For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. 1 Thessalonians 4:7
Keeping oneself clean is the desire of most people. Shortly after getting home from working hard and sweating all day, many will choose to take a quick shower to clean up before eating. Children are taught to wash their hands before eating. Clothes are washed on a regular basis. Very few people actually desire to stay filthy in dirt and sweat, knowing that it is often uncomfortable for self, and it keeps others away, plus the possible health dangers that can occur.
As Paul calls for the Thessalonian church to live in purity, he tells them that God called them to be holy and not to live in uncleanness.
The world understands the value of being physically clean. It is taught from childhood all the way through life. Keeping clean can often help prevent illnesses that are unwanted. Yet, while the world can focus upon being physically clean, they choose to take in the filth of sin.
It is sin that pollutes the mind and soul. Greater than an illness, sin causes death. This death is not just a physical death, but a spiritual one that will last for all eternity. Most agree that extreme violence, abuse, murder and lying are bad for a person and should not be done. However, the world sees no problems in sexual immorality, greed, jealousy and pride, which also kill the soul in sin.
Believers are to live with a different standard. They are to no longer seek sinful ways to have pleasure and move forward in life. Instead of living in the filth and garbage of sin, believers are to live in holiness and purity, fleeing all sin. Jesus died and rose again to remove sin and give holiness, not to give one an opportunity to stay in uncleanness.
Just as you clean yourself physically on a regular basis you must also keep yourself spiritually clean. Jesus removed the filth of sin in your life when you chose to believe in Him. Do not go back into the cesspool of sin that the world offers daily but choose to walk in the holiness and purity that God has given you and called you to. Be led by the Holy Spirit to know how God wants you to live so that you will be clean and holy, not filled with filth.
Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that God will reveal any filth in your sin; that you will be clean before God; that you will walk in holiness that Jesus called you to live in; and that God will break the bondage of the filth of sin in your life.
Photo by Andrea Davis on Unsplash
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