Resources/Articles
Pure
How many products on the market today are advertised as being 99% fat free? Have you purchased a “pure” bar of soap lately? Most bars of soap have moisturizers, “cleansing agents,” and fresh scents added. Do all those ingredients make the bar of soap pure?
Putting our hygiene and food consumption aside for a moment, how pure is your brain? 100%? Does it need washing? Imagine being able to twist our ears, loosen our skulls, set our hair on a table, and reach inside our heads to pull out our brains. Wash them as we do the rest of our bodies. Then, put them back in clean and fresh. It does sound grotesque, but think for a moment about your mind. Do you keep it as pure and clean as you keep your body?
Romans 12:2 sends an important “signal” to the brain: “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” If your mind appears to be dirty, you need to wash it - transform it. God offers a “brain-washing” technique in Ephesians 4:22-24: “That ye put away, as concerning your former manner of life, the old man, that waxeth corrupt after the lusts of deceit; and that ye be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new mand, that after God hat been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.”
The brain-washing process can be aided by carefully meditating on the following questions:
- Do the programs I watch on TV or the movies I go see help me renew my mind in righteousness and holiness?
- Does the music I listen to help me develop a righteous and holy attitude?
- Do the books and magazines I read contribute to a spiritually wholesome mind?
- Do the conversations I have with others always consist of pure words and thoughts?
- Am I feeding my mind dialy the perfect, pure, and clean word of God (Psalm 19:7-9)?
- Do my actions around those who are not Christians portray the image of Jesus?
- Have I recently decided not to watch or read something, even though I knew I could “get away with it” because I knew it would program the wrong material in my mind?
Exercise self-control. Give your thoughts good directions (Philippians 4:8). What being pure means to the disciple of Christ is a life without regret, guilt, anxiety, shame, or anguish. Purity in thought and life is what creates the self-worth everyone made in the image of God needs to have. Remember the words of James 4:8: “Draw night to God, and he will draw night to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts ye doubleminded.”
