Continuing with our weekly camp theme of “Impossible is Nothing,” today’s specific theme is “Purity is Possible.” Green team captain Shannon Shaffer started the day off with a flagpole devotion about purity. Although we must remain pure when we are thinking about choosing a boyfriend/girlfriend, we must remain pure and always be clothed with modest apparel, and we must remain pure sexually until marriage as commanded in God’s law, but purity is even deeper than these. He stressed the importance to keep a pure heart, to keep our eyes pure, and to keep our body pure. Matthew 5:8 – “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” I Timothy 4:12 – “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”
Sports director Greg King led three separate classes on purity this morning for the Group 1, Group 2, and Group 3 campers. He stressed the importance of purity in social media. Are you posting things on social media that you should not be? Do you de-friend people that you don’t want to see your Facebook status? Believe it or not, social media is a pretty good mirror of your heart, so, as with anything else, social media can help or hinder your spirituality, depending on how you use it. James 1:27 stresses the importance “to keep himself unspotted from the world.” Isn’t it hypocritical to appear to be a righteous, upstanding Christian within the four walls of the church’s meeting place, but to have a totally opposite, shocking, and surprising presence on social media? We should make the best impression we can on the world: “For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself” – Romans 14:7.
Despite the negative stigma with social media, purity IS possible as social media can be used for good:
1. Communication to stay in touch with friends and to encourage one another. Hebrews 3:13 – “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called today, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”
2. Use social media for biblical discussions, which allows you to go online and share daily encouragement with brethren throughout the nation and the world.
3. We can use social media to preach and proclaim the gospel. I Peter 2:9 – “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
We must be aware of the dangers of impurity in social media:
1. Christians are not immune to the temptations of the sin and danger in social media.
2. Social media seems to present some a false sense of freedom from accountability
3. Social media seems to offer a removal of moral restraint.
When it comes to purity, we must first clean up our heart. Matthew 23:26 – “Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.”
Shannon Shaffer giving his flagpole devotion
“This Little Light of Mine”
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This is a topic that we need to talk with our kids about more. The peer pressure out there that our children face is truly Satan’s work. Thanks for including this topic at camp.
We regularly talk about this with our pre-Christian girls. We appreciate it that this was one of the topics for devotional. The more that our girls hear this, and especially around Christian and pre-Christian boys and girls. We need a lot more positive peer pressure in this area.
I so appreciate this topic. Thanks so much!!