THE PRESCRIPTION FOR PURITY, Part III

Do you have a fantasy world? If so, who lives there? How often do you visit there? When do you visit there? Truth be known, many young people have a fantasy world they spend as much time in as the real world. This place may include fictional characters, people you know, or perhaps images of people you have seen on television, movies, or video games. You very well may be one who likes to sit in bed at night looking up at the ceiling and imagining in your heart certain scenarios that you make up. Perhaps there are conversations that take place. There may even be activities that are played in the theatre of your mind.

The question is, are they pure? Or perhaps it may be better to ask, would you be free to introduce all of the characters of your imagination to your future spouse? Better yet, would you be able to introduce the people in your imagination to the Lord? Imagine the large screen in the front of your church lighting up with pictures from your imagination. If your church were to play all the footage of your fantasy-land activities, would they be embarrassed? Would you be mortified? What would your parents think? Consider what someone would think if they had been an involuntary guest in your imagination.

Unfortunately, many teens are not careful in the guarding of their mental purity. When we speak of your thought life, your imaginations, or the pondering of your heart, we are speaking of mental purity. You may think it’s okay to ponder evil sensuality in your heart as long as you do not act it out, however, the Bible indicates that the Lord sees both sins as equally evil. Remember in Matthew 5 when the Lord condemned not only the act of adultery, but the very imagination of adultery? The Pharisees may have had an outward discipline of their flesh, but inwardly they had no control of the wild passionate sinfulness that burned like an untamable forest fire.

The thoughts of your heart determine your direction.

Do you want a pure, wholesome, special marriage that is blessed with a sacred intimacy? Most of you are probably thinking, “YES!” You would be crazy to desire a dirty, cheap, common, marital relationship that most often ends in divorce. It may be shocking for you to know, but having that pure blessed relationship depends on the ponderings of your heart, your imagination. As a matter of a fact, it depends more on your thought life than it does your actions. You may disagree. Hear me out. Your actions spring from your thought life. If you protect your thought life from evil impure thoughts, you will not fall into physical sin. On the other hand, you may be able to discipline your outward actions for a while (as the Pharisees did) while enjoying sinful fantasy movies, but in time, you will fail, and you will fail because of your thoughts not your actions.

“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Prov. 4:23

The simple fact is, if your heart’s imagination is filthy, just give the devil a little time and your body will follow suit. That is exactly what this verse is saying; out of the imagination of your heart proceed the actions of your life. Mark it down, if your fantasy world is really a filthy world, you are headed for destruction. Remember, the thoughts of your heart determine your direction.

Mark 7 tells us of some horrible sins that may cause you to cringe as you consider the possibility of falling into them yourself. The second and third of these are adultery and fornication. Do you know what the first is? It is evil thoughts. What is also interesting to know is that the passage begins by saying, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications...” All of these sins start in the heart’s imagination.

In Genesis 6:5 when God condemns all mankind but one family, He explains it is because the “imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Obviously there were sinful actions that had disgusted God, but He chooses to focus on the imagination of their hearts. Would God condemn the imaginations of your heart? “Oh brother Phil, just because I have some unclean thoughts doesn’t make me a wicked person.” Proverbs 23:7 reminds us that as a man “thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Literally, you are what you think!

Your direction determines your destination.

What kind of destination do you want for your marriage? “I want a happy marriage filled with romance and special intimacy blessed by God!” If that’s your answer, then start thinking those thoughts. In other words, when you are alone, don’t think cheap, dirty, sinful, filthy thoughts. If you do, guess what kind of marriage you will have? Riiiiiight! A sinful, cheap, dirty, filthy one. Look, no one plans for that. They just think it to reality. If you truly want a wonderful blessed marriage, then you need to start thinking on the importance of faithfulness, pondering the value of innocence, and dreaming about walking down the isle to kiss your spouse-to-be for the first time. Let the specialness of the moment drive your heart to a desire to follow God’s way. Don’t think for a minute that you can have a filthy imagination and wind up with a clean marriage! No one has ever done it, and you won’t be the first.

What mental steps are you taking right now? Stop and think for a minute. Do you really want to end up where those thoughts are leading you? Your thoughts determine your direction, and your direction determines your destination. Study the following passages and notice the promise from God’s Word is you will end up where your thought life is taking you: Proverbs 1:29-31, 2:10,16, 5:1-12. The foolish individuals in these passages refused God’s way of thinking, His knowledge. In other words, they refused to discipline their thoughts to clean, pure thoughts. The fruit or result of their thought life was destruction. Chapter 2 shows how godly thinking produces victory from temptations that destroy future marriages and results in a happy, blessed, long life (Proverbs 3:1-2). Notice over and over again the emphasis on the heart keeping God’s knowledge. Your heart’s imagination is to be filled with godly thoughts. In chapter 5 we find the destruction that follows one who “ponders” the evil woman (verse 6).

Think about this for a minute. If you were to live out the thoughts you think, how pure would your life be? If you lived out the movies you watch, the music you listen to, would you be pure? Fact is, what you watch and what you listen to will determine the imaginations of your heart. Point is, if you are watching sinful movies like “Titanic,” you cannot possibly have pure thoughts. I should also mention that if you are currently viewing pornographic material or anything indecent such as “Baywatch” or “Married With Children,” you cannot possibly keep a pure mind.

What you see is what you think, and what you think is what you do.

I want to make one more practical application. Teen young ladies must be careful of their thinking life especially in the area of their desires. Psalm 101 speaks of a “forward” heart. Literally, the Bible is speaking of a twisted heart. It should think this way, but instead it thinks another way. Many young ladies have the evil thinking that the way to attract someone is how you dress. Because this is their thinking, they often dress in clothes that accentuate their body. Why? Their thinking is evil.

The word “harlot” used throughout the Bible literally means “to sell.” Do you dress in such a way that says you are for sale? Does the way you advertise your body suggest your desire to draw attention to features that should be reserved for your future husband? Don’t ever forget, you will get the kind of guy you dress for. The virtuous woman of Proverbs 31 has a high price that is far above rubies. She is not for sale; she is not cheap. Have you allowed your thinking to affect the way you dress? If so, you are headed for trouble.

Ask God to help you in this matter of purity. Keep your mind pure. Let the theatre of your heart’s imagination be always pleasing to the Lord.