Perfection Is Not Needed, Just Learn To Stay Pure

In review of 2 Timothy 2:21 it says, “If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work”

Bottom Line:

Keep pure and clean so that you can be used for God’s special purposes.

What this means to me:

If I keep myself pure, I will be a special utensil that is used for honorable use, and ready for use by God for every good work.

This verse reminds me that in order for me to be used by God, I need to keep a pure heart.

I don’t have to be a perfect person, but I do have to have a pure heart. Today’s verse in 2 Timothy 2:21 says, “If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work” (NLT).

It’s good to know that God uses all kinds of people. He uses shy people. He uses outgoing people. He uses all different races, ages, stages of life, and backgrounds. He uses men and women. God will use plain vessels, and he’ll use ornate vessels. He’ll use big vessels and small vessels. But what I’m learning is that there is one thing that God will not use: He will not use a dirty vessel. Therefore to be used, I need to be clean on the inside.

I’m thinking the best way to keep myself clean is through confession. The confession of my bad works is the beginning of good ones. In 1 John 1:9 I see, “If we confess our sins to God, he will keep his promise and do what is right: he will forgive us our sins and purify us from all our wrongdoing” (TEV).

Here’s an interesting tidbit... The word “confess” in Greek is the word homologeo. Homo means “same,” and logeo means “to speak.” So homologeo literally means “to speak the same about my sin that God does.” It means I agree with him: “God, you’re right. It wasn’t a faux pas. It wasn’t a mistake. It was a sin. It was wrong.” It doesn’t mean I can bargain with God (“I’ll never do it again”). It doesn’t mean I can bribe God (“I promise to read my Bible every day if you’ll forgive me”).  I simply just admit it.

All I’ve got to do is admit it, and God will forgive me.  It’s wonderful and It’s called grace!

If I really want to be used by God, I should take time to sit down ready to create a list, and say, “God, what’s wrong in my life? Show me. Then write it down, and admit it. Confess and admit it to Him. These are wrong and I don’t want them in my life. Then, ask God to cleanse my life.

This is one practical step to purify my heart and being of use to God.