My kid had a total meltdown in the freezer aisle at Trader Joe’s this afternoon, complete with people staring and making comments. I blocked them out, remained calm, and gave myself a pat on the back when I finally got her calmed down – which didn’t happen until I finally prayed, “Lord, please show me what to do here!!”
I’m planning my sister’s baby shower, two weddings, and a middle school girls sleepover in the next 2 weeks. Sorry hubby. I haven’t even thought about your birthday next week :/
I swear I spend half my day rolling toilet paper back UP the roll and the other half exhausted, trying to motivate myself to check off the things on my to do list. Even coffee didn’t seem to work today…
And, now, here I come before the Lord to find out what I should be saying to 20 middle school girls Friday night. The topic: Purity. Guard your heart.
Honestly, it’s a topic I thought was boring most of my life. Ew, purity doesn’t sound fun. More like fun-killer! And yet,two years ago the Lord started speaking to me about purity. But wait. You’re married Lisa. Aren’t purity talks for teens and tweens. Save yourself for marriage and all that. Why is God teaching you about purity now? Excellent question. Thanks for asking. Because purity is necessary to keep your marriage strong. That’s why God wants us to come into marriage pure. So our foundation is solid. From then on it’s about keeping it pure. Keeping out the things that will deteriorate your marriage – the things that will deteriorate the trust between you and your spouse.
But how do you stay pure? What does that mean? It means guarding your heart and mind.
“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” Proverbs 4:23 (NLT) But take a look at another verse that uses the same phrase:
“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” Matthew 6:33
How can both verses say “above all else” unless they’re saying the same thing? Perhaps the key to guarding your heart is to seek the Kingdom of God. It’s one and the same. Above all else, guard your heart by seeking Christ. Purity is found by seeking Christ. Seeking Christ just means talking to Him, learning who he is and what he desires, making Him Lord of your life, truly.
I want to be like Christ and I want to protect my marriage and that means filtering the junk out of my life. I can’t just say Jesus make me pure and keep doing, reading, and watching whatever I want. What you take in, will come back out. Put in good, and good will come out. Put in trash, and trash is what will come out.
What are you allowing into your life? Are you consuming trash? Or are you guarding your heart?
The key is seeking Jesus. He wants you to experience the best marriage possible.