We Can Remain Chaste

"DRAW CLOSE TO GOD"

The Bible's direction to those who wish to "draw close to God" is: "Cleanse your hands, . . .and purify your hearts."  (James 4:8)  When we treasure our friendship; with Jehovah we strive to please him in every aspect of our life, including our thoughts.  We desire to have "a pure heart" by focusing our minds on what is chaste, virtuous, and praiseworthy.  (Psalm 24:3, 4; 51:6; Philippians 4:8) Granted, Jehovah makes allowances for our imperfect nature.  He knows  that we are prone to  improper desires.  But we recognize that it saddens him when we nurture wrong thoughts instead of doing all we can to reject them.  (Genesis 6:5, 6) Reflecting on this fact makes us every more determined to keep our thoughts chaste. 

An important way to show our complete reliance on Jehovah is by making our fight against unclean thoughts a matter of prayer. When we draw close to Jehovah in prayer, he draws close to us. He generously  gives us his holy spirit, thus strengthening our resolve to resist immoral thoughts and remain chaste.  So let us make known to God our earnest wish to please him with the meditation of our heart. (Psalm 19:14)  Do we humbly ask him to examine us  in order to identify any "harmful way"-any improper desires or inclinations-that could lead us into sin?  (Psalm 139:23, 24) Do we regularly  petition him to help us maintain our integrity when we are faced with temptation? -Matthew 6:13. 

Our upbringing or our past conduct may have developed in us a liking for practices that Jehovah condemns. Even then, he can help us to bring about necessary changes so that we can continue to serve him  acceptably. King David recognized this. After he had committed adultery with Bath-sheba, David implored  Jehovah:  "Create in me a pure  heart, . . .and put within me a new spirit, a steadfast one." (Psalm 51:10, 12) Sinful conduct may strongly appeal to our fallen flesh, but Jehovah can stir within us  a willing spirit, the desire to obey him. Even if wrong desires are deeply rooted and tend to crowd out our chaste thoughts, Jehovah can guide our steps so that we can obey his commandments and succeed in living by them. He can prevent anything harmful from dominating us. -Psalm 119:133. 

Next time: We Can Remain Chaste - "BECOME DOERS OF THE WORD" 

From the Watchtower magazine, 2015