31 Days of Virtue: Day 25

... to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. Titus 2:5

I believe in this verse pure refers to sexual purity. In other versions a word often used is chaste which means "refraining from sexual intercourse that is regarded as contrary to morality or religion; virtuous." To be virtuous women, we must be pure; we must be chaste; we must refrain from any immoral sexual relations. These would include premarital sex, polygamy or sexual relations outside of your marriage, homosexuality, and many others. These relationships only lead to harmful consequences. They are dangerous roads which we should not even look down, much less walk down. 

To stay pure we need to keep our eyes on the Lord, not at what looks good in front of us. We need to get this idea of having whatever we want, whenever we want out of our minds. And we must be patient. Anything worth having will take time and effort. Remember you are not alone in this struggle against sin. And because it is a struggle, we need to keep God and His will in the forefront of our minds and nothing else. 

"Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things." Colossians 3:2

Archive of 31 Days of Virtue: 

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

Day 14

Day 15

Day 16

Day 17

Day 18

Day 19

Day 20

Day 21

Day 22

Day 23

Day 24

31 Days of Virtue: Day 18

So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander. 1 Timothy 5:14


Another important part of this verse to remember is 'to give the enemy no opportunity for slander'. We must always watch ourselves. The Bible says in Matthew 26:41 "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." We must always watch our actions and pray for God's strength. If you know doing a certain thing or going to a certain place will bring temptation, why do that thing or go to that place? That's just asking for trouble. 


There will always be temptations, and they always lead to death. "When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Don't be deceived, my dear brothers." James 1:13-16. Don't be deceived! Satan knows every evil desire in you and will use it against  you! 


So what do we do? Luke 6:45 says, "The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks." We store up good in our hearts. We think about things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). We set our "minds on  things above, not on earthly things" (Colossians 3:2). And we put on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:13-17): the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, with our feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit,  which is the word of God.


That is how we will give the enemy no opportunity for slander: with God's armor, not our own. 


Archive of 31 Days of Virtue:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

Day 14

Day 15

Day 16

Day 17

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone's holidays were enjoyable! I have just posted the new desktop calendar for January! Click here to download the new calendar. Remember to click on the picture first before downloading. Otherwise, you will download the entire album as a zip file. Enjoy!