Welcome to our recap of chapter 8 of the True Woman by Susan Hunt, which I have been reading through with several other ladies in the blogosphere. I have compiled a few thoughts from Marliss Bombardier and myself to emphasize the importance of purity in the pursuit of true biblical womanhood.
Positional Purity
The first part of the chapter sets up how we are positionally pure in Christ. “Christianity can demand a life of purity because the Christian faith makes provision for purification.” Pg. 170 We have been declared pure in God’s sight because the purity of Jesus has been transfered to us. This is a glorious truth, for though we were completely impure, God counted and declared us as pure and holy before Him!
Practical Purity
But God requires of us practical purity as well, and this is where the rubber meets the road, this is the day by day denying to ourselves and putting off the old man and his desires. Susan Hunt continues by declaring that God “expects those living in a covenant relationship with Him to reflect His character in the practical affairs of life.”
We must not take lightly the importance of active battle against sin and impurity in our lives!
We never lose our positional purity because it is based on what Christ did. But our practical purity suffers every time we commit sin. Titus 2 gives the specific command for the younger women to be pure…including it with the importance of loving husband, and children. Carolyn Mahaney in her book, Feminine Appeal, presents this passage in light of our quest for purity:
“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God…Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” (Col. 3:1-5)
Carolyn says: “Did you catch which comes first? Before we attempt to put to death sexual immorality, impurity, evil desire, etc. in our lives, we must first seek things that are above. Growth in purity can only be realized as we look upward to Jesus Christ….Let us never forget to put first things first. our conquest of sin begins with a deliberate resolve to set our hearts and minds on things above. As we contemplate what Christ has done for us, we will be compelled to pursue purity for His glory.”
Pride Tears Down Purity
In the rest of the chapter, Susan Hunt dwells on the impact of pride on our purity. The biblical character she uses to illustrate her teaching is Miriam, the sister of Moses. She and Aaron questioned whether God had spoken only through Moses. Miriam’s questioning caused the Lord to inflict her with leprosy.
Pride results from either self-consciousness or self-confidence. In the case of Aaron & Miriam it was self-confidence, but self-consciousness (thinking negatively about oneself, false humility) is just as deadly.
How easy for us to question the authority of our husbands or those over us? Pride is quick to creep in and lead us to believe through little thoughts of annoyance or dissatisfaction that we are being treated poorly. Pride quickly swallows up purity, if we are aware of its deceiving power.
True humility is a result of self-forgetfulness!
This is my [Lindsay] great shortcoming. How easy it is to compare myself to another, thinking poorly of myself, or on the other hand to think myself superior to another. God forgive me for tearing down my purity in this way.
I [Marliss] have put together a few quotes that particularly spoke to me from pages 178-79.
“A prideful heart and a pure heart cannot coexist...”
The “deadly D’s of discontentment, disappointment, discouragement, and despair all thrive in a prideful heart.”
Freedom from pride does not come from thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less!
“[Women] have a tendency to see life in its bits and pieces rather than as part of the flow of redemption. When we look at the individual parts of our lives, some things appear unfair and unpleasant. When we take them out of the context of the big picture, we easily drift into the attitude that we deserve better, and the tumble down into the pit of pride begins. Pride infects the heart with leprosy. One of the first symptoms of leprosy is insensitivity to pain… Pride does the same thing to the heart. It desensitizes us and eats away the soul…”
Pride dogs our very steps. Anything we think, do, or say that is not for God’s glory can foster, grow, and exalt our own foolish pride. It is easy for us to look at the new woman and see the things in her life that do not glorify God. But what about us? I know that for me [Marliss], selfish pride constantly trips me up. I pray with the Psalmist, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10
Discussion Questions:
1. How can we be be active in battling pride in our lives?
2. How can pride result in discontentment, disappointment discouragement or despair?
Any other thoughts? Please feel free to share what’s on your heart.
In my life pride is a central problem and I actually did appreciate your post, Lindsay, about your educational journey and the sudden longing to achieve more and more. I think this is my problem, too. On the one hand it is good to be ambitious because without ambition you do not achieve your goals, do not pass exams with good grades.
But on the other hand being focused on success and academic results can lead us into the temptation of pride and self-centeredness.
I start being proud because I am good at what I am doing. And even if I conceal ugly feelings like the feeling of superiority toward other people, I know that I do have these feelings very often.
Sometimes, when we fall and when we fail we get in one moment a realistic picture of the true self. Perhaps these failures make us humble – for some weeks.
I pray for a humble attitude. Last week I was critized very much and some aspects seemed to be not very just in my opinion. The person who critized me is a someone very kind with a liking for me. I tried to welcome these words as a blessing, as a welcome hubling experience for my pride. Of course it is difficult and torturing not to justify myself. But perhaps these situations can be a great blessing – and a lesson in “pride”. Although I fail in many situations like these, last week I was able to resist the wish to justify and to give in. Later I felt relieved to experience this…