4 Nov 2010
To thine own self be true
Purity matters
Have you ever noticed how easy it is to write somebody off? How easy it is to come to a conclusion about their motives and to feel justified in doing so.
Motivation matters.. as I pointed out we are quick to judge other people’s motivations, and usually less quick to judge our own.
Proverbs points out:
All a person’s ways seem pure to them,
but motives are weighed by the LORD
Today I finish my series of posts on 1 Timothy 4:12. As I mentioned I found myself challenged by the list of qualities that Paul challenges Timothy to set an example with.
The last quality he mentions is purity.
Purity is such an old-fashioned word…. the best description I have heard of real purity actually comes from William Shakespeare:
To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.
One bible translated the word purity as integrity. A pure person is someone who is motivated by timeless principles rather than by self-preservation or self promotion.
It may not be trendy, but don’t you agree we desperately need to find more people who could be described as pure?
I identify with David who wrote in Psalm 51:10:
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Jesus made it clear that purity matters in Matthew 5:8:
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Paul, in Titus 1:15, indicates that purity is important, but your view of it will be dependant on whether you are pure yourself
To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted
James 1:27 gives a very practical picture of purity:
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world
We may not talk about it much, but Paul though purity important enough to be the final characteristic he lists for Timothy and Jesus told us that it was the key to seeing God.
Maybe we should start talking about purity more.