How Can a Young Person Keep Their Way Pure?

( 4-3-23 )

"( 9 ) How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. ( 10 ) With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! ( 11 ) I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you."

Psalm 119:9-11

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There are many temptations in the world for those who are young. Drinking, smoking, partying, and sexual sin is at an all-time high due to social media and pop culture promoting these activities as ideals for how to live. In this world filled with temptations to sin at every corner, how can a young person stay on the path of purity and obedience to God's commands? The Psalmist of Psalm 119 answers this question in the 9th verse of his psalm. There, he states that the way a young person can keep his way pure before God is by guarding it according to Scripture.

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, to guard can mean to "protect from danger especially by watchful attention: make secure". Additionally, it could mean to "tend to carefully". Both of these definitions indicate that it takes careful and watchful attention for a young person to keep his way pure. It's not something that should be neglected.

The Psalm also emphasizes that the only way to walk in the path of purity- whether it be spiritual, ceremonial, physical, or ethical purity - is by means of following God's commands. No other way will suffice as it is God's standard of purity that we must live by. In order to stay on a path pleasing to God, it's necessary to spend time each day studying and meditating on God's Word. We must also take care to apply what we read to our lives personally. By doing so, we will be made aware of what God expects of us. Furthermore, it will remind us of the blessings that come from obeying God as well as of the destruction that comes upon those who stray from His commands.

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God, Creator of the heavens and the earth, please help me to carefully watch over the way in which I walk before You and help me to be careful to live according to Your Word. You are not pleased with wickedness and You expect Your children to live lives of purity where we abstain from the desires of our flesh. Help me to seek to please You and walk with You before anyone else.

In Jesus' Name, I pray, Amen.