The War Within - Pursue Purity...

"Make a pre-determined decision to stay pure, and that you won't date anyone who has not made the same commitment. Abstain from every form of evil!" 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22"

We often feel like there is a war going on within us. One part of us (the inner person) wants to do what we know to be right, and another part (the outer person) wants to do what is wrong. The wrong thing can feel right, while the right thing feels wrong. Remember that we cannot judge the moral value of any action by how we feel. Our feelings are unreliable and cannot be trusted to convey truth.

A Christian woman may become emotionally attached to a man other than her husband; she may feel that she could never be happy without him, yet deep inside she knows that leaving her family for the other man would be the wrong thing to do. She doesn't want to hurt anyone. She doesn't want to disappoint family and friends, but her feelings and emotions and is in the midst of a terrible, relentless struggle.

She talks herself into doing the right thing, but when she thinks about or sees the man, she once again feels she cannot be happy without him. Part of her wants to do what she knows is right, and part of her wants to do what she feels like doing even though she is wrong. 

She asks herself and perhaps other people time and again.

 "Why do I feel this way?" 

 She may wish that she didn't feel the way she does. But then she reasons,

 How can this be wrong since it feels so right?   

 She may wish that she didn't feel the way she does. She begins to justify her actions by making excuses and placing blame elsewhere. She says that her husband does not understand her and has never been emotionally available. She is lonely and convinces herself  that she married the wrong man. 

These arguments certainly sounds reasonable, but still there is something in her that won't let her go without a fight. The Spirit of God who lives in her spirit is convincing her to follow wisdom rather than emotions. 

The woman is a Christian and has a reasonable knowledge of God's Word. As a believer in Christ she has a renewed spirit; God has given her a new heart and put His Spirit deep within her. 

In her spirit she knows what is right and wants to do it, but her soul, where her thoughts and emotions reside, has a different idea altogether. It wants what feels good at the moment, not what will produce good results later on. 

"Lead in Love! Biblical love is an act of the will accompanied by emotion that leads to action on behalf of its object!"

 If a man or woman has knowledge of God's Word and no relationship with Him, he/she may not care if what she wants is right or not, but the Christian is unable to sin and not care. He/She may choose to sin, but his/her choice is not due to ignorance. It is due to rebellion and perhaps a lifelong habit of letting her emotions rule. 

The Bible teaches us that those who are born of God cannot willfully, habitually, and purposely sin, because God's nature abides in them (see 1 John 3:9).  They may sin, but they cannot do so comfortably and continually. They are very much aware of their wrong actions, and they are very miserable. 

The child of God frequently finds that she wants to do right and wrong at the same time. Her renewed spirit craves holiness and righteousness, but the carnal (fleshly) soul still craves worldly things. 

Even the apostle Paul describes feeling the same way in Romans chapter 7:

 "I do not understand my own actions [I am baffled, bewildered]. I do not practice or accomplish what I wish, but I do the very thing that I loathe [which my moral instincts condemns]".

 "If you can't walk into the video store and stay pure, then don't walk in! If you can't flip around the channels without looking for something dirty to look at, then cut it off!!! If you can't be alone together in that car then don't be". "Make no provision for the flesh" Romans 13:14

We are God' Perfect Creation

Beautiful of all Worlds

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