Becoming……….what?

Do people wake up one day and say……………

“Today I am going to be an alcoholic”

“Today I am going to be a drug addict”

“Today I am going to be a NASCAR driver”

“Today I am going to be a Doctor”

NO! It’s a process in which little decisions, bad and some good choices lead to the direction in which you BECOME one of those listed above.  Last night, Richard and had the girls/guys split up to talk about sexual purity. I understand the pressure in today’s society to remain a virgin. I talk with teenage girls all the time and I have realized that being a virgin is a thing of the past for many. It’s not just losing your virginity any longer that is an issue it’s having sex with every boyfriend you have, here is a statement “sex just goes with the relationship”. That is such a heart breaking statement. I focused on BECOMING pure last night. When girls start a relationship with a guy that don’t just make a decision to lose their virginity, it’s a process….holding hands, kissing and then as the relationship progresses then so does the physical aspect. When I was in high school, Richard and I were very active In our youth group (but I was not a Christian) we were physical and I never grasped this whole concept of “becoming pure” my dad left when I was 7 and so the desire to be loved, and treated with respect and shown the attention that so many girls needed wasn’t there. My mom was a rock for us and had us in church CONSTANTLY, but all little girls need some type of “father figure” in their life. As I grew older the desire also grew, Jimmy and my mom got married and his leadership/father role began filling the emptiness (I could have done without all the groundings….) but something that I lacked was still in my mind. To get boys to look at me, I would dress this way or act this way. All I wanted was to be wanted. I wanted to BECOME beautiful in the eyes of boys. Anyway…Richard and I were sexually active and as we set off to college to be free and alone, God had something else in mind. The first or second week into school I was asked to come to a sorority bible study and I thought well, I can make friends and I go to church every Sunday, and I love my youth group. I went and it was like God looked me in the face and said you are and have been playing a charade all this time. I remembered getting baptized in the 8^th grade, walking down front MULTIPLE times to re-dedicate. But I realized that I had nothing to re-dedicate I prayed an empty prayer at a camp, and never really gave God anything. I acted on my emotions. But that night, I went back to my dorm room and got down on my knees and begin sobbing and I asked God to take my heart and make it whole. I know that is the night I gave my life to Christ. I told Richard (we were engaged at this time) to come over and we talked for hours, and he also surrendered his heart fully at the time. We knew that if we wanted to be together that Christ had to come in and change our desires and give us strength not to have sex any longer. I talked with my youth pastor about it, and he prayed with me and gave me such hope! He said when you walk down the aisle Holly in that white dress, YOU WILL BE PURE! I remember the feeling of relief! I had to become pure again. We never put ourselves in the position to be tempted, we prayed together, did small devotions along the way an three years later we were married and we both were pure as we stood in front of each other and God as we committed our lives to one another and to God. I can’t believe it’s already been 16 years and (12 in which we have been married) I love him more than anything else in this world. People will often beg me and Richard to lead marriage classes and for us to do a seminar, but its not that we have some answer that will change everyone’s marriage. Its just I know that Richard has to one day stand before God and give an account for me and for our family. I want nothing more than to stand behind him on that day with a big smile and say “that’s my man” lol. Richard has grown and continues to grow daily as he is BECOMING a great man of God.  A LOT of people misread Richard, and some even assume things about him but I know what he is about, and that’s pursuing God with all his heart. He loves FOCUS so much, and wants to protect them constantly. When a girl is young her dream is to marry her prince and to be treated with respect, love. Why then do many girls allow punks to come in and abuse them (physically, emotionally)? It makes me so mad, but I know that it starts within the heart. Richard and I made a decision based on what was in OUR HEARTS not to have sex. Jesus was the center of our lives, and we chose to make Him the center of our relationship.  Becoming pure…Becoming a woman of God, Becoming a Man of God, becoming a teenager that passionately pursues God.  If you want change, you have to be willing to change. I pray for every teenage girl that reads this today. Maybe you have given yourself away so many times that you feel as if you have nothing else to give. I pray for you to realize how truly precious you are, and how forgiveness can cleanse you and make you white as snow! I pray for those girls that are now entering serious relationships, I pray that you allow God to guard your heart and shield you from sexual progression in your relationship! (Remember they always progress) I pray for those girls, who have no desire to date right now I pray that you feel their minds with pure thoughts, guide their feet as they begin to make decisions towards dating. Matthew 5:8 says “blessed are those whose hearts are pure, for they WILL SEE GOD” I pray for you to fill your minds with things that only point you to Christ and the promises He has given us, and not to the schemes and lies that this world has to offer!

Romans 13:14   Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.

 

James 1: 14 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. 15 These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death

 

Psalm 51:7-15

7-15 Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean,
      scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life.
   Tune me in to foot-tapping songs,
      set these once-broken bones to dancing.
   Don’t look too close for blemishes,
      give me a clean bill of health.
   God, make a fresh start in me,
      shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.
   Don’t throw me out with the trash,
      or fail to breathe holiness in me.
   Bring me back from gray exile,
      put a fresh wind in my sails!
   Give me a job teaching rebels your ways
      so the lost can find their way home.
   Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God,
      and I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.
   Unbutton my lips, dear God;
      I’ll let loose with your praise