This is a bit personal, but I do not care. I am tired of people settling for far less than they are offered. Years ago, I needed someone desperately to tell me that God had more for me, and I want to do that now for others.
“God doesn’t specifically say ___ is wrong, so is it?”
In American culture, we are focused on the rights and wrongs of life. I didn’t realize this until recently talking with someone from a different culture. I suppose its true. We says things like, ‘Well, its not wrong to watch this show” or “Its ok to go this far with my boyfriend.” If we are Christians, we follow it with, “because the Bible doesn’t say it is wrong.”
I lived this way all through high school. Deeply dedicated to God’s law, I would abstain from anything ‘wrong’ specified in the Word. I wanted to obey Him. Of course, if I had the slightest doubt God condemned something, I let myself push the limits.
I could easily justify every action-
Drinking without getting drunk isn’t frowned upon in the Bible, and the 21+ law in this country is absurd.
-Pot is natural, and i could have picked up these leaves on the ground and smoked them.
-Watching sex scenes in movies is different than watching porn. What am I going to do…close my eyes?
-I’m doing some things, but at least I’m not having sex- so I’ll just do these other things so I don’t have sex.
-I’m not gossiping even if I watch a gossip tv show, thats THEIR gossip.
-I just want to see if I’m beautiful. Its not really insulting them.
-I could’ve spent hours memorizing this, so its not really cheating… its just saving time.
I was so focused on avoiding the major taboos that I forgot about resting in purity. When I say ‘resting in purity,’ I mean appreciating purity as a gift. I saw purity, instead, as a burden, and I went around all of God’s laws until I eventually couldn’t tell the difference between what I was doing and blatantly ignoring God. So then I started justifying more. “Well, I was already doing ____, so whats the difference if I ____?”
I was a disciple of God who let myself justify the things that hurt me.
-Never turning from God really- just sinking beneath what He really had in mind.
And that is what I didn’t understand: that when I wasn’t siding with purity in its complete form, I was settling for less than I was gifted with. God has given me complete purity- THAT is what I was sitting in. But instead of relaxing in that spot, enjoying the beauty and peace of it… I kept testing to see how far I could possibly lean away from purity without falling into disobedience.
I look back now and I wish someone challenged me to try resting in that purity- away from gossip and sexual acts and substances. I wish that I stopped justifying everything as ‘not wrong’ and instead asked myself “when do I feel like I am acting most like the holy princess God says I am?”
Because when I ask myself that, I don’t want to lean away. I want to rest in my identity as a princess and resist acting out of character. I do not think that wanting sin or being tempted means you aren’t a disciple. But I do love that we can practice walking in holiness, seeking to know God more and more. The more I understand God’s love for others, the less it makes sense to gossip. The more I understand God’s purpose in marriage, the less I want to give myself to anyone else in any way. The more I relish in goodness and purity, the less I want to reach for anything else.
So, my friend, please don’t be discouraged if you want other things at the moment, but know you are royalty. Know that God loves you and has so much for you. He doesn’t want for you to have a life that is ‘pure enough’… He wants the most for you possible.
