Modern society is increasingly mocking purity, yet God is pleased with those who endeavour to keep themselves pure before marriage. Increasing temptations combined with the declining standards concerning courting have made purity a rarity rather than the norm. Regardless of this trend, young people with a deep and abiding love for the Lord will continually strive to overcome these obstacles and remain pure. Those who have failed in the past will renew their commitment to the Lord seeking to prevent further regrets. This must be accomplished with a firm resolve. A young person must determine that he or she is going to respect the commandments of God and the other individual with whom he or she is courting. Beyond this, each young person must determine to build fences of protection to keep from entering into tempting situations. The Devil does not need much room to rob a youth of his or her purity (Ephesians 4:27).
Every word of God is pure, but the Bible contains words of emphasis intending to draw the reader’s attention to a specific thought. 1 Peter 3:8-9 begins with the word finally, thus signifying that this is the final statement in a list of thoughts. The closing statements on a matter frequently contain crucial truths. Certainly, these two verses offer the believer vital bits of information. They reveal five responsibilities: Believers are to be of one mind. They also are to have compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful (that is, full of pity for others), and be courteous. Verse nine defines courteous as not mistreating others even if mistreated. Finally, believers are promised that obedience offers them a great blessing.
The scripture plainly declares that God was compassionate prior tothe coming of Christ. Hiscoming to earth in a body of flesh simply confirmed that He is a compassionate Saviour. The coming of Christ, in the likeness of sinful flesh, enabled God the Son to experience the temptations and struggles of mankind (Romans 8:3, Hebrews 5:8). His compassion on earth reveals that He suffered with man, but more importantly, He suffered for man. He took the sins of the world upon Himself (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24), and gave man His own righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). One of the greatest demonstrationsof His compassion is the fact that God Himself loved us enough to be housed in a body of flesh (Hebrews 10:5).
