On Resolutions and Selflessness

Every new year I always make resolutions, then swiftly fail to keep them. This year, it needs to change. I'm thinking that I have to make this a deeper, more spiritual and lasting kind of change in my life. And in order to do that I am going to sacrifice some things that I enjoy, but don't need, in order to maybe gain a more firm reminder of what really matters.

Last year I set a goal to be less materialistic and stop caring so much about things, like buying clothes and other things that I really have more than enough of. My goal was definitely not accomplished in 2013. This is something that I think takes my focus from what really matters, and takes my focus from Christ and his purpose for me in my home, family, and career in music.  My goal for this new year is to take the money I think about spending on things , mainly clothes, I don't need and putting it towards:

- Extra payments on loans (school, house)
- Others in need (charities, my church, any organizations that help those in need)

 I figure I can track how much I end up saving at the end of every month. This will also minimize the stuff I accumulate, hopefully keeping our house cleaner, which also keeps me sane.

The second thing I want to give up is starbucks. I'm fasting from it for an indefinite amount of time. This is for a few reasons:

- health (I get lattes and frappes...)
- to save money for reasons listed above
- spirituality- it's kind of a selfish way to spend my money when there are people who can't even afford to eat in the world. I have a coffee maker and the means to buy coffee, that's all I need.

The third thing is liquor. This is something I just feel like I've been convicted on and haven't bothered thinking about. So now I need to address this. Again, this is for an indefinite amount of time, so until further notice. This is for similar reasons as the Starbucks- health and spiritual. It's not like I get drunk all the time or something...But it's a can of worms that I would rather not open myself up to. This is something that is not a huge problem or anything for me, but just something I feel God put on my heart that I don't really need.

This year I want to be less about me and more about Christ, my family, and others. Christ calls us to selflessness, and that's something that this advent season has convicted me of. I have seen so much selfishness and anger in people over whatever it may be: Christmas shopping, impatience in getting where they need to go, etc. So, I figure I can start to break the chain myself and see where it takes me. Most of all, I fully believe I'm here to represent Christ. The less my life is about me, the better.

Love Your Enemies?

One thing I always think about is how in the Bible and in other wisdom literature we are told to love our enemies.  Yet, I find so often that most of us cannot even love those close to us.  We hold grudges, we drag others through the dirt, we gossip and make assumptions about others lives that we have no right to.  At times, I’ve experienced more persecution from people in the church who are supposed to be my FAMILY than I have from my enemies.  There were times I felt that there was little regard for my feelings or what I was going through…I was just a problem that needed to be solved.  And, worst of all, people even doubted the older Christians I was going to, even though they were the few people who actually loved and helped us through the situation.

Now I’m not writing this to gripe about it because I really could care less. God has brought me so much joy through all of this as a result of taking the time to figure out what He wants.  I just hope that others can learn from what I am saying so that no one else has to feel so hurt and persecuted. 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 says:

One Body with Many Members

12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.  13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

 14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many.  15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.  16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?  18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.  19 If all were a single member, where would the body be?  20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”  22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,  23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty,  24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it,  25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.  26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

 27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

John 8:7

 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

 

I’ll let that speak for itself.

My point in all this is, how can we love our enemies as we are instructed to if we can’t even love our own family, both our biological and our church family?  And, moreover, how can we give ourselves an excuse to condemn our brother so harshly when we ourselves are just as wretched as anyone? 

What is Religion?

This question is a prompt that was presented in my religion class I am taking. I think my faith has helped me to be able to answer this question, at least to some extent. Here was my response:


To me, religion was once the legalism and law that people get caught up in rather than the joy and love of God and His people that I see now.  Religion was the set of rules that people scoffed at and ran from when confronted with the decision of going to church.  SO many people are under the belief that religion is like a cage, confining us from being free, and that's what I once believed.  I thought that's all there was to Christianity and other religions. I went to a church where we recited the same things mindlessly and word for word week after week.  One of the quotes I read which I used to resonate with was:

Emile Durkheim, c. 1915 

 " . . . is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to 

say, things set apart and forbidden--beliefs and practices which unite into one single 

moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them."  

 Note the first few words: "a unifed system of beliefs." To me, this definition religion does not and cannot encompass the fullness of God and the Christian faith.  I'm sure that many people would agree this cannot confine any faith.  If people view religion as a mere set of beliefs, they cannot have the whole story.  There is nothing about faith in this definition. It gives religion a bad reputation- words like "moral community" are reminiscent of rules and moral code, which is enough to scare anyone away.  I think this is how many people sometimes view religion, however, as we see from the many definitions from both sources we have read, there is SO MUCH more to it, and there are so many different definitions to different people.  One thing I do like in this quote the part where the author states that sacred things are "set apart and forbidden." That is a phrase that I think I would not have understood before I became more invested in my faith.  In the Bible, God is described so many times as "set apart," which is interchangeable with "holy."  I think for so many people it is so hard to grasp that there is a being that is so set apart from us who actually gives a crap about our existence.

In my experience, the way I view my religion is that it far more than rules and a fight for morality, which was my former view of religion.  Religion and faith go hand in hand, and I have noticed that the word faith has been used more and more in the place of the word "religion" because I think it gives people a better idea about what religion is. To me, my faith, is about love, joy, sacrifice, and a firm belief that God is an omniscient and omnipotent being. Yes, it has a set of "beliefs," but in reading the bible, it is by Faith in God and Christ's resurrection,  understanding of the Grace of God, and the Word of God that a believer can truly experience the fullness of God.  Regardless of what "religion" you believe in, true faith is something you die for.  You can believe something is true, but can you have strong faith in it even in the face of death??  It think that sticking by faith and fighting through doubt and struggles is the real battle...which is more than just performing good works to get into heaven.  Good works are merely the natural product of a strong faith.  A quote that I felt better embodied my idea of religion is:

8.  Bronislaw Malinowski, 1931 

 " . . . is not born out of speculation or reflection, still less out of illusion or 

misapprehension, but rather out of the real tragedies of human life, out of the conflict 

between human plans and realities. . . . . Every important crisis of human life implies a 

strong emotional upheaval, mental conflict and possible disintegration.  . . . .  Religious 

belief consists in the traditional standardization of the positive side in the mental conflict 

and therefore satisfies a definite individual need . . .  . On the other hand, religious belief 

and ritual, by making the critical acts and the social contracts of human life public, 

traditionally standardized, and subject to supernatural sanctions, strengthen the bonds of 

human cohesion. 

I think from what I have learned about God so far is that so often our own selfish motives and plans in life conflict with the reality of the world.  I think this holds true to people whether it is referring to the reality some believe God has created and allowed, or whether it is a reality that people who do not have faith in a supreme being see.  Religion and faith, above all, really can "strengthen the bonds of human cohesion." I think if corrupted or pursued wrongly, religion can also break down bonds. 

Also, although in many countries religion is based in the culture, I feel as though in some instances, especially in this country, religion can also be countercultural.  I know that many of my beliefs about God, faith, and just general ways of living are in many ways countercultural.  I think that there is always something inside of us that wants to go against the norm.  I feel like showing the nature and love of God through my faith is a major way that I can counter the hate that exists in our culture, especially the hatred so wrongly expressed against groups of people by misled people from a multitude of religious groups.

Forgiveness

Hello!

So it's been FOREVER since I have blogged... but I thought I'd give it a go.

There are a few things that God has brought to my attention lately that I would like to share...

The first is about family and forgiveness.  I have come to realize that although we may not always feel ready to forgive, that does not mean that we should not forgive.  So often, we let our emotions control our willingness to love and forgive, and if we live our lives totally consumed by emotions we are never going to get anywhere.  Here are 2 passages I think illustrate this lesson:

Ecclesiastes 9: 2-6

2 e It is the same for all, since f the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, [1] to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who g swears is as he who shuns an oath. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that e the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and h madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but i the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for j the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun.

This passage is hinting that many people live their life like they are invincible and are never going to die. However, what we must realize is that death happens to all regardless of what they do. I'm not trying to depress you, my point is that if we live our whole lives holding onto hate and un-forgiveness, where is that going to get us.  That hate and un-forgiveness with die with us, and what does that accomplish aside from leaving hurt behind for others?  Face it, anyone can die at any moment and if we hold onto things and cause strife, who will be happy aside from Satan?

2 Corinthians 2:5-11

5 Now y if anyone has caused pain, z he has caused it not to me, but a in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. 6 For such a one, b this punishment by the majority is enough, 7 so c you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. 9 For this is why I wrote, that I might d test you and know e whether you are obedient in everything. 10 Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, 11 so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for f we are not ignorant of his designs.

I'm sure this passage speaks for itself.  Those who do wrong are punished enough by all the other people in this world who refuse to forgive them, so, give them a break! Show them your love for them, for love is a command, not a feeling.  Even if you feel hurt, forgive them for the sake of God and to free yourself from some of that hurt.  Often times people may not even realize how they are hurting people until someone proclaims forgiveness for them. Or, maybe they've done wrong because they think that nobody cares about them or loves them.

These passages are especially applicable when dealing with family.  If you have family strife, realize that No one is perfect aside from God.  That is why we have a father in Heaven, He is the one perfect model for us all to strive for.  If we expect everyone to play nice and be perfect all the time, that is such a double standard because we ourselves cannot meet that standard.  Only God can, and that's why we go to Him to fill in those gaps for us.  We can't do it on our own.  If we expect everyone else to be nice to us and love us as much as He does, then we are obviously living in denial of GOD's perfection, and living in denial of our own weakness.

Moral of the story: Be slow to anger and quick to forgive.

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Lack of Posts..

Just letting everyone know..I apologize for not posting for a while. School has been crazy. Caleb and I have a blog we started http://thelifeofacollegechristian.blogspot.com/ so feel free to read!

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Wow.

There is a time in my life where for once I can wake up in the morning and feel like I have no doubts about the decisions I am making and no regrets about how I got where I am.

We spend so much time in our lives overanalyzing, overthinking... We open ourselves up so much that we get hurt, then we keep our hearts so guarded that we block out what could be good for us.  We constantly condemn ourselves for wrong, or go the opposite way and feel apathetic. Once we let that all go, and just leave it to God...everything changes.

I've always known I'll never be perfect. I've always known I cannot live up to the glory of God.  I've always known that what didn't kill me gave me strength in God.  But I never let myself believe it and truly realize the PEACE that God offers.  If we never let His peace in, we cannot live for Him.  Even when we fall, even when we aren't perfect, He still is our peace. He still gives us that UNMERITED favor, that is grace.

After I stopped agonizing over every little detail that I can't get perfect, and started just living and breathing faith and love, everything fell into place.  I wake up every day and have no doubt that God loves me, and that He has blessed me abundantly!  I have a family that loves me unconditionally, I have friends that are my brothers and sisters in Christ, I have learned to let go of past things/people, and I have a fiance who I have grown to love more and more each day that God has given us.  If we focus on the good, and the love, and the peace in all the blessings of life, the bad can be brought to His feet and not seem all that bad.


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Let's all have some GRACE.

In his book, Sovereign Grace (you can read it online here), D.W. Moody says,

"There is probably not a word in the [english] language so little understood." So many people know God and experience His grace, yet when asked they could not explain what grace is. I think the true gravity of God's grace has really begun to hit me, and by hit me I mean: it has brought me to and understanding of what grace means, but a very limited comprehension of why or how God could ever be so, well, gracious.  

Grace is defined by Moody as, "unmerited mercy--undeserved favor." That's what we receive only through Christ's death.  Skeptics always try to bash Christians and label them as hypocrites, saying they don't act godly enough or biblically enough.  Well, NO ONE does.  NO ONE can live up to the glory of God, that's why there is grace!  That's not to say that Christians don't have to worry about sin, on the contrary, they must constantly battle it.  But, there is the comfort that a TRULY repentant heart who clings to Jesus with all of their being (and professes Him as their Lord and Savior first and foremost) who receives grace.

Not only does God give us grace, but we must learn to show grace to others.  So many people say,

"Well what have they ever done for me? Why do I owe them anything? Why should I show them love and favor?" 

Why? Because even the most rotten people will show favor to those who do them good!  We see it every day.  Then, as soon as someone wrongs them, they refuse to show them any favor or good.  They feel as though they don't OWE them anything.  Well then what is the point of forgiveness? If we can't have grace and forgive people, what kind of person does that make us? We are not any better of a person than those we see as the most evil people in the world.  

I always live by this; Love and expect nothing in return. Yes, I may not OWE anyone anything by the standards of man, by by the standards of Grace and of Love, and of GOD, I do.

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