Life on Top
Freedom to Pursue Purity and Purpose. A Teen Devotional and Instructional Guide for Parents and Youth Leaders
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For a few moments, I would like you to imagine being the best you can be. Picture yourself walking in your God-given purpose. Picture yourself living your life on top. Picture yourself totally free. Free from sin, guilt, blame and shame. Free from your past. Free to pursue purity and purpose. Picture yourself better, stronger, and wiser. Picture yourself better. You’re a better person. You’re a better leader. You’re a better follower. You’re better in your relationships. You’re a better servant to God. You’re a better servant to others. You’re a better son or daughter to your parents. You’re a better brother or sister to your siblings. You’re a better friend to others. You’re a better friend to yourself. Picture yourself stronger. You’re a stronger believer in God. You’re stronger in faith. You’re stronger in knowledge of God’s word. You’re stronger in prayer. You’re stronger in your ability to give love. You’re stronger in your ability to receive love. You’re stronger in your ability to ask for forgiveness. You’re stronger in your ability to forgive. You’re stronger in your ability to hold on. You’re stronger in your ability to let go. You’re stronger in your ability to resist temptation. Picture yourself wiser. You’re wiser in your knowledge of God. You’re wiser in your discernment of Satan and his devices. You’re wiser in your knowledge of good and evil. You’re wiser in your decisions. You’re wiser by your experiences. You’re wiser with your time. You’re wiser with your spiritual gifts. You’re wiser in your finances. You’re in your ability to give. You’re wiser in your ability to receive.
Why settle for less when you can have it all? Regardless of your answer to this question, Life on Top will offer you the epic opportunity to embrace your spiritual freedom to pursue God’s purity and His purpose. Whether you choose a life of purity, a vow of purity, or both, this 30-day devotional is your personal invitation to discover the irresistible freedom that God offers us through His grace to make us better. This is a freedom to pursue His purpose and to answer His call to a life of purity. This devotional explores the interaction between the vow of purity and the life of purity that God calls us to today. Some may confuse the two concepts. Both require a commitment to God’s standards, a lifestyle of purity and require repentance if God’s standards are not followed. Both come from a condition of the heart. Hence, without God, we have no chance of success in any of them. This means that it is humanly impossible to keep a vow of purity and/or to live a life of purity without God’s help and power to do so. Granted, the concepts appear quite similar, yet they are fairly different. Confusing? No worries. Help is here. To start, we have to know that there is a difference between the vow of purity and God’s call to purity. While a vow of purity is a person’s personal commitment to God to practice abstinence, meaning no sex before marriage, the life of purity is a life of righteousness, or right living, that God calls all humanity to live. Whereas, the vow of purity is initiated by the vow-giver, a person who makes a vow, the life of purity is initiated by God. This is how it works: The vow-giver makes a vow, or promise, of purity to God to stay sexually pure. This is the vow-giver’s personal choice. Although the vow of purity is not a calling from God, He makes guidelines that the vow-giver have to follow to keep the vow of purity. The book of Numbers, chapter 30 shares some guidelines, as it cautions the vow-giver to be careful and intentional about making vows to God. Vows had to be made with the intention of faithfully keeping them. They are never to be broken. In fact, it was better to never make a vow, than to make one and break it (Ecclesiastes 5:5).That’s right! Vow-making is serious business to God. This is to say that no one should enter a vow of purity with God without proper knowledge of His standards and guidelines for keeping them. This is why it is beneficial to accept God’s call to purity first, before making a vow of purity to God. Ultimately, this is your choice.
So, this is a teen devotional about the freedom to pursue a better life. It is designed to meet you where you are in life right now. For this reason, the devotional is divided into three parts: Before You Say Yes to the Vow of Purity, Now that You’ve Said Yes to the Vow of Purity, and You’ve Broken the Vow of Purity, Now What? Feel free to start at any part of this devotion that you believe will bring you the most benefit. Of course, you are invited to take the full 30-day journey, and experience a refreshing and uplifting collage of stories about how life’s challenges can become the pathway to your destiny and a portal to discover that you are worth pursuing!
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About the Book
Inspiring a nation of young leaders to stand, Dr. Shaw Scripts offers her first thirty-day devotional for teens, encouraging them to rise up and live courageously in purity for God. “Life on Top: Freedom to Pursue Purity and Purpose. A Teen Devotional and Instructional Guide for Parents and Youth Leaders” offers teens an accessible path to discover the irresistible freedom God offers in a life of purity. The devotional explores the interaction between the vow of purity and the life of purity that God calls us to today. The use of charts, stories, guided self-reflections, and small group activities gives teens, as well as parents and youth leaders, a deep understanding of the need to biblically and intelligently defend the position of purity in the present age. It is full of real, down-to-earth, and relevant spiritual insights providing hope for teens facing challenges with purity, motivation for teens who have taken the vow of purity, and healing for teens who have broken the vow of purity.
About the Author
Dr. Shaw Scripts is an author, founder of Building Bridges International Foundation, Inc., motivational speaker, multicultural strategist, career coach, educator, and youth advocate. She is a native of Philadelphia and has a deep passion for evangelism, global spiritual formation, community mobilization, organizational development and youth empowerment. Being awarded first place in a young scholars contest as a teenager compelled her to pursue writing, and to explore the world of research on issues relative to youth development, leading and building community, theology in context, and quality education in underdeveloped communities.
Upon successful completion of her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education, Dr. Scripts decided to continue her studies in education, and later attained a master’s in Education with an emphasis on Multicultural Education, and a doctorate in Educational Leadership. She has also achieved instructional certifications in Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, Special Education, English as a Second Language and English. In 2013, one of her most notably research developments on evidence for underachievement in primary grade students was published. Dr. Scripts also holds a Master of Theology and has a gift of empowering youth, women and leaders towards transformational change.