"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." -Emerson

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

The Tough Stuff

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."
Colossians 3:12-14 NIV
So it has been awhile since my last blog. I haven't felt very bloggy lately, not even very writey lately. I guess sometimes you need to take a break from sharing so much of yourself with a computer screen. Anyway, I am back, with no real point, but we'll see where this goes...
Lately, I've been thinking about why is this Christian thing made to be so hard. I mean, why didn't God want to make it an easy life for all who believed? It's the same question I have as to why He made healthy food so less tasty than the unhealthy food? Can you imagine a world where a plate of broccoli would be the equivalent to a plate of french fries? Anyway, I digress.
Clothe yourself, this verse says on. When I think "clothe yourself" it means I am putting something on to cover up my naked self. I have no theological data to back me up on this on, but I think this may be what this verse is getting at. In our natural selves, we are mean, spiteful, hatefilled, angry, bitter, cruel, unkind, well, you get the idea. But, when we believe in God, then those things are no longer who we are, even though at times they may rear their ugly head. Instead, we are supposed to cover up those things with who we have become: compassionate, kind, humble, gentle and patient beings. Tough, I know, trust me. Every day I have to fight to get those clothes on...
The real kicker is the next part. Forgiveness. I continue to struggle with this. I mean if someone hurts me, my natural inclination is to keep a running tally of all the ways they have hurt me so that when given the right moment, I can unleash all the ways in which they fall short. But, the truth is, I fall short. Daily. Sometimes it is on purpose, sometimes it is on accident, sometimes I don't even know I did it. Yet, each and every time, my Heavenly Father forgives me, when if anyone should keep tally, it should be Him. So, why can't I extend that same grace and mercy to others who may be acting just as human as I am?
After being fully clothed to look as He desires us to look, we have to bind it up with love. Love is hard to do in reality as we've talked about before. Love requires a selflessness that none of us come by naturally. Yet love is the only thing to change cold, calloused hearts, to make the brokenhearted feel mended, or give the lost a sense of hope. Love is all we can do to change the world, really.
God has been reminding me lately how hard a life chasing after Him is going to be. He wasn't looking to make things easy for us, but rather to make us useful for Him.
Until next time,
-C.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Military Wives and Children's Conference

For all those military wives out there, here is a conference my church is holding on May 15th, 2010 for Military Wives and Children! It should be an awesome day of encouragement and fun, including some pretty great door prizes (think beach weekend...). Did I mention it was only $10 and kids are free????

Go to www.operationhopefront.org for info and a registration form!