Passion and Purity by Elisabeth Elliot

On the heels of reading The Great Divorce by CS Lewis I came across a used copy of Passion and Purity which my friend Julie had told me about. The subtitle is Learning to Bring Your Love Life Under Christ's Control. I believe it could also be subtitled, Learning to bring your life under Christ's control and be content with His plans for you!









I have been married for many years now. I definitely see the benefit this book has for the unmarried adult or teen, however, I believe it would benefit anyone who wants to understand what a life sold out to being an ambassador for Christ looks like.

Elisabeth Elliot was married (by the end of the book) to Jim Elliot, the famous missionary martyred along with four other men in the jungles of Ecuador. The story of the sacrifice these men made all so that some how the Gospel could be told to this unreached tribe has overwhelmed me for quite some time. The men in fact had guns, but refused to use them for protection because it might have meant the tribe would never be reached with the gospel.

I will not give you much more about that part, but you can see it for yourself in Through Gates of Splendor or End of the Spear.

So, knowing the end of their lives as a married couple, it was beautiful to read of the leading up to that relationship. Jim and Elisabeth both felt called to ministry and especially missions before they met in college. They fell in love with each other, but Jim had felt clearly that the Lord did not want him to marry yet. He wasn't sure if it meant ever, or just until some point in his life was reached. So Passion and Purity deals with the years that they stayed apart waiting on the Lord and each other. Now, I know that this is very valuable for those who are awaiting the possibility of marriage, but I also was struck throughout the book with the fact that all of us as followers of Christ must be willing to lay aside all that we think we desire to following Him first and foremost. We are called to spread the Good News of Christ with everyone around us and to the uttermost parts of the Earth. How many things do we allow to come before that call?

I will not summarize their whole romance, but I will share a few quotes (my favorite part!)

If there is an Enemy of Souls (and I have not the slightest doubt that there is), one thing he cannot abide is the desire for purity. Hence a man or woman's passions become his battleground. The Lover of Souls does not prevent this. I was perplexed because it seemed to me He should prevent it, but He doesn't. He wants us to learn to use our weapons.


What kind of a God is it who asks everything of us? The same God who "...did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all; and with this gift how can he fail to lavish upon us all he has to give?" He gives all. He asks all.


I knew, and I realized that the deepest spiritual lessons are not learned by His letting us have our way in the end, but by His making us wait, bearing with us in love and patience until we are able honestly to pray what He taught His disciples to pray: Thy will be done. Acceptance of whatever that means is the great victory of faith that overcomes the world.

This book left me really wanting to read Jim Elliot's journals, which Elisabeth also published!