The purity of your soul is a weapon.

Harnessing the power of a pure heart - Soul 002

Happy Temple Tuesday! Welcome to the second installment of the purity series. I will be delving into the purity of the soul and how it is a weapon, I will take a lot more time to break down how and why this topic is important for you and I. As usual, I am excited that you’re here my friend. Let’s get into it 🥳

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Purity, War & Warfare

So, I realize that in last week's letter, I didn’t really take time to explain purity, especially in the context of warfare. As such, I’d like to do that today. The word 'purity,' according to the Oxford Dictionary, means 'freedom from adulteration or contamination,' and the word 'warfare' means 'engagement in or the activities involved in war or conflict.'

Now, in the physical realm, weapons of warfare are things like guns and explosives, etc. In the spirit realm, these things look different: righteousness, the word, truth, and all the rest (Ephesians 6:10). The weapons in that particular scripture are not the only weapons that can be used in warfare for the believer. For instance, in 2 Chronicles 20, the Israelites won a battle through praise; that was their weapon. In 1 Samuel 17, David won against Goliath through the power of his testimony. The slingshot was a carnal weapon backed by the real weapon of David's testimony.

When I realized that our weapons of warfare are many, I started to explore how purity, too, can be a weapon. How can we defeat the enemy by keeping ourselves pure? This, to me, seems like a no-brainer, and I kind of alluded to it in last week's letter. When we stay pure in our body, soul, and spirit, we sort of build a wall around ourselves, and this keeps the devil away. Remember, purity means to be free from adulteration and contamination; that means that when we choose to stay pure, we are literally fighting the devil off.

In war, one can either have an offensive strategy or a defensive one. To be defensive simply means to have protective measures against the enemy, such as hiding out. Being offensive, on the other hand, is the strategy of actually going after your enemy and actively attacking them. Now you’re probably wondering how purity is going after the devil, and I’m more than glad to explain. I will focus on the purity of the soul in today's letter.

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Gods original design

Often times when the word 'heart' is used in scripture, it doesn’t only refer to the emotional state of a man; rather, it addresses the soul – that is the emotions, mind, and will. That is why the scriptures can say, 'as a man thinketh in his heart,' the mind is what is being referred to in this scripture.

So, I chose to not just read Matthew 5:8 as purity of heart, but as that of the soul – purity of the mind, emotions, and will.

In 2021, my sister had a son. He has now become my favorite person in the entire world, but that’s not all he has been. He has also given me perspective into what the soul being unadulterated looks like, what God's original design is for us.

When Jordy (my nephew) wants to jump, he jumps; when he wants food, he says so; when he feels bad, he cries; when he is happy, he runs around and screams on top of his lungs. That’s God's perfect design for us – to live freely and without fear or reserve. Unfortunately, it doesn’t stay that way for long because the issues of life start coming at us. 'Grown-ups' start to tell us how to live, and we lose the purity we came into the world with.

What happens along the way is that our perspective of who God is starts to become warped. We start to look at Him through the lens of all the impurities of the world like fear, insecurity, and trauma, just to name a few. And what happens when we can't see God as He truly is, is that we open doors and leave room for the enemy to attack, 'to steal, kill, and destroy.' He begins to kill dreams, to steal destinies, and destroy lives, all because our hearts have been contaminated with his lies. That is why it is important for us, as God's children, to embark on a journey to purify our hearts.

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Taking our lives back and seeing God

When we as Christians start to do the work of becoming pure in our souls, we are literally waging war against the devil. That is how it’s a weapon. We are no longer hiding; we are coming after the lies of the enemy full force. Where he steers fear our way, we start to uncover what living fearlessly looks like; where he stole our opportunity to have earthly fathers through the dysfunction of family, we start to embrace the truth of God being our father. There are so many places where the enemy has contaminated our souls. Our will is impure because we make decisions that are inspired by fear, envy, or comparison, and that, my friend, is not God's design.

You see, doing the work of purifying our souls is exactly that; it’s work. It’s about being honest and introspective and choosing to address every part of our soul that is living below God's standard and initial design.

When a Christian becomes aware of these impurities that mask themselves as imposter syndrome or whatever else the world has given a fancy name, they literally wage war against darkness. When we start to remove these scales through inner work, we can start to see God clearly. And man oh man, when we see God for who He is, we begin to walk differently because only then can we fully walk in the fullness of who we are. Emotional wellness and mental health are, to the Christian, much more important than what the world makes it out to be. They can be either a hindrance or a gateway to see God. So, maybe you need therapy, even as you pray for healing. Maybe you finally have to start reading self-help books or memoirs or listening to podcasts. I have found in my personal life that reading memoirs has given me insight into my own life and the places where I need God. As crazy as it sounds, reading another person share the story of their lives has given me the language and clarity to see my own. Yet, another reason why I will always advocate for vulnerability.

A lot of the times as believers, we like to address the symptom and not the root, and when we cannot understand the root, we decide that things are as a result of sin. This is not always the case. I know believers who still struggle with 'little white lies,' and you’ll find that the reason for this was because they didn’t grow up in a space where truth was taken well. So, they taught themselves to lie as a protective measure; that’s what their brains believe. So the reason for this struggle has more to do with their lack of awareness than it does with their lack of love for God. All these people need is to firstly see God as a good loving father that won’t bash and abuse them for being truthful and honest. They need to know the root of their problem.

Friend, remember that spiritual warfare is essentially a battle for the heart (soul). The enemy seeks to corrupt our hearts with doubt, fear, anger, and impure desires. But a pure heart becomes a powerful defense against these attacks. In 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 (NIV), the scriptures say, 'For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.' Purity is one of these divine weapons.

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Temple Recommends

This week, I’m sharing three things. A sermon from my favorite Pastors, a page I recently found on instagram that is so insightful and an amazing song I can’t get enough of.

Sermon : Weapons of warfare | a shield of faith by Pastor Daniel kaira

Song : More Than Able by Elevation Worship ft. Chandler Moore

Instagram : @the.holistic.psychologist

That’s it from me, please share in the comments what you’ve read, watched it listened to this week and of course let me know your thoughts on todays letter.

See you Tuesday.

Love,

Ruth Musange