21-Year-Old Virgin in the 21st Century: Letters of Purity

Dear Youth,

Purity begins in the heart before it is expressed through our actions. You are not pure simply because you have abstained from all sexual activities; instead, purity comes from hearing and receiving the Word of God. For those who have previously stumbled—whether through ignorance or disobedience—if you have returned wholeheartedly to God and turned away from your sin, you are also made pure by the Word of God that you have embraced.

Do not allow anyone to deceive you, nor should you delude yourself into thinking you are pure based solely on your actions. Why did Christ come to earth? What was the purpose of His brutal death? He did not labor for three years and face a horrific crucifixion just for you to presume authority over your own cleansing and purification. Yes, we work in conjunction with Him to achieve our cleanliness, but remember that He is the one who makes us clean! He does the work; we align ourselves and obey so that He can accomplish His perfect work in us.

“You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.” — John 15:3

I used to struggle with ungodly thoughts. They would flood my mind so frequently that I found myself confessing 2 Corinthians 10:5—“casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ”—two to five times within 30 minutes. I felt incredibly frustrated. The enemy’s goal is to wear you down with relentless battles, making you feel as though you are not winning. Don’t accept that lie! I almost felt discouraged at times due to the frequency of these thoughts, but the Holy Spirit reminded me that I am already victorious. I am fighting from a place of victory, and you need to know this, too. No matter how many times you need to recite this verse, remember that you are fighting from a position of victory. The battle has already been won; we simply need to lay hold of what the Lord has given us.

In addition to confessing the word, it’s also essential to take in a significant amount of God’s Word. This is why Jesus said in John 15:3 that you are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. The Word of God is the antidote, the medicine that cleanses our minds. As mentioned in Romans 12:2, we should be transformed by the renewing of our minds. The Word of God is the tool for that renewal and cleanses us from within.