Article December 1, 1980 Issue

Purity is God-given

DAVID G. MUTCH

A correct understanding of God and man provides a definite, powerful remedy for compulsive and inordinate appetite.

People have long searched for ways to limit and control sensual appetites. Alcoholism, drug abuse, and sexual misconduct are sometimes called "victimless crimes," but they do harm participating individuals, as well as a wider circle of family, friends, and community. Ancient wisdom teaches the need for self-control. But no broad success appears at hand. In fact, the so-called "modern spirit" all but abandoned this ideal decades ago—although renewed interest in ethics and religion in some circles may signal a tiring in the frantic search for personal fulfillment through material gratification.

All who want to gain self-control can do so by deepening their recognition that purity is God-given. The very wish for moral freedom is a first step out of the prison of lust. The Bible tells us: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."^{I John 2:15,16;}

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