Impressionable Minds

Series: The Princess and the Kiss--Part 2

School Teacher: Good morning class. This morning I want to start with a little object lesson. I’m going to pour myself a glass of water from this pitcher, pure drinking water. Now, this glass of water illustrates the concept of purity. If I offered this glass of clean water to any one of you, you wouldn’t hesitate to drink it and enjoy the refreshment it provides, right?

Now, before I do that though, let me just change this water just a little bit. Paulette? This is my lovely assistant, Paulette. In this wheelbarrel she’s bringing is some compost for my garden. Put it right there, thank you.

This is a rich mixture of grass clippings, dead leaves, a little bit of manure, scraps left over from the table, and some lettuce my wife found in the back of the refrigerator—it was probably about three months old or something.

Now, I’m just going to compromise the water’s purity just a little bit. I’m going to take just a half a teaspoon of this marvelous compost concoction and stir it into the water. Okay, now who wants to take a swig?

Leslie Basham: This is not biology class, it’s Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss.

Jesus said that it’s not what goes into you that defiles you, it’s what comes out of your heart. Today we’ll examine ways to help our children guard their hearts and keep themselves morally pure. Here’s Nancy to introduce today’s program.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss: Yesterday we heard from a group of moms who even though they themselves hadn’t necessarily done things perfectly when they were younger, they’ve discovered what God teaches about purity; and they’ve been working to teach those principles to their daughters.

One of the ways they’ve tried to teach and protect their daughters is by going through a study called Life Lessons from the Princess and the Kiss. It walks a daughter and her parents through 21 life lessons found in the book The Princess and the Kiss.

At the end of the study there are instructions for how to hold a special princess ceremony. I got to watch these moms bless their daughters and pray for them, and let me tell you it was a really special time.

You’ll get to hear excerpts from that ceremony tomorrow, but first, I spent some time with just the girls. That’s what we’re going to hear today. We reviewed some of what they had learned from their mothers, and it was truly precious. Let’s listen together to some of the conversations I had with these princesses in training.

Nancy: One of the life lessons in this book is that submission and humility reflect a wise heart. Girls, why is it so important to learn to stay in submission to your parents’ authority, and how is that a protection for your future marriage?

Girl: Because you’re going to have to do that with your husband and if you’re not prepared before then, you’re not going to have a very good marriage.

Nancy: Okay, it will make you a better wife. What about helping you in your selection of a mate? Your selection of a husband? Why would it be foolish to marry someone that your parents say that’s not God’s best for you?

Girl: Because your parents know much more than you, and they’ve already gotten through that experience. If you listen to them, then they’ll have much advise for you that will be good.

Nancy: So that’s a protection for you, isn’t it? I want to challenge you girls with one big point here. Could I just plead with you? Don’t marry someone that your parents aren’t sure that this is God’s best for your life. Marriage is too big, too important, too lifelong a commitment for you to take the risk of marrying someone that your parents say, “I don’t think that’s God’s best for your life.” Now you might be thinking, “But he loves me; I love him.” Maybe you’re even thinking, “I think he’s a godly man.”

I had a young woman, she was about 30 years old, call me not too long ago. She said, “I’m dating a man. I’m 30 years old, and my parents don’t think he’s God’s best for my life, but I’m going to date him anyway.” And she did.

Then she came back to me a while later, and she was so sad and so sorry. She didn’t marry the man. She broke up with him before they got married, but she said, “I wish I had listened to my parents because they saw things in that man that I didn’t see.” She was 30 years old, and Scripture says a wise person listens to counsel. So listen to your parents' counsel on this point. It’s really, really important.

What are some the characteristics of a princess’ heart? What does it mean to have a princess heart on the inside?

Girl: To love God.

Nancy: Okay, a woman who loves God is a beautiful woman. What else would be a quality of a princess’ heart?

Girl: Keeping your heart pure. Keeping pure.

Nancy: Okay, a pure heart. That’s a princess heart. What else?

Girl: To fear God.

Nancy: A woman who fears God is a beautiful woman. Lydia?

Lydia: I want to be someone who’s wise.

Nancy: Okay, to have wisdom. How do you get wisdom, Lydia?

Lydia: By loving God and reading His Word.

Nancy: You get wisdom by filling your heart with God’s Word. Are there any other qualities of a princess, of a beautiful heart?

Girl: Having a clean heart that sparkles.

Nancy: Okay, and how can you have a clean heart? Does that mean you never do anything wrong?

Girl: No, but after each sin you make you go before God’s throne and you ask Him to forgive you.

Nancy: Good.

Girl: That you would be an example to others of how Christ is living [in you].

Nancy: Okay, to have a life that’s an example to others, including your little brothers and sisters. You can have a princess’ heart with them. Hannah?

Hannah: That you would follow after God’s heart.

Nancy: Okay, an obedient heart—one that follows after the Lord.

Girl: To have a joyful heart.

Nancy: A joyful heart. That’s a really important thing for a woman to have.

Girl: To have a loving spirit.

Girl: To have a servant’s heart.

Nancy : A servant’s heart?

Girl: An imitator of Christ.

Nancy: Okay, to be an imitator of Christ, filled with His Spirit. I mentioned something at the very end last night, do you remember what that was that I said is really important for a woman to have? A grateful spirit, a thankful heart. You know what I think makes a woman really ugly? That’s if she’s a whiner. If she’s a complainer, she’s always looking at the negative side of things. I know I have that kind of heart sometimes.

But there’s something really beautiful about a woman who has a thankful spirit. And that beauty that’s on the inside ultimately will come out and be reflected in your countenance and in your spirit and will make the people around you, and most importantly will make the Lord think, “She is a beautiful princess.” I know that’s the kind of woman I want to be.

What are some of the qualities that you need to be developing as a young woman that are important before you get married? What are some of the qualities that need to be true of you to be prepared for marriage?

Girl: To be able to serve and to get ready to serve your family.

Nancy: Okay, to have a servant’s heart. What else?

Girl: You need to be selfless.

Nancy: And why is that so important?

Girl: Because not only your husband needs to be selfless, but you need to be selfless so that you’re not just ordering him to do what you want; and you need to be willing to be able to serve him for what he wants and what he needs.

Nancy: That’s great.

Girl: You need to be an encourager to your husband.

Nancy: And how can you get some practice in that before you get married?

Girl: You can encourage others.

Nancy: Who are some of the other people you could encourage?

Girl: Your family members.

Nancy: Like brothers and sisters?

Girl: Yes.

Nancy: Do you think that could be helpful preparation for marriage? How many of you have some brothers and sisters—a little bit of a pain, sometimes? Almost every hand here, I think every hand in the room. So why is it so important that you learn to treat your brothers and sisters with respect and love? How does that help prepare you to be a good wife?

Girl: Because the Bible says if you don’t love your brother, then you don’t love God. And if you can’t love God, then it isn’t worth loving anybody else because if you can’t love God then you can’t love anybody else.

Nancy: Okay, so the way that you love the people in your own family, even the ones that might be a little bit of a pain, that demonstrates how much you love God.

Girl: And if I have submission and I obey my parents, then I’ll be able to do that to my husband.

Nancy: Another good point—the way that you obey your parents. How many of you find it always easy to always obey your parents? Let me see your hand. Always?

Girl: Always.

Nancy: Wow. I wish I was like that. But most of us didn’t raise our hand. So why is it important that you be learning to obey your parents?

Girl: Because a commandment is honor your father and your mother. So if you honor them, then you’ll live long on the earth and that means you’ll have time to get married, and you don’t have to just rush around to do it (Ephesians 6:1-3).

Nancy: Good point. Good point. And how does the way that you obey your parents, how will that affect your future as a [wife] in your marriage?

Girl: You will have had practice on your parents so that way you will even be better for your husband.

Nancy: Okay, what other qualities do you think is important for you to develop in preparation to be a good wife?

Girl: You have to be patient because when you have your kids you’re going to need it.

Nancy: You’re going to need patience, and how does God help you learn patience as you’re growing up? What are some of the things that He uses to help you develop patience?

Girl: When you want something He may not do it in your timing, and so you have to trust Him and just be patient.

Nancy: Can little brothers and sisters help you learn patience, too?

Girls: Yes.

Nancy: Can you think of a time how that happened to you? An example of how you needed to be patient with a brother or sister?

Girl: Well, I have two younger nieces and one younger nephew, and they kind of like to follow me around sometimes. That gets annoying because they always like to follow me around and do what I do. They always have to sit by me—sometimes it gets annoying.

Nancy: And so why is it important for you to learn to be patient with them?

Girl: So that they can, when they, if they ever have children or a husband, they can say that they had an aunt who actually loved them and who was kind to them.

Nancy: That’s good.

Leslie Basham: I don’t know about you, but I wish I had heard some of those things when I was a girl. That was Nancy Leigh DeMoss interacting with a group of young ladies who had just completed a study called Life Lessons from the Princess and the Kiss.

This is a resource we’re glad to make available for you to order and go through with your daughter. Of course, we also have the book The Princess and the Kiss as well as a specially crafted Princess Prayer Box Necklace with different symbols of purity on it. Find out more at ReviveOurHearts.com.

And for boys there’s the exciting book, The Squire and the Scroll. It has a life lessons book to go along with it, too. And instead of a necklace, you can order a really cool belt loop watch. Again, there’s further information at ReviveOurHearts.com. If you need to call rather than go online, our number is 1-800-569-5959.

Nancy, you had something you wanted to ask our listeners to pray about?

Nancy: Yes, Leslie. These last several weeks of the year are always an important time financially for our ministry. I want to encourage you to pray with us that over these next weeks God would provide exactly what He knows is needed to help us move into 2006. If you’ve considered in the past helping out with a donation of your own to Revive Our Hearts, let me tell you about a special matching challenge that we have going on between now and the end of the year.

Once again this year, a friend of the ministry has committed to match every donation that comes in, dollar for dollar, up to a maximum of $250,000. That means if you give $50, it will become $100. A $500 gift will be matched to make $1,000, and so on. So would you pray for us? And would you pray about how God might want you to participate in this challenge? Thanks so much.

Let me just say that we depend not only on the giving of God’s people but even more importantly on the prayer support of God’s people. Thanks so much for standing with us in this ministry.

Leslie Basham: Thanks for listening. Once again, if you’d like to contact us about The Princess and the Kiss or The Squire and the Scroll, you can do that by calling 1-800-569-5959, or go to our website ReviveOurHearts.com.

Tomorrow we’ll listen in to mothers praying for their daughter’s purity. Don’t tune in without the tissues nearby. I hope you can join us for Revive Our Hearts.

Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss is an outreach of Life Action Ministries.

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