Hey guys, I've just got done reading 'Passion and Purity: Learning to bring you love under Christ's control' and thought I'd share what I've learnt/what has stood out. I first read this about 2 years ago and it's interesting to see the changes in myself since then.. Some are just one line thoughts and others are a few paragraphs long. Part of me almost feels sorry for Logan cause he's going to read it and it's got dozens of post-it notes in it!... I'll do it in 2 or 3 parts so you don't get overwhelmed, though some I won't be sharing as they are rather personal thoughts directed at Logan and prayers. Anyway, the black are my thoughts and the coloured are quotes :) -How appropriate that the first thing I get out of this book be, [color=#000080]shift your gaze upward![/color] -Passion and purity go hand in hand; one without the other will lead to a dry and/or sinful relationship -[color=#000080]"The word [i]love[/i] has fallen on bad times"[/color]- It has been degraded and gone from what God wanted it to be/mean/symbolise to a word that is thrown around like it means nothing. -[color=#000080][b]"There is no purity in us apart from the blood of Jesus"[/b][/color] -[color=#000080]"The best way to show up a crooked stick is to lay a straight one beside it"[/color] -The thought of relationships and being alone can obstruct our prayers and turn them away from the things we really need to be praying about/thanking God for. -[color=#000080]"Somehow we've gotten the idea that we can forget all the regulations and get away with it. Times have changed we say. We're 'liberated' at last from our inhibitions. We have Sex and the Single Girl now. We have freedom. We can, in fact, 'have it all and not get hooked.' Women can be predators if they want to, as well as men. Men aren't men unless they've proved it by seducing as many women as possible- or as many men, for we may now choose according to 'sexual preference.' We can go to bed with those of the opposite sex or those of our own. It doesn't matter. A mere question of taste, and we all have a 'right' to our tastes. Everybody's equal. everybody's free. Nobody is hung up anymore or needs to deny himself anything. In fact, nobody [i]ought[/i] to deny himself anything he wants badly- it's dangerous. It's unhealthy. It's sick. If it doesn't feel good and you do do it, you're a masochist"[/color] -Does the man you want to marry prize virginity as much as you do?... [color=#000080]by trying to grab fulfillment everywhere, we find it nowhere.[/color] -God does not stop temptation from coming into our lives because He wants us learn and arm ourselves against it. -[color=#000080]"Women still dream and hope, pinning their emotions on some man who doesn't reciprocate, and end up in confusion."[/color]... When this keeps happening hearts get hardened and it's harder for the love God has planned to get through. As defenses towards males go up, trust goes down. When you do then enter into a Godly relationship it is as though you have to learn to love again, but this time in a truly Godly and pure way. -[color=#000080]"And her desire shall be for a husband"- the inextinguishable hope for recognition, response and protection. In the man's story... [i]Hunger not of the belly kind, that's banished with bacon and beans, But the gnawing hunger of lonely men for a home and what it means; For a fireside far from the cares that are, four walls and a roof above; But oh! so cramful of cozy joy, and crowned with a woman's love[/i] Robert Service[/color] Notice how the two longings are different in their own ways but fit together so well? And so it is with male and female. -[color=#000080]"take my love- my God, I pour At Thy feet its treasure store"[/color] What worldly treasures are we willing to sacrifice/give up? -[color=#000080]"Until the will and the affections are brought under the authority of Christ, we have not begun to understand, let alone accept, His Lordship. The Cross, as it enters the love life, will reveal the heart's truth.[/color]... How often do people talk about relationships and the cross going hand in hand? Not often enough! -God's will for our life doesn't always go against what we may want. But be open to what He has in mind; you may come to love it! -[color=#000080]"I will teach you, and guide you in the way you should go, I will keep you under my eye. Do not behave like horse or mule, unreasoning creatures, whose course must be checked with bit and bridle. Many are the torments of the ungodly; but unfailing love enfolds him who trusts in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord and be glad...[/color] -[color=#000080]1 Corinthians 7:34-35 "An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord's affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband. 35I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord."[/color] -Be patient and wait on the Lord for He will reveal things when your spirit matches His timing -[color=#000080]I do know that waiting on God requires the willingness to bear uncertainty, to carry within oneself the unanswered question, lifting the heart to God' about it whenever it intrudes upon one's thoughts[/color] -[color=#000080]But the things that we feel most deeply we ought to learn to be silent about, at least until we have talked them over thoroughly with God[/color]... Be silent until God gives you confirmation or a word; do not over analyse the situation and talk yourself into a decision. -[color=#000080]Steadfastness, that is holding on; Patience, that is holding back; Expectancy, that is holding one's self in readiness to go or do; Listening, that is holding quiet and still so as to hear. [i]S.D. Gordan, Quiet Talks on Prayer[/i][/color] -[color=#000080]"God gave us material for sacrifice. Sometimes the sacrifice makes little sense to others, but when offered to Him it is always accepted... Loneliness itself is material for sacrifice. The very longings themselves can be offered to Him who understands them perfectly."[/color] -[color=#000080]The greater the potential for good, the greater the potential for evil.... A good and perfect gift, these natural desires. but so much the more necessary that they be restrained, controlled, corrected, even crucified, that they might be reborn in the power and purity for God.[/color] -Guys should see it as their duty to protect girls, and girls should see it as their duty to wait quietly, not to attempt to woo or entice Please, if you disagree, agree, want to add etc feel free to let your thoughts known :)