Faith and Purity

  Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, 

in faith,

in purity.

 1 Timothy 4:12

And our final two words of this verse. Well, okay, the final four words.

 

In faith

 

The Greek word here means reliance upon Christ, assurance, faith. Are we living our lives like we really believe in and fully rely on Christ? Oh, we believe in Him for salvation, but do we rely on Him for our daily life? For strength to get through the really hard day? For courage to speak up about something? For peace when life gets turned upside-down? It isn't easy to rest and trust that God knows best. It might be while we are on our knees, but then we stand up. And so often we pick up the troubles, the worry, the cares that we just laid at His feet. It's a challenge to be an example in faith, but oh, girls, when we live it, it's SO WORTH IT! 

 

In purity

 

 This Greek word means cleanliness, purity. We may think at first that of course we are examples in purity because we don't do many things the world does. But how far from the world are we willing to go? Are we excusing things because we like them when deep down we feel they may be wrong? Are we keeping one foot or even one toe dangling in the water of the world? Are we writing things that the world would say shouldn't be in a Christian book? We are supposed to be above reproach.

Let us be examples today in our faith and reliance upon God, and in our cleanliness. Let us be examples today of princesses whose King is the Lord of Hosts!