I don't know how many times I've read this verse, but for some reason I've always just taken the first part of verse 27 into consideration. 'Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress...' It seems like that's the only part of that verse that most people look at. But, it hit me that pure and undefiled religion in God's eyes is also keeping ourselves unstained by the world.
To me, that means: Not being tainted by the world. It automatically reminded me of:
Romans 12:2~ And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
- Conform- "To be or become similar in form, nature, or character."
- Transform- "To change in condition, nature, or character."
- Renew- "To be restored to a former state; become new or as if new again."
Now, there are also a few other verses that come to mind that talk about being transformed and what that actually looks like.
This passage is an example of what we are to change from:
Colossians 3:5-10~ Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. But now you also, put them all aside; anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him--
And, this passage is an example of what we are to change into:
Colossians 3:12-17~ So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
In I John 2, we are also told not to love the world. In verse 15 it says that if we love the world, the love of God is not in us. And, it goes on to say in verse 16 that all that is in the world- the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life- none of that is from God. It is all worldly.Verse 17 tells us that the world is passing away, along with all of its lusts. But, those who do the will of God live forever.
I also wanted to talk about a couple of things that are very important to me regarding this subject.
#1. MODESTY
Modest: Observing the proprieties of dress and behavior. Behavior, manner, or appearance intended to avoid impropriety or indecency.
The word "Modest" applies especially to deportment and dress as outward signs of inward chastity or purity.
We all have our own definitions of the word... "Standards of modesty vary by culture, or generation, and vary depending on who is exposed, which parts of the body are exposed, the duration of the exposure, the context, and other variables."- Wikipedia
I want to point one thing out: God does not go by our standards of modesty. He doesn't care about the standards of our culture or our generation. He Himself, sets standards for us, and we can either choose to follow His or we can follow our society's standards. It's so easy to just go along with what everyone else is doing and follow the different trends.. But, it's so much more worthwhile to follow God and his standards, no matter how hard it may be.
Some of my favorite verses on this are:
I Timothy 2:9-10~ Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments, but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness.
I see by this verse that if I am claiming to be a Christian, I need to act and dress like it. Now, I'm not saying that I think women should have to wear long dresses to their feet and long sleeves or really baggy clothes or anything like that. As a girl, I like to look nice and wear clothes that are flattering (although, my usual is just a pair of sport shorts and a t-shirt, haha.) I would like to be considered outwardly pretty/attractive. But, I don't think that it's very wise for a girl to put her body on display by wearing revealing clothing. Your body should NEVER be on display. Your spirit should be. Christians should look different than the world does, not only inwardly, but also outwardly.
Proverbs 31:30~ Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. (This is my absolute favorite verse.)
This verse basically tells us that the way we look outwardly is nothing. It is deceitful, because it doesn't always tell people what we're like on the inside. But, our inward appearance is lasting and important.
So, girls, I just want to encourage you to ask yourself these questions the next time you're out shopping: "Would this be pleasing to the Lord?" or "Is it really necessary for me to show that much skin?" Your [future] husbands will be so pleased and thankful that you didn't try to show yourself off to anyone other than him. :)By the way, modesty is an issue for both girls and guys. So guys, you could definitely apply the same verses to yourselves. Your [future] wives will appreciate it just as much as you would from her.
#2. ROLES OF WOMEN
This is a really tough subject. Personally, I don't think that it's wrong for (unmarried) women to go to college and have careers outside of the home, but I do think that it's not the right choice for myself. There are some people that think it's very wrong for women to have jobs and work outside the home, and on the other end there are some people that think it's very wrong for women to be homemakers. It's actually a topic that I struggled with for many, many years, myself.
Here's my take on this subject: I graduated from high school in April 2010, and decided to take the next year off from school. The reason that I did that was because I wasn't quite sure what I was supposed to do after that. I had always wanted to go to college and be independent. To say the least (and this is my opinion about my attitude, not my parent's), I was very strong-willed, pretty feminist, and almost slightly rebellious. But, during my senior year of high school, the Lord went to work on my heart. And, let me tell you, it wasn't easy. I went from my junior year, knowing exactly what I wanted to do (Forensic Science was calling my name. It seems creepy looking back on it...) to the end of my senior year, being completely lost about what I was supposed to do. That's when I decided that I needed to take the year off, spend the year praying and meditating on the Lord and what His will was for me. Because up until that point, I had everything planned for myself, and it didn't really matter to me if that was the Lord's plan or not. So, I took the year and was in constant prayer about this. The Lord really hit me hard with Titus 2.
Titus 2:3-5~ Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.
These verses apply to me in many ways. I am older to some girls, and I'm younger to other women. So, my jobs as a woman, in general, are laid out before me completely, in these verses.
Now, the way that this ties in with the rest of the note is: The world tells us that women are to be completely independent. That we don't need to rely on men to do everything. And, like I said earlier, I don't think that it's wrong for a woman (unmarried) to have a career outside of the home. Some women are not called to marriage (I've written another post on that topic.) But, we also need older women encouraging the younger women to stay at home and care for their families! The sad thing is that the world seems to *discourage* homemakers. The world tells us that, obviously, women that stay home with their families weren't intelligent enough or didn't have enough motivation to maintain a career. But, for a good number of us, that isn't the case. I'm just as smart as anyone else; I've just chosen a different path, or rather, a different path was chosen for me.
So, older women, I ask you to encourage us younger women to be keepers at home, if that is what the Lord calls us to do! We need all the encouragment we can get! And, younger women, when we are being encouraged to do this, we need to listen. I understand that this isn't for everyone, but we need to be thankful for the encouragment when we get it. And for those of us who have chosen this direction, don't be discouraged by the world. It's hard, but know that the Lord has great plans for you, whether you are out working in the world or at home keeping your house and caring for your family. :)
And, one more thing!
#3. EVERYDAY CHRISTIANS
What does it really mean to be a Christian? To me, Christianity is not just something that you pick up on Sunday's for church, but it's more of an everyday lifestyle. Living your life for Christ EVERY SINGLE DAY. I don't want to be the kind of person that lives life however I want to during the week, and then walks into church on Sunday morning in order to "justify" my behavior every other day of the week.
If I make a claim to Christianity, that means that I need to live my life that way. I need to be an example to other people. I need to plant seeds for the Lord.
How am I supposed to know how to live my life?
Psalm 119:9~ How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word.
So, I need to read the Bible to know how to live. So, for me to know how to live every single day, it would only make sense to read the Bible EVERYDAY!
Deuteronomy 17:19~ "It shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes..."
I also want to encourage everyone to read Ephesians 5:1-21. This passage has so much wisdom poured into it about how to live as Christians! :)
These are just three topics that are particularly important to me. I would like to encourage you all to consider the verses that I've shared, and apply them to your own lives in whatever ways the Lord leads you to.
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