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I was asked to do a two hour conference workshop on purity in the home.  When asked I thought, "no problem."  And it wasn’t a problem until I sat down to do an outline.  Every time I sat down to type I managed to accumulate about fifteen minutes of material.  I made a running start from several different directions before I decided to interview Christian women of various ages.  Finally I took their input I had scribbled in a notebook, opened my Bible and prayed. I hope this three part series is as much a blessing to those who read it as it was to me when I wrote it.

Purity in the home: What does it mean to you?  What do you think it means to God?  I encourage you to jot down thoughts about both questions before you read any further.

Matthew 5:8 "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God."

The word ‘see’ does not mean just to look. The Strong’s Concordance defines it as "to gaze with wide-open eyes at something remarkable"  To me this speaks of seeing God with awe, majesty and wonder.

"Purity is giving yourself to a state of mind; making a commitment." I do not know who wrote that sentence but let’s examine the Word of God to see what state of mind we should be committed to.

I asked some of our writers to ask their husbands what "Purity In The Home" means to them. Pastor French gave this definition, "purity in the home is allowing nothing in it that would offend the Lord our God".  I hope this article will afford us all a better understanding of what offends the Lord and how we can do our part to sanctify/purify our home.  Purifying our homes makes them strong--which strengthens the church--which strengthens our nations.

In studying this material I have become aware of something my pastor, David M. Atkinson,  says often: Too many churches today build their people with the externals and fail to build and strengthen the heart.  In time of trial or fatigue those externals will collapse into the void of an empty and weak heart. It dawned on me this is exactly the way we teach toddlers; we use the expression "Because I said so" when instructing them. We do not try and reason with a toddler who cannot understand.  But when those toddlers become teen-agers or adults telling them to do or not to do because we say so, without teaching and explaining why, will not strengthen their heart to build character and integrity.

So many Christians remain ‘toddlers’ in their maturing process, doing or not doing because someone says so. Sadly, many do not have enough of God’s knowledge in their hearts to change--- or to purify their hearts--thus making them steadfast and unmovable in the work of the Lord, which first means our homes.

Who is building your home?

(Words below in parenthesis are definitions from the Strong’s Concordance)

Psalm 127:

1.a "Except the Lord (Jehovah) build the house (home, family), they labour in vain (desolating; evil as destructive-literally or morally;):....

2. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep."

We can  rise up early and sit up late and try and try and try to order our homes and build our homes but without God’s building the house we will, from one cause or another, go sleepless.  He/God wants to be the builder and give his beloved sleep."

The following is from a book entitled "Limiting God" by John E. Hunter:

"The importance of the Christian home in the eyes of God is best seen in His arranging for the upbringing of His Own Son.  With all the world to choose from, and every home, rich and poor, at his command, our God chose the humble home in Nazareth as the place where the Lord Jesus should be raised.  Not wealthy, not poverty stricken...just a humble, hard working, simple, sanctified, family home....

In one area the American people are playing right into the hands of the Communists (who worked hard to break apart the family unit) in the ever-growing divorce rate.  Statistics show that in the United States (in 1976), one out of every four marriages ends in divorce. (The statistic is over 50% now.) ....In other words, the American people themselves are deliberately breaking up the home as a unit.  This brings about a definite weakening in the moral and domestic fiber of the nation.  Moreover it is giving the Communists exactly what they wan; a people who are fast losing the meaning of the words, love, loyalty and allegiance.  With this gradual breakdown in the home life of the nation, it is all the more important that the Christian home should stand firm for all that is true and pure....

It is possible to have the most glamorous of weddings, and yet to find the married life an ever-increasing source of frustration, for that is what "In Vain" can mean---frustration--with its senseless struggle and waste of time, money and energy.  There is only one Builder, only one who holds the blueprint and decides the detail and structure of the home.  He knows the end from the beginning.  He promises and guarantees blessing and success if we commit our times and our ways---ourselves---into His hands."

Some of you may be thinking, "Doesn’t she know men are the head and guide of the home?"  Oh yes, husbands have a God ordained position as head of the home.  However, women are the spirit of the home. We set the tone of the home and we greatly influence the spirit and leadership ability of our men.  When we are not meeting God’s standard of being godly women of purity our marriages are in trouble, our children are not being trained correctly and our homes are far less than what God means for them to be. (And to clarify, teaching a child and training a child are two different things.  I can teach them the Word of God as written and fail to train them to have godly character, manners, integrity, right priorities, friends, etc.)

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