its own post, so today, I'm going to be sharing some advice. Advice for teenagers pursuing purity. Advice for adults pursuing purity. And advice for myself. Because let's be real: we're all in this battle together. None of us have it all figured out, we're all pursuing this beautiful "purity" thing together. 

Purity, it can be daunting. I hope that through these 30 days, you have come to find it a little less daunting. I hope that you have come to find that it's a whole lot less about perfection, and a whole lot more about Jesus. 

I've come to find that many of my struggles are directly related to my beliefs. The times when I want to run straight to a man are usually the times when my heart is hurting. Maybe it's insecurity, maybe I'm stressed out, maybe I'm avoiding something, but whatever it is, it pokes at my heart and causes an instinct to kick in: run to a man for comfort. 

In those moments, I have to stop and ask myself an important question: Do I believe that this man can comfort me more than God can? It's easy to say that God is the Comforter of all comforters, that His love is all I'll ever need, but do I really believe that? 

And I'm going to be brutally honest right now; sometimes, I don't. Sometimes, I have to get on my knees and ask God to help me believe that. Because if I don't? I will always be stuck in that cycle of running to a man, or a shopping spree, or a bowl of ice cream, or ___________ for comfort when I'm hurting. 

And our God is so good. In those moments where I am brutally honest with myself, and honest with a God who already knows what's going on in my heart, it's those moments where I give Him access to my heart. It's in those moments where He sure as heck does show me how to believe. By confessing that I need His help to strengthen my faith, I give Him permission to do just that. 

So my advice. First thing's first, take some time to pray to God and ask Him to show you what true purity is. I have to do this far more often than I do, and I know that I will always need to pray this. I will never have it all figured out, and I think that's the point. We are always going to need to be in a humble place of submission to God, if we truly want to maintain a pure heart. 

Don't be afraid of temptation. Don't let that temptation lead to shame. If you're feeling tempted, bring it to God, or bring it to a friend who knows and loves God. It's not a bad thing to be tempted, even Jesus was. He just didn't give in, and we don't have to either. 

If you fall down, get up again. Don't lose sight of the mission, to live a life that glorifies God. 

Don't keep anything hidden. Even what feels like the worst of the worst of the worst, tell someone. Someone who lives and breaths the gospel, because a person like that will never judge you. But they will point you straight back to Christ.

 And most importantly: fall in love with Jesus. I'm working on this one. Some days, I really feel like He is the love of my life. Other days, He feels like a name in a history book. {Again, brutal honesty here}. All I know, is the more you fall in love with Jesus, the more you'll find Him changing your heart to look like His. And honestly, that's what purity takes.

It doesn't take action on our part, it takes action on His. Real purity comes from a heart changed by God. And if you fall in love with Him? You can't possibly not be changed.