//Purity//

There is a huge puzzle piece for me when it comes to things I'm passionate about for the topic of purity. The Lord began working on my heart in this area when I was in high school. And it was totally Him and His grace alone that enabled me to walk through HS without dating, kissing a bunch of guys and other things as I didn't feel strongly about any of it before I started my freshman year. 


In fact, I felt the opposite. 


I didn't go to a small private christian school, and I wasn't homeschooled. So by a very young age, my peers were dating. That was normal in our school environment. Hormones heightened through high school and most of them were sexually active by the end of high school (maybe even before). 


I thank God for our youth pastor who felt led to run a True Love Waits program during my sophomore year of High School. He spoke truth into my life on how to view marriage & dating and how the Bible is not an old irrelevant book that has nothing to say about what happens in our relationships. 
I will add that I definitely didn't go into high school planning on sleeping around. In fact one of the few convictions I had decided on at a young age was that I planned on saving sex for marriage. I just didn't decide on much in between about dating, kissing or other physical activity in relationships. I realise now how incredibly naive I probably was in that decision and could have been easily persuaded to let it go altogether. 


I realise I should probably finish writing the love story that the Lord has graciously written into my life so far because it has his fingerprints all over it how He convicted a girl who planned on dating, to a girl who would only date someone she would potentially marry, to one who decided that dating is probably better saved for when it was possible to actually be married. And how my desire to be kissed turned into saving my first kiss for our wedding day.  And so many other decisions in my life that were transformed to live a life of purity. 


Friends, I can't take much credit for these decisions. 
This area is the biggest showcase of grace I can see to date in my life. 
This was entirely the Lord transforming my life to reflect His glory! 
Without Him, I am pretty sure my pathetic effort to remain a virgin would have disappeared somewhere around the age of sixteen along with my peers. 
It was and still is grace alone. 


Instead I know the exact date these convictions started being worked into my heart. Because they were engraved on a simple ring gifted to me by my parents when I signed a pledge to seek purity instead as a result of the obedience of my youth pastor. That ring now sits on my sweet husband's ring finger serving as his wedding ring. 


Over the course of the years that followed, God would really impress on me so many things related to purity. 

(Grab a cup of coffee and explore some of these topics if you have time.) 

Loving your husband all the days of your life. 
The Lord hears those Heart's Desires.
Saving my First Kiss for the Altar.
Trusting When God Says No. 
Choosing to share in the Joy of Others.
Our First Love.
So much more than Singleness.
Contentment.
Loneliness.
The Gift of A Journal of Letters on your Wedding Night.
Identity.
Lies we Tell Ourselves.
We are Commanded to not envy others, but seek contentment where God has us. 
Finding our Worth. 
Cultivating a Quiet Spirit. 
Allowing God to Satisfy (Changing my heart on dating & Kissing)
Purity & the Proverbs 31 Woman. 
Extending Grace to Others.
Choosing Contentment. 
Life on God's Timing.
The Power of Words (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 & Part 4)
Dating Once Married.
Made to Shine. 
Run to Jesus.
Appreciate Your Husband's Counsel.
Loving Each Other. (Relationships In General)
Wherever You Are, Be All There.

I apologize there's enough content for a book here, I did mention this is a huge part of me at the beginning :) 

This post is part of my 31 day series for the month of October, 
fighting through the fears and sharing the confusing passions I have. 
Hoping to figure out the bigger picture of all these interests.