* Purity and power are linked.

* This is why Paul encouraged Timothy often when it came to the topic of purity.

* vs 21-22 - “Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”

* Tony Evans says that a “youthful passion” is fueld by three things:

* Lust - “I want it now”

* Greed - “I want more”

* Pride - “I’m better than you”

* Think about a U-shaped pipe, like something you'd see under a sink.

* You're holding it in your hand and you pour water into it so that the whole thing is filled with water.

* Then you take a small object and you push down into the pipe on one side - what happens to the water on the other side?

* It spills out.

* Do it on the opposite side and the same thing happens.

* This is the picture Paul is drawing for Timothy - spiritual power is on one side and sensual pleasure is on the other.

* The more spiritual power we have the less sensual pleasure we'll seek.

* The more sensual pleasure we seek the less spiritual power we'll have.

* The more "pure" Timothy was the more power he'd have.

* The less pure he was the less power he’d have.

* Purity and power go hand-in-hand.

* Our job as believers is to cleanse ourselves from what is impure so we can give ourselves to what's pure - to be powerful tools for the building of God's kingdom on the earth.

* When you grow and mature in the faith, two things happen:

* 1) Conviction grows - you are convicted about things that didn’t convict you in the past.

* The types of movies you watch, the thoughts you think, the way you express yourself, etc.

* You get more and more convicted of smaller and smaller things.

* 2) Sins diminish - you no longer struggle with the things you struggled with before (or you don’t struggle as much).

* You’re not a 40-year old gossip like you were in 7th grade.

* You don’t struggle with porn like you did when you were 18.

* You don’t blame-shift when you fail in your responsibility like you did in college.

* You don’t give full vent to your anger as your first reaction to offense.

* You can still fail in these areas, but as you grow they have less and less power in your life.