A Call to Purity: Living a Lifestyle of Purity

By Richard and Brittni De La Mora

Most people think purity means saving yourself for marriage, a way to keep your virginity intact, or just a concept that applies to young people. The truth is, purity is not just for young people - purity is for all people. It's not a sex issue, it's a heart issue. It isn't just for a season of life; it's a lifestyle. This book is our story and

• Language: English
• Publisher: Leadership Books
• Release date: Jun 7, 2021
• ISBN: 9781954618152

Book preview

Introduction

Redefining Purity

Brittni: There has to be a better way of living, I thought to myself while deciding to leave my pimp and shortly after quitting the porn industry. My life was full of poor choices. I always say a broken heart makes broken decisions, which was my life’s theme until I surrendered it to Jesus.

Shortly after making the decision to follow Jesus, I heard the church I started attending was hosting a purity ceremony, and I was intrigued. Like many, I didn’t fully understand the depth of the word purity. I had always thought it just meant no sex before marriage. Despite my misunderstanding of what it means to pursue purity, I thought the ceremony was an excellent place to start. I bought a purity ring and vowed before our church and God to remain celibate until marriage. I believed this was my second chance at life––a second chance to finally do things right.

After years of making bad decisions, I realized that all those choices left me with was a drug addiction, depression, and several failed suicide attempts. I was ready to take a different path and was willing to do whatever it took. February 20, 2013, the day of the purity ceremony, marks what I consider to be the first day of the rest of my life. Little did I know, my future husband was also sitting in that ceremony and making the same covenant publicly before our church.

Fast forward to three years later, Rich and I were engaged and planning our wedding and, as it turns out, the only day the venue we desired was available was on February 20, 2016. We got married exactly three years after we made our vow of celibacy. Friends, God is in every detail of our lives. It saddens me that not everyone has this testimony. Rich and I know many people who’ve done the purity ceremony and have since left the church or still make impure decisions. They’ve disconnected from God because they never caught the revelation of what purity means.

Perhaps, the same applies to you. Most people think purity means saving yourself for marriage, a way to keep your virginity intact, or just a concept that only applies to young people. The truth is, purity is not just for young people—purity is for all people. It’s not a sex issue; it’s a heart issue. It isn’t just for a season of life; it’s a lifestyle. Purity is one of the most significant advantages we have as believers because when we lead a pure life, we’ll live a blessed life.

The pureness of the heart is a directive from God. He continually searches for pure hearts. To develop and keep a pure heart, we must intentionally extend forgiveness, quickly let go of offenses, and take control of our thoughts. Now, you might be wondering what your thoughts have to do with purity. Well, they affect it more than you think. Thoughts will form our words, emotions, attitudes, motives, and, ultimately, our actions.

We believe more than ever that God is calling us to purity. He wants us to stop allowing contaminations to taint our hearts, and He wants us to desire purity so much that we stop entering atmospheres that pollute our faith and character. Satan plans to keep us bound, broken, and prematurely destroy what God wants to do in and through us. Satan knows there is nothing more powerful than a pure heart.

We wrote this book to remind you that God has a plan for your life—a plan for you to prosper and walk out the call that He specifically designed for you. All too often, we see many people start well but they don’t finish well. People who finish the race well are the ones who guard their hearts. For God’s plans to flourish in your life, you’ll need to walk out the path of purity. When your life is pure, there is no stopping what God can do through you.

Chapter One:

The Heart of The Matter

No matter what chains are broken,

slavery is the condition of the heart.

Marquita Burke Dejesus

Brittni: Oh no! I shouted as I got off the freeway in a panic. I ran over a huge tumbleweed and it knocked something off the bottom of my car. It was 11 p.m., pitch black and I was lost. I spent the day in Los Angeles with a woman I used to work with while in the porn industry. I reconnected with her while serving and handing out Bibles at a porn convention. She was one of the women I prayed for daily for three months before attending the porn show.

It wasn’t a coincidence that I ran into her—it was a divine act birthed through prayer.

Wow! I can’t believe you’re here! What are you doing here? You look so different! Good, but different. You look really happy, she said, surrounded by her fans, in the middle of the showroom floor.

Thank you so much! I’m here handing out Bibles. God has changed my life. I truly am happy. I miss you so much. How are you?

She immediately started sobbing and said, I’m not good, but I can’t talk right now because…. She looked around with embarrassment as her fans eagerly awaited a moment to spend with her.

It’s okay. I know exactly how you feel, but God is good and He has a great plan and purpose for your life. Your whole world is going to change! Give me your number and I’ll call you on Monday. I responded.

We spoke that Monday and I shared what God did in my life and what He wants to do in hers. She called her agent and quit porn that same day. I told her I’d make the two-and-a-half hour drive to the Los Angeles Valley that Sunday to take her to church.

We both cried together as we worshipped God that Sunday morning and, at the end of the service, she raised her hand and made Jesus her Lord and Savior. We spent the afternoon and evening together. She had a Jesus glow all over her. After dropping her off at almost 9 p.m., I needed to get home. I was hoping to be in bed by midnight at the latest because I had to work in the morning. I am not a night owl, so I hit the road extremely tired.

At this time of my life, I didn’t have a smartphone because I couldn’t afford one. I had a basic phone without any extravagant features, such as navigation. I did have portable navigation that plugged into my car, but it wasn’t working for some reason. I jumped on the freeway, assuming I was driving in the right direction. I drove for almost two hours when out of nowhere, a huge tumbleweed flew my way. I ran it over and could hear something fall from my car. I immediately pulled off the freeway in a panic. I started crying. I was alone, it was dark, and my cellphone had no service.

I cried out to God and decided to give my navigation another shot. Glory to God! It works!

I exclaimed. However, when I put my home address in, it said I was three hours and forty-five minutes away from my home. How can this be? I’ve been driving for over an hour. This thing must be broken, I thought to myself as I reentered my address. My navigation didn’t change its mind. I was still three hours and forty-five minutes away from my home. Wow! This whole time I’ve been driving the wrong way. I got back on the freeway and headed home. I wasn’t asleep by midnight like I hoped for. It was 3 a.m. when I finally laid my head on my pillow.

When I woke up for work in the morning I thought about my drive and how for over an hour I thought I was going the right way, but, ultimately, found myself going the wrong way. This moment reminded me that just because you think you’re going the right way doesn’t mean you are. Proverbs 14:12 (NIV) says, There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end, it leads to death. It appeared that I was driving the right way, but I was deceived. In this world today, we see countless people doing the same thing. People are driving on what they think are the right roads, but they are misled. They spend countless hours majoring on their gifts while they minor in their character. People are so consumed with their image and how they look publicly, but privately, their lives are falling apart. People are trying to fit in, yet God has called us to stand out. All of these paths are roads that hinder our calling, our heart, our marriage, and our walk with God. If we are going to be who God has called us to be, then we can’t enter the wrong address in our navigation and expect to arrive at the right destination. I believe now, more than ever, God is calling us to address the issues in our heart because everything we do flows from it.

Why is God into our Heart?

In our society, we are consumed and driven by public perception, such as how we look, how we appear to others, how many followers we have and our social status. But the truth is, God isn’t into the external. He is into the internal. The external is deceptive. Have you ever been attracted to someone, but were turned off once you got to know them? Their appearance drew you in and their words enticed you, but when you saw their attitude and motives, you realized what was once attractive quickly became unattractive. How could this happen? Because their heart wasn’t right.

God is interested in the state of our hearts and who we are in private because that’s who we indeed are. His concern is about what you’re holding onto in your heart because the quality of our decisions is a reflection of our hearts. If our heart is damaged and contaminated, we will operate with impure mindsets that lead to impure decision-making. The condition of our hearts directs the destiny of our lives.

Genesis Chapter 4 tells a story about two brothers named Cain and Abel and teaches us the importance of purity. It is important to note that Cain is the eldest of the two. This story in the Bible goes on to beautifully illustrate and depict how important it is to not only make sure your heart is right but also to not overlook its condition.

Genesis 4:1-7 (NKJV) says:

Now Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, ‘I have acquired a man from the LORD.’ Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in the process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. But He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.

When Cain and Abel gave their offering, the Lord accepted Abel’s offering but rejected Cain’s and, because of this, Cain’s anger got the best of him. There’s one thing in this passage we could easily overlook and that is Cain’s occupation. Cain was a tiller of the ground. His job was to not only prepare the soil but to also make sure the land was fertile so when they seeded the fields, the harvest would be healthy and plentiful. Isn’t it true that we can be known for something publicly yet fail to do it privately? Cain took care of the appearance of things, he tilled the ground, but he never tilled the issues of his heart. Because he failed to care for his heart, anger and envy guided him. When God saw the state of Cain’s heart, He intervened and gave Cain another opportunity. But, because Cain was misguided, he didn’t listen to the Lord’s advice. When Cain rejected the Lord’s wisdom and did not take care of his heart, he allowed sin to rule over him and, sadly, killed his brother.

This passage is a prime example of why God wants us to pursue purity and take care of our hearts. The mismanagement of our heart and not addressing sin will contaminate every thought and decision we make. We can’t think for a moment that we will make pure decisions with an impure heart. The condition of your heart matters to God because a contaminated heart will make contaminated decisions.

Cancel the Performance

When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.’ But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart’ 1 Samuel 16:6-7 (NIV).

Before the prophet Samuel anointed the next king, God told him not to consider the outward appearance, but to only consider the heart. The word consider means to think carefully about something before making a decision. When God says, Do not consider his appearance or height, He was instructing Samuel not to waste his time pondering a man’s appearance, because God isn’t interested in the outward appearance. God made this bold statement because our appearance doesn’t show the condition of our hearts. Our appearance can hide our motives. It’s easy to pretend like you’re supportive of other people’s wins. You can act like you care about a person and pretend like you have it all together, meanwhile, cursing people in your heart while your life is falling apart privately. When we’re into the appearance of things, we look to be worshipped by people, but when we tend to the conditions of our hearts, we seek to worship God. God was looking for a man after His own heart and He found that in David.

In our generation, we lack authenticity because we are constantly performing. We perform for appreciation, recognition, and to feel valued. You can perform for others all you’d like, but the truth is God doesn’t want your performance—He wants your authenticity. When you’re authentic, you come to God with the real you, but when you’re performance-driven, you go to God with the hidden you. You bring Him the unknown you that desperately wishes you could expose what’s going on inside of you but your fears are silently whispering that you won’t be accepted. You show Him the hidden you that wants to unveil your struggles and battles but fears judgment if you do. We’ve got great news for you. You can put down the performance and be the real you. There is nothing you can or can’t do that will stop God from loving you. He wants you to stop performing so that He can do greater things inside of you. But to stop the performance, you have to know who you are in Christ.

We’ve realized when you don’t know who you are in Christ, you’ll perform, but when you do know who you are in Christ, you operate in freedom, transparency, and authenticity. God’s desire isn’t for you to perform but for you to come boldly and honestly before Him. He is not going to anoint the performance version of you but He will anoint the real you. David got the Lord’s attention not because he was perfect, he got his attention because of his heart for God. Friends, can we remind you there is real freedom in authenticity, but there is bondage in performance. Don’t allow anyone to stop you from being who God has called you to be. God is calling you to catch the revelation of how loved you are by Him. Let go of the performance and chase after His heart.

We assure you that God is still looking for people after His own heart today. He’s not looking for a perfect person, nor a performance-based person, but a person who is in pursuit of Him. God doesn’t need a person who says all the right things, He wants someone who is willing to be transparent and transformed by Christ. He’s not searching for a perfect image. God is looking for a person who has the image of Jesus placed inside their heart.

What Stopped the Oil?

When the prophet Samuel tried to anoint Eliab, one of Jesse’s seven sons, as the next king of Israel, the Scripture teaches us the Lord said he wasn’t the one. Although Samuel thought Eliab was the one, God rejected him because of his heart. Samuel was looking at Eliab’s appearance while God was looking at his heart. 1 Samuel 17:28 reveals how Eliab struggled with a contaminated heart. He dealt with anger, which is a clear indication that he had unresolved issues. Unresolved issues produce blockages that’ll affect everything you do in life. Did you know that clogged arteries cause hardening and blockage of blood flow to your heart? When there is a blockage of blood flow, it causes you to be more susceptible to heart attacks.

Just as it is in the natural realm, it is in the spiritual realm. When you have a hardened heart, rivers of living water cannot flow through you. God wants His anointing and Spirit to flow through you because when He flows through you, He brings life to your soul and will use you to bring freedom and healing to others. However, when our heart is hard, God can’t move because hard hearts never let God in. God wants to use His Spirit to