Think on These Things...

Philipians 4:8 says, "Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise—dwell on these things."
Oftentimes, in our modern day world, we fill our minds with worthless things, and hence, think worthless thoughts.
We have to consider carefully whatever we "feed" our minds. The movies we watch, the books we read, the TV shows we watch, the music we listen to. Is it true? Is it honorable? Is it just? Is it pure? Is it lovely? Is it commendable? Is there any moral excellence and praise? If the answer to any of those questions, you probably shouldn't consume it. I love to read. But, I know that if I read the wrong kinds of books, my mind will be filled with the wrong thoughts. Another thing is that is our minds are filled with bad thoughts, we can't think about things that are true, honorable, just, pure and all that. We can't dwell on the things of the Spririt if we dwell on the things of the world. Sure, you might be able to cast an occasional thought towards God during church, but you won't be getting what all he wants you to get from the service. God has so many things for us, but so many times we think only of the world, and miss much of what he wants for us. So, before you read a book, watch a movie, turn on the TV to that one show, ask yourself, "Is this everything good listed in Philipians 4:8?" If not, don't watch it, don't listen to it, don't read it. It may seem boring and stupid at times, and even somewhat useless, but it helps your walk with God, and "feeds" your mind only the good things.

Emotional Purity

There are essentially three kinds of purity. Today, I want to briefly speak about the most difficult to keep: Emotional Purity.

One of the reasons why emotional purity is hard for so many is that our culture constantly bombards us with images, descriptions, tv shows, movies, songs, news reports, and other things, that honestly, shouldn't be spoken of with such freedom.
Purity is a beautiful gift that we must treasure, and guard. You see, the Devil would like nothing more than to take our purity. We must guard our purity.
But, first you might ask, "What is emotional purity?" Well, emotional purity is remaining pure in your mind. I can't tell you what that would mean for you. That, you have to work out with God, through the Scriptures. But, generally speaking, it means that you don't think romantically about a guy.

Emotional purity is essentially hard as it looks innocent when it comes. Maybe just a little crush on that one guy-it won't hurt anybody, right? Well, before you know anything, it grows. Pretty soon, everytime you see that guy you flirt with him. And, you dream about him at night. You wonder if maybe you'll marry him, and you hope so. Well, that is wrong. Here, you started out thinking, "Hey, if this hurts anybody, it's just going to be me, so, why not?" But, essentially when you start flirting with the guy, you are affecting him. And, you're affecting those watching you and judging Christianity by you. You tell them that Christians aren't any different than the rest of the world, and they don't need what you have.

We need to guard our emotional purity. When you feel yourself be attracted romantically to a guy, pray for him as your brother in Christ. You'll truly see a difference.

Part of the reason we have to deal with this is because all girls long for affirmation. Especially from guys. So, they think if they flirt they'll get that. And when they don't get that, they keep going until they are deep in sin. But, you won't ever find satisfaction in that kind of love. Ever. The only love you will ever find true satisfaction in is God's.