Let’s look at another “ness” word today. Chasteness— there is such a word but it’s certainly not used very much in our vocabulary today, is it? Check it in your dictionary. It means “to be morally pure in thought or conduct, modest, abstaining from unlawful sexual intercourse.”
We read the word chaste in the Bible. It’s one of the attributes that older women are to teach the younger women (Titus 2:5). The Greek word “hagnos” means “clean, pure from every fault and carnality, modest, moral excellence,”
Do we have this quality about us? Are we showing it and teaching it to our daughters and the next generation? It is one of beautiful attributes of a Christlike character.
Perhaps we should ask ourselves some questions:
Am I clean in my mind? Chasteness begins in the mind. You will remember that Philippians 4:8 tells us to think on the things that are “pure.” That is the same word that is translated chaste.
Am I sexually pure and faithful to my marriage?
Am I chaste in my conduct and how I dress? Morally pure? It is sad that you could not describe much of the clothing in the Christian church today as “chaste.”
1 John 3:2, 3: “We know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth (hagnizo – to keep clean and pure) himself, even as he is pure (hagnos).”
Let’s not take this lightly, dear ladies but know that God has called us to chasteness and to reveal it to the next generation. Can we be true examples of this beautiful quality that God loves and longs to see in His daughters?
Love from Nancy Campbell