A Maiden of Modesty

My first attempt at writing something on purity/holiness. :) It was actually a paper for a forum called "Maidens of Modesty", but I would like to share what the Lord has been showing me through His word. It's simple, more like a few verses with my thoughts tacked around it! :) Anyhow, this is what I want for my heart and life...

A True Maiden of Modestyby Miss Kayla

God has been teaching me a lot through His word. One of the things He has opened my eyes to is preparing myself for my future husband, being a maiden of modesty, and striving to become a pure, holy child of God are very similar. Just as we Christian women desire to present ourselves pure and spotless to the man of our dreams, so we should also desire to come before our Lord and Savior clean and white as snow. We will one day be a physical bride, but right now we are the spiritual bride, in the making, of Jesus Christ who is helping us prepare for the time He will take us unto Himself. We will not be clean and pure for our future spouses until we are clean and pure for our Lord. Yes, we may stay physically pure all of our lives, but what about spiritually? To be physically pure, you must start with the heart and first be spiritually pure.

Ephesians 1:4 tells us, “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love”. It says we are chosen of God to be holy and pure for Him. As Christians we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ and He set us apart from the world for His purpose. Lev. 20:26, “And you shall be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.” It is God's supreme goal for our lives to be holy and pure, just as He is holy. 1 Peter 1:15-16, “But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy.'” It does not say just to be holy while reading your Bible, it does not say just to be holy while at church or fellowshipping with your friends or pastor, it says “Be holy in ALL your conduct”, be holy in EVERYTHING you do. Strive to be holy and please God while you are at home, while you are babysitting your younger siblings, while you are doing your chores, anything and everything. For if you strive to be a pure, spotless bride before the Lord, you will be a true maiden of modesty and be pure and spotless for your Prince Charming.

Now, I know the word holy sounds—intimidating, and may make you think of some not so nice things. Like sitting for hours and hours in prayer and reading your Bible, stiff-backed and never happy, but solemn and unpleasant. To tell the truth, that's what it always made me think of. Even though I knew to some extent that I needed to be holy, I thought it was an impossible task. But holy does not mean those things, it simply means “to be set apart or separated from the rest”. We are set apart from the rest of the world to be used for the glory of God. In a sense, “To be holy is to reflect the moral character of a holy God.”~Nancy Leigh DeMoss

But doesn't it sound hard to try and be holy all the time? To fight against all your fleshly desires and try to push your way through a head wind? Wouldn't it be easier just to go with the flow? Here is something the Lord brought to mind when I first read those questions from a book. The word of God says that when we accept Christ as our Savior we instantly become a temple of the Holy Spirit. (I Peter 2:5) In Bible times the temple was the sacred place of the Lord, a place where God dwelt. Would you want to bring something into his Holy Temple(your body) that would at all defile His pure spiritual place? God dwells within you, He's there to stay. Keep His temple clean and spotless. But, to put it bluntly, nothing we can do in or of ourselves will ever make us holy. It is only because of the precious blood of Christ and His undying love for us as His children that we can ever be holy.

So...how are we to be pure? How are we to go about striving to be a pure, spotless bride before our holy God? God's precious word points the way for us. Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—think on these things”. Romans 12:9 “Let love be without hypocrisy, abhor that which is evil. Cling to that which is good”. In other words, seek to have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, for He is all things that are good. Your relationship with the Lord God, your time with Him in the morning, before you go to bed at night, and all during the day when you talk to Him and meditate on His Word, must be the thing you strive for most. It must be your goal above all others. Ephesians 4:22-31, 1 Timothy 5:22b, “Keep yourself pure”.

But it does not end there, precious friends! I have one last thing to put in and then I shall stop repeating myself! In Sunday school, my teacher, showed us something from scripture that I had never realized before. He took it from Ephesians 5:15-21, I believe. He took us all into the kitchen and he set a cup beneath the faucet and turned the water on, letting the cup fill and eventually overflow. He told us that unless our daily pouring of the word of God into our hearts and minds was not put to some good use, our lives will simply fill up and overflow, just like the cup.

Put your love for the Lord to some good use. Use it for His glory. Use your testimony of striving to be pure to encourage another to do the same. Use the happiness and fulfillment you receive from His word to uplift and enlighten another! Seek the Lord for ways you can use your life for His glory. He gave us His word to guide us and sent His precious Son to die for us so we could be holy in His eyes, so we could be a light to other nations! And if that is your highest goal in life, the thing you strive for from morning to evening, God promises that He will make you perfect. Matthew 5:48, “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect”. He promises gladness and joy. Hebrews, 1:9 “You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions”. Only then, and by the powerfully cleansing blood of Jesus Christ, will you be a true Maiden of Modesty.

Good night! God bless!

Proverbs 30:5 "For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy cames in the morning."