A preacher once shared a powerful message with a church full of young people, many of whom weren’t regular churchgoers. He encouraged them to turn to God, saying, “God wants your willingness, not a flawless life. Mary was chosen to be Jesus’ mother because she was available.” While his words inspired the crowd, they didn’t fully capture the biblical context.
Friend, God wants you available. But He also wants you fit. Availability without fitness would soon become a liability (1 Samuel 16:7). One major area of fitness is in your sexual purity. Sexual purity would not only affect your eternity, it would also affect your relevance to God on the earth. You need to be both available and usable to God (2 Timothy 2:19-22).
Mary was chosen not only because she was available but also because she was a virgin (Isaiah 7:14). The prophecy of Jesus’s birth was specified. It is that a virgin shall conceive. No matter how available or even prayerful Mary was, if she didn’t meet that specific condition, she would not have been chosen (Luke 1:27).
We must not lower the standard of God in a bit to accommodate everybody (Matthew 7:13-20). Any gospel that tells you that it does not matter how you live is not the correct gospel. It matters how you live. It matters the condition of your heart and life. Fitness is a requirement for destiny, not just willingness (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).
God may not choose you because you are sexually pure, but sexual purity would determine the strength with which you drive and deliver your calling (1 Samuel 21:4-6). Sexual purity is a minimum requirement for destiny. If you cannot keep yourself pure, you are not likely to keep your calling pure (1 Timothy 5:22).
God would accept you the way you are, but He won’t leave you the way you are (John 8:11). God does not call perfect people. He perfects imperfect people. Sexual purity is a calling, command, discipline, and decision. Above all, it is a grace. Grace works with responsibility, not excuses. You cannot continue to live in sin and expect grace to abound (Romans 6:1-2).
‘Demola Awoyele
Lead Pastor,
Destiny Impact Church
Akure, Nigeria