“Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God is this: to visit the orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” James 1:27We see it all the time: people who claim to believe in Christ but are numb and bored with Jesus, fading into the world with nothing that sets them apart.
Go and sit in a public place that collects young people and watch. Can you tell which ones are believers? Did you know that about 82% of high school teens claim to be Christians? Why don’t they stand out from among the rest? To be truthful, I can’t tell a difference between the lost and the saved. What’s wrong with us? We all look so…stained by the world.
Polluted and captivated by the world we are.
We have ruined our Christ given clothes of purity, righteousness, and truth, staining them with lust, wickedness, and a lie. Each compromise leaves us a little more dirty, and before we even realize it…we look just like the world. Yes, we fade right in.
But what has God called us to be?
To be separate and clean.
“Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate, says the Lord, and do not touch what is unclean; and I will welcome you. And I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters to Me, says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Cor. 6:17-18
We need to come out of the worlds midst and repent of our dirty minds and hearts and be washed clean by God’s forgiveness and faithfulness. (1 John 1:9)
We need to look in the mirror and see if our hearts are stained by the world, and be transformed into the image of a holy and pure God. (2 Cor. 3:18)
We must check and examine our hearts, because the world stains us from the inside out, like a teabag placed in hot water; so slow is the infusion.
Make sure bitterness has not taken root in your heart, or gossip poured forth from it. Guard it at all times or Satan will take it captive.
Let us run to our Father and fall on our face and ask for an unstained life. Let us be separate, let us be clean.
“Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Ps. 51:7
O God give us a clean heart.
Let us be found unstained.
Hi Kaysie! Thanks for a very thought provoking entry based on one of my favorite verses! It is very true that we need to keep ourselves from absorbing the mindset, principles, goals, priorities, etc. of the world. It’s also very difficult to do! (In fact, impossible without God’s help!) I always think of the other part of the verse — “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God is this: to visit the orphans and widows in their distress” — when I’m visiting people at the Alexian nursing home… Hey, I had an idea… I’d love to have you go with me sometime… we could go out to lunch first and then visit with some nice older people… Let me know what you think!
ReplyDeleteLove, Ja-lene
vote for John the baptist! just kidding.
ReplyDeletea agree with you Carley, the Bible says somewhere in 1st Peter that we need to be ready to answer the question about what is the joy in our lives. or something like that! you know what it is! i wonder, how many Christians get asked that? And how many of them have an answer?! it’s true, we don’t need to judge people about their life by the outside… but why would Jesus (or Peter) say this if we, the body of Christ, are not to be different. to be in the world, but not of it, how many times i’ve needed that banged into my head, or wanted to bang it into someone elses, i don’t know! did that make any sense?
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I never knew that 82% of teens say they are Christians! That is pretty sad that we cannot tell them apart from everybody else.
ReplyDeleteIt really makes me think of how much I need to stand out…in a good way! And I need to be clean, in my heart and not judge those who are unbelievers, but instead, pray for them.