Purity in Daily Living

By Michelle Ochen

How does someone pursue purity practically in their daily life? I used to think of purity as something high to be attained, a distant goal, an achievement. Yet has one ever reached a goal without slowly making choices that align with that goal one day at a time? It can seem like a daunting task to set out for purity in a world that seems to stir the pot in a different direction.

Purity is not something that will just happen in your life; it is something we daily make choices to seek after. I like to use the common definition when beginning to think on a topic. Something pure is simply something without contamination. If I am then to be pure in my day to day then I cannot be mixing my morals from what the world thinks is acceptable and what is Biblically acceptable. You cannot have two standards dictating your life. Such a mindset leads to confusion and confusion is never of God. God is pure in His nature and that is what makes Him so divine. He does not compromise or mix His standards to adjust to the ever-changing trends of this world. He standardizes His ways and gives His children everything they need to conform to them. 

You are always conforming. You are constantly being pushed and pulled to mix different values and morals. If you do not decide for yourself your own standards, you will receive a mixture of ideas that will eventually pollute your morals. Have you ever heard it said that making no decision is the same as deciding? If you do not choose a standard of your own in living and purity, your environment will paint your canvas. This may not happen overnight or be a swift thing—it may happen over years in a slow trickling manner. A leaky faucet may seem minor at first but left unattended to, the consumption of water from the leak will continue and you might not like the dollar reading on your water bill! Silly analogy but the concept is true in regard to our purity in our day-to-day life. If you are not set on having a Biblical worldview and standard for the choices of your life, you will have leaks that ruin the foundations of your heart.

Does it seem like a daunting task to align your life standards to the Word of God? Do you wonder where to begin? The Word of God gives clear standards that align with His nature, confirmed by the testimony of generations. It is a plumb line on which we can confidently walk a straight path. A pursuit of the things that honor Him, such as purity becomes simple when we prioritize our relationship to Him. It is in the knowing Him that we quickly learn of His standards, and it is in loving Him that conforming to them begins in the heart without strain.

Perhaps you are asking yourself, where is purity seen in my life? Let me suggest we simplify it by asking, how much of my life am I willing to relationally give over to Christ that He might show me how to live within this world without being contaminated by the things within that do not glorify His name? He will reveal to your heart on a relational level where change may be necessary. Perhaps it all becomes simpler when we focus on knowing Him and seeing how our knowledge of Him naturally conforms our feet to follow Him. He is pure, we can trust that He will lead our lives to be marked by purity.