A Life of Purity: The Purity Ring

 When I turned 14, my Dad took me to the mall to buy me a purity ring. We looked and looked and finally ended up at the jewelry store, Littman's. I saw a beautiful ring that was a heart shaped amethyst. I had been wanting either an amethyst or a ruby, not too big because I have small hands. I decided that I wanted that exact ring so we measured my finger. What's cool is that that is where my Dad bought my Mom's wedding ring. The lady then said it would take about a week to be sized. Dad and I then went to get lunch. We ate at Sonny's. What a great place to go right after you went to go look for a ring, right? The next thing I did was.....wait. It was hard waiting. Finally, the day came when I could go get my ring, try it on just to make sure if it really fit, then just look at it. I was so excited to finally get my ring; I had been waiting for months.

You ask, "Why get a purity ring, what does it mean?" I decided to study it out for myself even though I had a pretty good idea from my parent's teaching.

      Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are PURE, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any VIRTUE, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

   I want us to look at these two words; pure, or purity, and virtue. The definition of pure is: free from what contaminates, weakens or pollutes; free from moral faults; innocent; chaste. Purity is the quality or state of being pure.     Virtue means conformity to a standard; morality.

  Before we go on, I want to give you the definition of chaste. Chaste means innocent of unlawful sexual intercourse.  Chaste is our word for this post.  The purity ring is focused on this six letter word; Chaste.

     The purity ring says that we are going to save our first kiss for our husband. Just like a wedding ring is a symbol that you are married and a covenant to your husband that you are going to stay true to him, the purity ring is a symbol that you are going to keep yourself pure for the day, hour and minute of your marriage and for your future husband. It is a covenant to God and also to your parents that you will not hug or kiss a guy before the day of your marriage or doing this with someone who is not your husband. 

  You ask, "Why do I need to keep myself pure?"

 First, we know that the purity ring says that we are saving our first kiss for our  husband on our wedding day. If you go around kissing every guy you like or think is a little cute or kiss a guy just for the fun of experiencing it, how does your husband know that you are going to stay true to him? 

  Second, God's Word commands us to be pure. I Timothy 4:12 says, "Let no man despise thy youth: but be thou the example of the believers...in spirit...in purity."

   Not only does being pure deal with the outside but it also deals with your thoughts. Let me take you back to our verse which says, ''Finally, Brethren, ...  whatsoever things are pure... if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things." So, we see here that being pure also means thinking on things that are just, right, and holy.
   

This is what my ring means to me: the purple means that I am a child of the King. The heart means that I am going to save my heart for my husband, the diamonds stand for purity. And the band of course is a symbol of the covenant with God and my parents.

One of the things that is a great help to us girls in my family with this subject is the book written by Sarah Mally- "Before You Meet Prince Charming".  It is a great book that talks about purity. I highly recommend it.

   If you want to make this commitment you need to realize that you are promising God. Woe to the person who breaks his promises with God, the One who never breaks his promises to us!  If you decide to  make this commitment I am so excited for you! Making this commitment to God and your parents is one of the greatest decisions you will ever make.