Dear Girls:

        There are so many commercials, magazine articles, and blogs out there telling you that you are beautiful just the way you are. And you are. These ads and articles talk about your self-worth and how you should love yourself.

        But there's not much out there about purity, which, to God, is far more important than how beautiful you or others think you are. You might be thinking, "Oh, here we go again with the sex talk; I get enough of that at home/at church/at youth group". However, purity is so, so much more than abstaining from sex.

        Phillipians 4:8 says: ".....whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."

       Purity starts in your heart and mind. What do you spend your time thinking about? What words and pictures do you put into your brain? Every day, most of you watch television shows or movies, videos on the Internet, listen to music, or read magazines or books. The images you see and the things you hear are what you think about. And the things you think about influence what you say and do.

       A few nights ago, one of the girls in our youth group asked me if I thought listening to secular music was a sin. My answer was pretty much this: There are many secular songs that don't have terrible lyrics. The act of listening to them is not a sin. The question is this--what do you want to fill your mind with? Music is a huge part of my life and there have been times when I have listened to only Christian music and there have been times when I have listened mostly to secular music. I will tell you that I am focused on the things of God much more when I fill my.mind with song lyrics that are about my walk with God or that praise Him. Some of those other songs may seem harmless, but they're definitely not helpful. Other songs may seem harmless, but give us a completely skewed view on what love is or should be. And like I said, it's not just songs, but all other forms of media and even the people we hang around with the most.

        So, purity, or lack of, starts in the heart and shows itself in the way we act. You know the saying, "Garbage in. Garbage out" or Proverbs 3:27, which says, "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he." You will become what you think about the most--whatever that is. If you get up in the morning and read God's Word, surround yourself with Godly friends, listen to music that reminds you about Him, and pray, your heart and mind will be on God. Your focus will be on God and what you can do to live for Him--in every area of your life--by the way you dress, what you say, your relationships with the opposite sex, how you treat others, whether you respect your parents, by saying "no" to things that you know you shouldn't do or watch or listen to. It's not always easy, but it's easier with God's help.

         Please don't settle for being anyone less than who God called you to be! He made you beautiful, but He's called you to be pure. He makes you pure if you trust Him to help you.