Each time period has its own struggles and there is no doubt that it is hard to live a pure and holy life in these times, when we are being assaulted from every side with sin and immorality. From music, movies, and TV shows that tell us that women should be the ones running the show and that they need to free themselves and find themselves and love themselves more, to the movements that are behind them, it doesn’t take long to see Satan’s fingerprints on woman kind. Even if we just look at the changes in the last 60 years, the role women play in this world is much different than it was back then. And it is no wonder that Satan uses this approach as it is part of the curse and the consequences of sin in humankind. Take our TV shows and movies, for instance, Leave it to Beaver, Father Knows Best, and Dennis the Menace aired in the 1950s, and all of them have the mom staying home, taking care of the house, having dinner ready for their husbands when they come home. But even back then, you can start to see the progression of women trying to assert control over their husbands and run the show. Fast forward and we have movies like Bad Mom, which is described as a movie where 3 moms who feel underappreciated ditch their responsibilities to do what they want to do. You then see them out drinking and acting like unrestrained teenagers. The traits that were once looked at as honorable and desirable in a woman are now looked down upon. If a woman decides to stay home to care for her children, people take pity on her and say Poor thing. If you submit to your husband, you are seen as weak and having no identity. Being a mom is now looked at as a punishment and a burden rather than the blessing it is. Now I will be honest with you, while being a mom is one of the biggest blessings, it is also a burden. Not being able to do what you want when you want to is a sacrifice. But isn’t that what we are called to? Doesn’t Christ call us in

Luke 9:23: Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

Luke 9:62: 62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

We are called to a life of denying our flesh and our desires and to putting the Lord and those He has put in our lives before ourselves. We are not called to go with the culture of the day but rather as Paul says in

Romans 12:1-2: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

We are called to live a life of sacrifice and not of self-indulgence. This means that we have to get over ourselves and realize that everything is not going to be done the way we want it to be done. People are not going to act the way we think they should, and our way is not the best way. As women, we can tend to be very controlling, and the minute someone changes things, we can’t handle it. Whether it is at home, at work, or at church, we make ourselves very unpleasant to be around. But if we are looking at what the scriptures say and how we have been commanded to behave, then we will not act like this. In

Philippians 2:1-8: Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Jesus was our perfect example. He gave up all that He deserved and took on a lower state just to come and live as a man and die in our place that we may know the Lord. And when He was here, He was the perfect example of what that love and sacrifice looked like. In

John 13:3-5: 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, 4 rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. 5 After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.

John 13:12-17: 12 So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you [b]know what I have done to you? 13 You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. 16 Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

If Jesus, the Word made flesh, washed the disciples’ feet as an example to us, how much more should we be doing for one another? Think about it. He could have demanded His rights as the Son of God when the Pharisees spoke rudely to Him. He could have had them taken out right then and there, and would have been completely justified in it. But He didn’t. Or when His disciples asked the same questions over and over again, or said something that showed they clearly had not grown in the time Jesus had been with them, He could have responded in a harsh way. But He didn’t. In

Matthew 15:15-16: 15 Then Peter answered and said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.”16 So Jesus said, “Are you also still without understanding?

And then He explained it to him. While He does bring it to Peter’s attention, “hey, you should know this by now,” He is patient and explains the parable. Our attitude towards others is a direct reflection of our relationship with the Lord. Are we struggling to be kind to someone, to serve someone, to submit? Ask the Lord to search your heart and show you why. Ask Him to help you love as He loves and to see the people around you as He sees them. Whether it is our husband, children, parents, siblings, neighbors, or co-workers, the Lord has placed them in our lives for a reason. He wants to make us holy and pure in heart, but this takes time and submission on our part. We cannot expect it to happen overnight. And we have to understand that in order for us to have a holy and pure heart, it is going to take testing. That means the Lord is going to allow those people in our lives who push our buttons and who really push us to our limits so that we can grow. He is going to allow us to be mistreated so that we might respond with grace and sacrifice. In

Proverbs 20:9: Who can say, “I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin”?

And the answer is no one. The only way this happens is as we keep our eyes on the Lord. He is doing work in us and making us more holy and pure in heart.

In Matthew 5:8 Jesus said: Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.

I know that each one of our desires is to see God, so let's look at more scriptures that show us how to have a pure heart

Psalm 51:10: Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

We need to understand that it starts with being willing and wanting God to change us. This comes only from being repentant and seeking the Lord and understanding that in ourselves we cannot make ourselves pure; only He can. But we need to believe and trust that He can.

Proverbs 4:23: Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.

We have to guard our hearts. This means that we are very careful as to what we set before ourselves.

Psalm 101:3: I will set nothing wicked before my eyes

What are we watching, listening to, and being entertained by? Maybe we are not the ones gossiping, but are we listening to the gossip and being partakers of it? Are we allowing ourselves to be in unholy situations? What are we thinking about? Are we entertaining evil thoughts in our hearts? Are we arguing with the Lord in our hearts?

These are all things that will defile us and keep our hearts from being pure.

2 Timothy 2:22: 22 Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

As this verse says, we are to flee these things, not just set them to the side, but get rid of them. Never look at them with desire again. Do not look back lest you be counted as the one who puts their hand to the plow and looks back.

Psalm 24:3-4: 3 Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully.

The Lord requires holiness from us, and He will accept nothing less. This means there is no excuse for when we fall short. In Peter, we are reminded of this

1 Peter 1:2-11: Grace to you and peace be multiplied. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom having not [d]seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls. 10 Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, 11 searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.

Here we are told why some are unfruitful, and it all comes back to forgetting what the Lord has done for you, that He has washed you and taken away the stain of sin that was on your life. We only need to walk in that. See if we are constantly dwelling on how the Lord saved us and forgave us such a great debt, then our focus will be on Him and how great He is, and desiring to be used by Him. And this will transform the way we look at everyone around us as we desire for them to know the Lord as well. We will see them through His eyes, and we will forget about our rights and what we think we deserve, and realize that the only thing we deserve is eternal punishment and damnation. Then we will be better able to serve others as we understand our place and our perspective becomes the Lord’s perspective.

One thing that will keep our hearts pure is the Word of God

Hebrews 4:12: 12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Psalm 119:105: Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.

Psalm 119:11: Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.

Psalm 119:9: How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.

Psalm 12:6: The words of the Lord are pure words, Like silver tried in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times.

It is by the Word of God that we will keep our hearts pure. By it, He convicts us and shows us what is right and holy and true. In

Matthew 4:4: 4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

2 Tim 3:16-17: 16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

And in John 6:63: 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

And Finally

Hebrews 10:19-25: 19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and having a High Priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

My sisters, as this scripture says, let us encourage one another in the Word of truth and spur one another on to good works in Christ, for by it we ensure that our own hearts remain pure and we hold one another accountable to the Word of God. I pray that every singe one of us would take our walks with the Lord more serious and that the Lord would refine each one of us so that we would put the Lord and those He has placed in our lives above our own desires thus fulfilling the law of love to Love the Lord you God with all your heart, strength and might and to love our neighbors as ourselves.