The Life of Purity Part I

Objective

• Teach children about the importance of living a life of purity.
• Learn about why our bodies are holy.

Memory Verse
"Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord." (Hebrews 12:14).

Introduction

• Today we are going to talk about living a life of purity. We will also review why our bodies are considered holy.

Lesson Outline/Activity

• First, let's talk about why purity is so important.
• Purity is actually God's will for us. God is pure, holy and righteous.
• As Christians, we should strive to live in a way that is pleasing to God. Christ is our example in the way we should live.
  
• In 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4, we read "For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor".
  
• In this verse, the word "vessel" refers to our bodies. St. Paul is teaching us that we should live differently than others - we should be dedicated to God and set apart.
• Both Samson and Joseph are examples of men from the Bible who tried to live pure lives. Samson took a vow of purity and dedicated himself to following God. He stayed away from drinking and promised not to become involved in relationships with women.
• He grew his hair as a symbol of his promise to God. When he was tempted and eventually sinned with a woman named Delilah, he lost the physical strength God had given him.
• Another Biblical example of purity is Joseph. While he was working for Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh in Egypt, Potiphar's wife tempted him when they were alone. Joseph literally ran away from her so that she could not pursue him, and he wouldn't fall into sin with her.
• Our memory verse encourages us to pursue holiness. Being holy means living in 
  a pure way. Ephesians 5:3 specifically states that Christians should avoid any sexual immorality, greed or any other impurity because these behaviors are not proper for Christ-followers.
• Let's talk about an example of purity in the world. I know you probably haven't yet bought a diamond for someone, right?
  • Diamonds are very expensive and valuable, aren't they?
  • Why do you think this is? They are rare stones and are also known to be one of the strongest of all stones. Did you know that you could cut using a diamond? So, are all diamonds the same price? No. Actually, diamonds are judged on various characteristics, such as their size and the way, they are cut. These are called color, carat, cut, and clarity.
  • The most important characteristic is clarity, which refers to the the purity of the diamond. Diamonds are rated by the number of impurities they have.
  • When people purchase a diamond, they look at it carefully under a microscope. Most diamonds look sparkly with your eyes, but they have several impurities which can be easily seen under the microscope. These diamonds will cost less than a diamond that has very few impurities.
  • These purer diamonds are very expensive because they are valuable and rare.
  • So, we can see from the diamond that purity is something highly valued. As humans, we are much more precious to God than diamonds. And our bodies should be protected and kept pure and holy.
  • Let's think about the diamond example again. If you owned one of those very
    rare and expensive diamonds, would you wear it while you were gardening or painting? Or would you take it off and keep it clean so you could protect it? It would be wise to take very good care of that diamond to preserve its beauty. We should be doing the same thing with our bodies.
• Let's talk about some of the ways our bodies are holy. We can read about the purity of the body in 1 Corinthians 6:12-20.
• It says "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? ... Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which is God's".
• Our bodies have been created in His likeness and His image. Jesus took flesh like ours when He came to earth. We as Christ- followers are members of Christ's body.
• Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. We were bought by the precious blood of Christ. We interact with God through the sacraments. Because of all these reasons, we need to glorify God throughout our lives by keeping our bodies holy and pure.
• We are responsible for making wise choices about what we see, what we hear, what we do, what we say and where we go.