When I was little, my Sunday School teachers sometimes sang this song to us:
Oh be careful little eyes what you see,
Oh be careful little eyes what you see,
For the Father up above is looking down in love,
So be careful little eyes what you see.
At that time it was just a song to me. Today I was thinking about it again, though. Whoever wrote that had a deeper message written in those lines than we might think. In today’s culture we can’t hardly look anywhere without our eyes being accosted by images that are often impure. Commercials, adds and billboards use models to sell their product. Often these models are not fully clothed or are wearing suggestive clothing. As young people with hormones raging this can easily cause lustful thoughts. And guys, it’s not just you who struggle with this. There are male and female models. We girls can stumble just as easily if we let our eyes wander.
Now there’s a problem. Our flesh, the sinful part of us, wants to look at these images. That’s why the media uses them. They know these images are appealing to our lustful natures. But God’s word is in direct contradiction with our flesh. Jesus told his disciples, “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matt. 5:28 – NIV) And earlier in the Bible the Lord commanded, ” You shall not commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:14 – NIV) Adultery is a severe offense before God and even looking at another person’s body with impure thoughts is seen as adultery.
So what can we do? How can we stay pure? It’s obvious we can’t live in a box our whole lives. If we did that yes, we’d avoid seeing any impure images but we’d also lose the opportunity to witness and do good. No, we have to cope with the evils of this world because for now this is where we are living. I’d like to challenge my fellow teens (and I’m going to do this as well, starting now) to turn their eyes away as soon as they see an impure image and to not dwell on any image that causes lustful thoughts.
Now, as I say this let me also say purity is a matter of the heart. We can make all the rules we want – do this, don’t do this – but in the end, the only way we can truly keep ourselves pure is by determining to glorify the Lord in our hearts. When you see an impure image and turn away don’t do it because you don’t want to break a rule. Do it because you want to honor God and keep His commandments. Our love for God should cause us to strive for purity. And when it’s time for us to be married to the special one God has chosen, we will be able to give ourselves to that person with the knowledge that our heart is pure and undefiled.
To end this post let me leave you with a verse:
Philippians 4:8 (NIV) — Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.








