Is the pursuit of purity and wholeness in your life something that you value? In my own life I have gone through seasons of wanting purity and wholeness but I had to learn how to go from periodic seasons to a consistent lifestyle. This is something that I hear many men share with me as well and so here are some of the lessons I have learned while on this journey.
One of the first lessons I learned was that I had to want to live a life that had more than the occasional purity streak of a few good weeks. I had to see that a lifestyle of purity and wholeness was something that my heart needed to value, and not just have my mind think it was a good idea. I had to ask God, sometimes quite often, to show me through His Word and the leading of the Holy Spirit the necessity to value His call for holiness, purity and righteousness in my life. It was so good to have had other mentors and leaders challenge me to think like they did, but lasting change only became possible as that revelation took root in my own heart.
Recognizing the need to pursue greater spiritual growth was another important lesson. I truly believe that so much of the pursuit towards greater purity and wholeness is a continuous pursuit of Him who is pure, who is holy and who is righteous. This was a hard lesson for me to learn because I always used excuses like ‘reading His Word was too hard’ or that ‘praying and fasting was something I would never be very good at.’ The truth is that I cannot walk in greater spiritual maturity if I still want to hang out like a spiritual adolescent.
The final lesson I want to share with you is that I couldn’t just will myself to a greater lifestyle of purity and wholeness. That would be the easy way, right? Just pull up my bootstraps, push through the various temptations, and then move on feeling victorious in my own sheer willpower. While I do strongly believe in the commands of self-control found in Galatians 5:22 and 2 Peter 1:6, I had to recognize that depending fully on my own strength left no room for the power of God to work in my life. I learned that being vulnerable with Him was a safe move to make, and in that vulnerability I saw His faithfulness at work time and time again. Living a lifestyle of purity and wholeness is possible because I believe that He has called us to such a lifestyle and He has equipped us to fulfill that call.
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