Sunday, September 14, 2008

Purity..."His lilly-white likeness"

Purity...does it even exist in our culture today? During our Bible study last week, we covered the topic of purity. For many girls, they simply envisioned physical purity, yet we challenged them with the Biblical call to purity. Why are we to be holy? Because we are to imitate Christ. We are to be holy because God is holy. This is purity of heart that is reflected in our emotions, dress, lives, loves, passions, and dreams. It is so much more that the cultural idea of purity...if that even exists in our culture today. It is a pure heart that is fully devoted to seeing and savoring our Savior without the distraction of other loves. Here are a few great quotes that we used:

Elizabeth Elliot“Purity, I fear has gotten mixed up in people’s minds with the caricature of Puritanism, which, in the popular imagination, is a dour, brittle revolt against all the pleasures of the flesh. Purity means freedom from contamination, from anything that would spoil the taste or the pleasure, reduce the power, or in any way adulterate what the thing was meant to be. It means cleanness, clearness – no additives, nothing artificial – in other words, “all natural,” in the sense in which the original Designer designed it to be.”

Leslie Ludy – “True purity is much more than a Christian “rule” to endure. True purity is so much more than the noble descision to “wait” for our future spouse. True purity is complete set-apartness for our Heavenly Prince. True purity comes only when we fall into the loving arms of our Prince, surrender ourselves fully to Him, and allow Him to tenderly shape us into His lilly-white likeness.”

Friday, September 5, 2008

How do you forgive someone?

For an update on our Bible Study. This week were studying holiness. As God's people, we have been called to a life of holiness...a life that continually radiates His greatness and His majesty. This opened up a lot of discussion as it means living a life that is completely different from the world. It changes the way that we think, our passions, dreams, and attitudes towards others.

In our discussion, one girl, the same girl who last week told us she had never read her Bible, asked how to forgive someone. This question seems basic, yet it is really profound. Forgiveness is so crucial in understanding the Gospel. Other girls responded graciously to her question by explaining that the picture of forgiveness is in Christ. How do we forgive? Like Christ. How can we forgive? Because we have been forgive in Christ. Please pray for these girls that the Word would penetrate their hearts and that they would taste and see that God is good.