My Purity Ring: Not what it seems

Everyone knows what the basic purity ring means. It means that you "promise" that you won't have sex until marriage. It is used in just about every youth group across America and portrayed in several TV shows as a weak and prude symbol that most kids just end up breaking anyway. While my ring does fufill this basic purpose, that is not its main function.

I have a silver band that I wear on my right ring finger. In the middle it has a cross with a (REALLY FAKE) diamond like stone in the middle. Around the ring it says "God's love never fails (1 Cor 13:4-8)". Those verses read, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices when the truth wins out. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perserveres. Love never fails."

To me this ring means something very special. It means that I am worth it. Now this may sound cocky to some or you might be tempted to bring up that Paul said that we are basically lower than dirt but I think that you need to understand my background for this to work. Over my lifetime I have stuggled with depression, self harm, eating disorders (hard to believe, I know), perpetual dating, and others because I didn't think I was good enough.

NOTE: I know that putting all this on the internet could come back to haunt me. But I pray that any employer or whatever who happens to find this will realize that I am a human with faults. But God is changing my heart every day and I strongly believe that if we share our struggles and what HE has done in our lives, it will change other people's lives for the better as well.

When I look down at my ring it reminds me of what Christ did for ME. I know that for me and several other people, Satan has actually twisted God's word into reading, "For God so loved the world (except me), that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever (except me) believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life." Things got so bad that I thought that life wasn't worth living, that no one wanted me. No matter who showed me love, Satan would just whisper in my ear that they were only loving me for my works, not for who I was. And that I would never be good enough. This is my background. This is why believing I am worth something is so... well... EPIC! :D I remember the first night I started to believe this at all when the Holy Spirit worked through a dear friend of mine and a text message. It read;

"Well I can tell you that all the love that God poured into the sacrifiice of His son was for you Victoria Anne Egan. I can also tell you that even as Jesus was being nailed to the cross He was thinking of going to prepare a place for you Victoria Anne Egan so that you could be with Him for all eternity so that no matter what Satan did you could never be taken from Him."

This was the turning point. The myth that I had believed was spelled out, right there in front of me. From that point on an epic battle was waged. The lies Satan was feeding me v.s. the Truth of Jesus Christ. I am incredibly thankful to inform you that the truth has won out. It took some time and some fighting, but the truth ALWAYS wins out eventually.

So after a long epic battle (if you want to know that story I would love to tell you) I came to my purity ring. Purity actually means, "free from sin or guilt, innocence." I want to be free from guilt but mostly I want to be innocent. I want to be restored. Reminds me fo song lyrics:

"I want to be innocent, your's wholeheartedly. Innocent, every part of me. Take me back so I can see the way that love was meant to be."

That pretty much says it all. God pleast take me back so I can see the way that love was meant to be. That started with the fact that GOD LOVES ME! God created me and loves me. There is nothing I could do to change that. End of story.

So when I look down at my ring it reminds me of the innocence I strive for. The idea that God loves me and that He has amazing plans for me. It reminds me that I am better. Not so much better, but loved by one who wants to best for me and would be so sad if I didn't wait on Him. So when I look down at that ring it says, "You are beautiful. I made you and I love you. You are a precious temple of God and don't mutilate that. Don't desecrate yourself. You do not need the love of a passing guy to make you whole. I make you whole. And I will provide you everything you need and desire in MY time."

So that's the story of my purity ring. It might be a little unconventional but whatever, since when have I been your average person? (I just got a really strong desire to say your average bear right then :)) I thought about it because my friend saw the ring and asked if it had any special meaning and I guess this blog answers it. :)