Staying on Course
In the spirit of Valentine’s, at WitnessLA.org we’re featuring the stories and testimonies on what God has shown Christians about singleness, relationships, and love all the days leading up to Feb. 14th. Today, our Voice M shares how God helped her find love and maintain purity in her relationship.
About two years ago I had shared my struggles with purity. I was walking strongly with the Lord when I was tempted and almost succumbed to feelings of lust. Looking back I am so glad God intervened and saved me from that situation for a number of reasons. God saved me from another bad romance, He prevented me from sinning against Him and causing a division between us, and He used that situation to help prepare me to have the godly relationship I would have with my future husband.
I met my fiancée a couple weeks after overcoming my temptation. Through a series of miscommunication I ended up at a small group he hosted instead of being at the Freedom and Fashion’s meeting across town. There our romance began. I knew this relationship was different because God had allowed it to happen in the small group. In the past I would meet guys on my own and have a relationship outside my circle of friends. This time, God wanted me to have accountability and support by allowing our relationship to develop the way it did.
We had our struggles and many moments of temptations but because we always came to God for help, He made it possible for us to maintain purity for over two and half years. This is an impressive track record for someone like me, given my history. It also taught me something so amazing about God. Although He is pure, righteous, and holy, He is also extremely compassionate, quick to forgive, and always there to help in times of struggle. I have come to Him after many struggles with physical boundaries, and each time He miraculously makes it so that I can have the godly, loving, and healthy relationship I were meant to have. Never once did He ignore my prayers and judged me for my mistakes.
I have learned that apart from God I’m not able to make the progress I’ve made. Often times in the past I would try to undo or make up for my mistakes. This mindset only resulted in more mistakes and feelings of shame and guilt. It wasn’t until I began to embrace God’s grace and allowed Him to be the Lord over my life that I began to grow and transform into a better person. As our friend Nancy has shared in her post last week, part of trusting God means testing God’s faithfulness. When we fall into temptation we should cry out to God and allow Him the opportunity to prove that He’ll be faithful to rescue us. Although I hate that I have purity challenges, I am relieved to know that when I give them over to God, He is able to redeem those areas my life. God uses my struggles to remind me that Jesus has overcome sin, including mine, so I need to let go of my failures and continue to try to the live the I was designed to live because God will always be there help me.
