I AM loved

                        In the long run, who's going to be feeling like the idiot?  So many times I've shied away in conversations or felt like the odd man out because I don't enjoy discussing casual sex or what kind of birth-control I use, or my weekend I can hardly remember because I was to wasted to recall.  Clearly, I will not be the one feeling like an idiot about yesterdays choices.  When you get just a little bit older past your teenage years you will realize that yes, the wisest man on Earth was right when he said, "youth is vanity."  It will pass, so what will you take with you into adulthood...?  A couple of kids from unwanted pregnancies, innumerable heartbreaks from young love gone sour?  Perhaps contempt for your parents or a chip on your shoulder because the world did you wrong?  Blame for everybody else while never evaluating yourself?
                      Why don't you minimize the many worries in this life?  I have 0% chance of getting pregnant, 0% chance of contracting a sexually transmitted disease.  I will never have to decide between killing an unborn fetus or birthing a child I didn't mean to create.  That's one less choice I have eliminated from my life.  My life doesn't have to be more complicated than it needs to be.  I don't spend my time debating abortion or gay rights.  There are so many things that we focus on that distract us from our relationship with Christ.  Honestly, those things aren't my biggest concern because I will never have to make the choice of abortion and I'm not gay.  I understand that God has a standard, and there is right from wrong.  But there's something more important to me than all those rules and morals and black and white.  It's these questions I ask myself, "do you think young women all over the world would be having to make the choice of abortion if they really felt loved by God?  Do you think young men and women would be turning to the same sex for love if they knew the love of Father God?"  They are confused, and the truth is they have the same void on the inside just like you and I do.  That void is filled by one thing and one thing only: God's love.  When you know the love of God you'll want to be pure.  When you truly experience His love you'll desire to be holy like He is holy.  Maybe we need to stop telling people they're so wrong for all the choices they've made and start showing them what the love of God feels like.  It's not surprising that young people are confused and desperate for love of any kind.  At this stage in our backwards society people will pretty much take whatever they can get to feel loved.
                      For one moment will you ask yourself, what if?  What if there is a God that exists? And this God not only rules over you but created you and cares for you like no one else can, like no one else does or ever will?  What if He loves you just the way you are, yet loves you enough to tell you that you need to change?  What if you live and die and never even try to let yourself be loved by a heavenly Father?  For once just shut off the voice that says, 'what if it's not real', and ponder what if it is?  Keeping yourself pure is important for your self worth and important to God, but the desire to be pure and live a holy life comes from knowing a pure and holy God who loves you.  Don't get caught up in trying to be so pure that you miss the reason why you're doing it.  As the love of God fills your life it changes you.  I would not be who I am today or make the choices I make if I didn't know a love not of this world.  God has a higher standard for your life and it begins with love, not self-imposed purification.  Today, let yourself be loved by God, and see if you don't change your mind about a few things.  I am pure because I am loved by God.  I am not pure to try to win over His affection or appease His wrath, because the truth is He would love me just as much if I were a whore or a saint.  At the end of my life I will feel like a total idiot if I didn't let you know that you are loved by God; messed up, broken, confused, whatever you are...you are loved.  What if this love could change your whole life?  What if you let it?  I did, and I found out that I am loved.  I am always loved, even when I don't feel like it.  I am loved regardless of every circumstance in my life, every failure and every shortcoming; I am still loved.

I Have a Voice

                   I asked myself, "why share an out-dated message? What purpose does it serve?  Why do you try to live a holy life?  What are your goals and motivations?"  Most people just think, Oh that's different, or that's cute that you want to stay pure, but that's not for me.  The other day I woke up with a heavy realization of the need for purity to be talked about pressing upon my heart.  Why?  Because if no one does how will people ever hear an idea contrary to the message of pleasure taught by the world?  Many times I feel like a voice just crying out in the wilderness, but what if John never spoke of a man, Jesus who was coming?  How would that have changed the lives of many who were hearing Johns words, " Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"  I'm willing to bet that there was at least one, if not hundreds or even thousands to which this message reached and caused hearts to turn and repent.  That message still reaches millions today as they read Johns words now recorded in the Bible.  What if John never opened his mouth?  Many would have never heard or realized that they needed to repent.  
                 Purity?  Where can you find that message being spoken?  Is it at school?  Is it on t.v, or in in your favorite magazine?  Not likely!  Sure you can go to church and typically hear a message about staying pure and being holy,  but this message needs to be spoken in public, by leaders, by politicians, by teachers, by peers; talked about in high schools, middle schools, colleges.  I want to hear it on t.v, see it displayed in Ads, performed on stages, seen on the Big screen!  Maybe you're saying, well thats not reality...sex sells!  Sex sells that's for sure, but it accumulates a lot more than money; it takes souls, it takes decency away, and steals self-confidence from young women and men.  It breaks apart families, and makes many feel ashamed and unworthy.  It degrades and demoralizes our entire society as a whole.  What did America once have that's gone missing?  Common values and self respect.  We've twisted our consciences so much that we can't even discern what's right from wrong anymore.  We are driven by our senses; I feel good so it must be good.    
               I went to my friends house recently and saw a porn magazine atop the toilet, which is basically saying I've got nothing to hide, this is normal.  I cringed a little bit inside, and that's only the most minor of things I have seen and heard happening in everyday life.  Earlier this month I went to a poetry slam and heard two teenage boys about 16 or 17 recite a poem about the joys of masturbation.  The crowd went wild, the judges scored them very high and I may have been the only one in the building that didn't clap.  That is a sick picture of society, and what we accept as good entertainment.  I am not disgusted with the people just the ideas and values they were talking about, and I am provoked to wonder where did they get these ideas in the first place?  Where or who did they originate from?  Who taught us that this was okay...and who will stand up and say, IT'S NOT!  I have a voice, you have a voice, will you use it?                 
    

I AM not ashamed

                    Have you ever been ashamed of who you are, who you were, or even who you want to be in the future?  Shame is an invisible force that blankets dreams, hopes, personalities and identities.  Whether you've lived a pure life, made a few mistakes along the way or intentionally rebelled against the standards of God, shame has its way of  finding you.  Let's start with the most apparent type of shame : actual shame, which would correspond with the person who has made many mistakes and carries many regrets from the past.  This kind of shame comes from something you've actually done wrong, whether it hurts others or yourself.  Many people try to live with this kind of shame because their conscience knows they've done something wrong so they continually beat themselves up over their actions, forgetting about the rich forgiveness and restoration of God.  There is a difference between shame and guilt.  A guilty conscience can lead you to repentance along with the conviction of the Holy Spirit, whereas shame is a lie.  It never lets you forgive yourself and it mars your true identity.  It's like wearing a deranged mask on your face all day everyday.  You may be one of the most beautiful amazing people,  yet you perceive yourself falsely, looking at this hideous mask.   No one ever sees the awesome person that you are because they see the mask that you wear.  God always sees through the mask, and His word constantly reminds you of your true identity in Christ.  Through renewal by the Word of God is the only sure way to remove the shameful mask and discover the beauty that  lies within you.   

          There is also imposed shame, which is shame put on you by other people.  For example, it could could stem from a shameful or rough past.  Maybe you came from a dysfunctional, poor, divorced, abusive, or otherwise scandalous family background.  This kind of shame comes from something brought about by others choosing.  You had no choice in the matter, yet others look down upon you and perceive a  false image of who you are by looking at your family history or other fixed factors in your life.   I remember feeling ashamed when I was younger for being poorer than my friends, even when I was older I still carried that shame like I wasn't good enough as others because of my family background and history.  I was ashamed that I was different than mainstream society and then in the 'church' world I was ashamed because I didn't fit in to a religious standard for my life.  When I really began to think about shame I realized that shame had gone so deep that I was not only ashamed of mistakes I had made but I was ashamed of my God given identity.  Can you imagine that?  Being ashamed of what you were created to be?  It's not so uncommon when you start to look at the world and see what we esteem as acceptable.  Look carefully at what our culture mocks and what we praise.  By mocking God and His standards are we not mocking ourselves as the crown of all creation?  

              I remember being a teenager at many different sleepovers where I would dread the moment in the night where all the girls would get together and chat about what they've done with guys.  When the conversation focused on me I would swallow a huge lump in my throat and tell the truth saying, "I've never kissed a guy, in fact I've never done anything sensual/sexual with a guy".  Whether it was reality or not I always felt outcasted because 9 times out of 10 I was the only one to divulge such a statement.  It's funny how it only got worse as the years progressed and many of my peers got more and more sexually promiscuous; or by the worlds standards they simply grew up and matured.  It still carries on into my early twenties as jaws drop when I mention that I'm a virgin and have always kept myself pure in guy/girl relationships.  I admit sometimes I am ashamed of this wonderful chastity, I've managed by the Lords help to maintain, yet there is no desire in me to be any other way.  Why would I be ashamed?  After all I am simply following the Word of God which instructs us to keep ourselves pure.  In todays age, a person with this kind of mindset is becoming outdated and extinct.  I feel so different from many people it has at times been shameful to tell people who I am and what I stand for... and people seem to really get on edge when I tell them what I don't stand for.  This kind of shame is both fabricated and imposed because it's a fear of what people may or may not think of you.  I venture to say that in the heart of many people that hear and see a person living a pure upright life may mock it, yet desire the same standard in their own life or wish they too had kept themselves pure.  

               Lucky for us all on every sides of the spectrum, Jesus died for our shame.  If anyone in all of history has ever been made a spectacle of shame it was Jesus.  He took on every ounce of shame for all of mankind  Isaiah 53:3-5 says, "he was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrow: yet we did not esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and by his stripes we are healed!"   To this day people are still ashamed of him and perceive him as something he's not, but that doesn't change what took place on the cross when he took all the shame you would ever feel or experience in your lifetime.  Never be ashamed of what you can't change and always be proud of who you are in Christ, because regardless of what you've done or where you came from your true identity is found in Jesus.  I know it's hard to uphold the standards of God in a world that is constantly fighting against purity, but it not only can be done but it is so rewarding.  Never be ashamed of what God has made you and called you to be!

                   

                 

  

I AM Pure

     Staying pure in an immoral world....can it be done?  Why is purity so important to God?  The Christian worldview on chastity may seem obscure, old fashioned, ludicrous,  or unnatural to the world...even unpopular to many Christians, but it is so important and very precious.  We do not simply abstain from something just to appear pure or please religion and tradition or deprive ourselves.  I believe one of the greatest reasons for remaining pure is focusing on your true lover, who is the Lord.  "Purity makes us familiar with God" John Climacus.  Purity is a spiritual discipline not because it's your ticket to heaven to be a 'goodie-goodie' for God, but because it is you actively recognizing and choosing to live out your new nature as a born-again, dead to sin and alive to Christ man or woman of God!  Romans 6 tells us that we've been freed from the chains of an immoral lifestyle, we are no longer ruled by that sin-driven nature.  So instead of reading that you were made the righteousness of Christ and a new creation on pages why not live out that life of righteousness and purity?
     The world doesn't make it to easy on us, as it shows near to zero support for chastity, especially American culture who seems determined to mock and ridicule chastity as much as possible.  Now when it comes to the Body of Christ, you should have it made.  You are hanging around the wrong Christians if it's not awesome to be Holy and pure before God.  That should be a common pursuit and interest between believers...or so we hope.  Then of course there is the media.  Here are a few statistics for you: research study conducted by The American Academy of Pediatrics:  American children devote on average 38 hours/ week to various forms of media (i.e. internet, t.v, movies, video games, i phone apps etc.)  By their high school graduation they will have devoted 15,000 hours to media, twenty percent more time than spent in the classroom.  American adolescents will have seen 14,000 sexual references per year.
              After hearing those statistics it is wise for a man to run from immorality rather than play with fire as it is so engraved in our society being found in what we watch, listen to and read.  1 Corinthians 6:18 says, "Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. "  Even after the grand "liberation" or sexual revolution, no matter how strongly society writes off moral law, the intimacy and sacredness of sex is still impressed upon our hearts.  There is no such thing as no strings attached sex.  With sex and impurity comes a massive amount of other issues and problems, and not just the obvious physical risks of STDS or unwanted pregnancy, but spiritual and emotional issues are created such as guilt, shame, heartbreak, self-denial and the list goes on.  Some people never overcome these issues for their entire lives and will carry them to each and every new relationship they take part in.   For lack of more eloquent words: societies rules and ideas about sex, relationships, and moral conduct just plain suck!  It's a sad world we live in when the ones living a morally upright life are more shocking to our culture than those who are living a sexually careless life!  Why am I the one who is always asked to explain my choice of lifestyle as if I've done something wrong by being pure?  We should be the ones asking questions about our cultures views on sexuality and purity.  
       Are those living and pursuing a pure life really a minority in this world?  We shouldn't be a sub-culture, but the cultural norm.  You can live pure in a sexualized world, and you can change the ideas and misconceptions of those around you by being an example...and whoever told you that purity isn't that cool was dead wrong!