Keeping our ways pure

“How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to Your word.” Psalm 119:9
The whole of Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible, is about God’s word and how it benefits us. There are only three verses in the entire psalm that don’t refer to God’s word, law, statutes, decrees, promises etc.
Here we are given the key to having a pure life: living according to God’s word. The New Testament, and especially the epistles, gives many instructions and examples of how we ought to be living as Christians: in peace and compassion; without envy, malice, gossip, or bitterness; putting others’ interests ahead of our own; responding to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and not making any allowances for our old sinful nature; and so on. All of these things hinge upon seeking to have God’s ways manifest in our lives, instead of the ways that are ‘natural’ to our human, sinful nature. If we obey God’s word and do this, we will be conformed into the image of Christ. He is the ultimate example of someone who kept His way pure. He kept the Law of God perfectly.
If we obey God’s word, it will protect us. We won’t be so easily drawn into temptation, because we won’t be frequenting those places where temptation resides. We won’t find ourselves powerless against sin, because God’s word says we should resist it. And we are not alone in this: as we seek to obey God, the Holy Spirit enables us. It becomes an upwards spiral, towards a pure life in all its fullness.