Picture: Counsel #19 — The Soul and Identity CSL 29.1
Your deepest being, what the Bible refers to as the soul or heart, is the wellspring of all your affections and emotions. God’s ultimate desire is to draw you into a place of profound intimacy with Him—an intimacy characterized by complete openness and transparency, where nothing is hidden or masked. CSL 29.2
However, a counterfeit to this true intimacy exists in various forms of false intimacy. These include practices that are contrary to biblical teaching, such as sexual relationships outside of marriage, engagement with pornography, masturbation, and consuming media like romance or action novels that normalize unmarried sex, or watching movies or listening to music saturated with sexual content.[36]Matthew 5:8 These activities, rather than contributing to genuine connection, can create distance from God and defile the very core of your being.[37] https://www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/2019/11/pornography CSL 29.3
“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” Proverbs 4:23 NKJV CSL 29.4
“Into the city of God there will enter nothing that defiles. All who are to be dwellers there will here have become pure in heart. In one who is learning of Jesus, there will be manifest a growing distaste for careless manners, unseemly language, and coarse thought. When Christ abides in the heart, there will be purity and refinement of thought and manner.” Ellen White in Maranatha, p. 88 CSL 29.5
Reflect: Considering the overall message of this counsel, what is one tangible change you feel God might be inviting you to make in your life regarding the purity and intimacy of your heart? CSL 29.6
