With All Purity

Read: 2 Timothy 2:14-26

Intreat…the younger [women] as sisters, with all purity.                 1 Timothy 5:1-2 

     When Joseph worked in Potiphar’s house, he had free reign of everything in the house because he had been made second-in-command. It is likely that Joseph was an attractive man, for the only thing in all the house held back from Joseph pursued him with all her might. It was Potiphar’s wife. Though daily she tried to lure Joseph to herself, he made his position quite clear in Genesis 39:9 when he said, “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” Unlike many compromising men who claim the girl forced herself onto them or who are too enamored by their own attractiveness to resist temptation, Joseph had learned the value of purity, and God blessed him tremendously for his stand. He realized that to compromise his purity would not only be a disservice to Potiphar and his wife, but also a sin against God. God’s desire for each young man is clearly laid out in 1 Thessalonians 4:4 – “That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor.”

     The world’s idea of masculinity has shifted dramatically in recent years. Where once it stood to defend a woman’s honor, now it often involves the ability to take a woman’s purity. The more women they have been able to “conquer,” the more manly they believe they are. They play on the innocence of girls who are only looking for love and security. They use those girls to satisfy their own fleshly cravings, and they discard them broken, hurt, and used. Most men would never consider robbing a store because it is seen by society as completely wrong, but somehow it is okay to steal a woman’s purity from her. True manhood does not compromise a woman’s purity; true manhood stands up to heroically protect it. True manhood sees the value in a woman’s’ purity and in his own. Your purity is your most valuable possession, and a woman’s purity is the most precious gift she has. A man who has learned to possess himself in honor has learned that wooing a woman’s heart through kindness and respect is the way that a real man wins her hand in marriage. First Timothy 5:1-2 says that a young man should treat a young lady just as he would treat his sister – with all purity.

     Too many young men are willing to sacrifice the future on the altar of the present. They care only about what is satisfying right now. They don’t look far enough down the road to realize what they are losing when they lose their purity or what they are stealing when they take a young lady’s. Determine to return manhood to its original glory by treating young ladies with the respect they deserve.

Quote of the day: “God gives the greatest battles to His strongest soldiers.”