Journey Update: I’m
starting to help with children’s church in a few weeks! I’m so excited! The
semester is drawing to a close. If you keep a list, add me to your prayers for
finals week! Also, my mom (I mean, er, the Easter Bunny…) put a new HCSB Study
Bible in my Easter basket. SO EXCITED!
Inspiration: “Do
your best until you can do better. Then, do better.” ~Maya Angelou
Post: Who am I? Who am I called to be?
Who are you?
What defines you?
Really, take a minute to think about it. This is what is on
my mind today. Take a minute, no, take thirty seconds, and answer these
questions. It is very easy to cover it up with roles. I am a sister, a daughter
a friend. I am a giver, a girlfriend, a student. I am a leader, a follower, a
disciple. But aren’t you more than these roles? What, at the very core of your
being, defines your life?
As a follower or disciple, I’d say that our main role is to
be a child of God. At the core of my being, I’d say the defining aspect of my
life right now is love. What’s yours? No, really. Stop and think about it.
1 Thessalonians 5:12-18 really helps me keep on the straight
and narrow about how I am called to live my life as a disciple. This is one of
my favorite passages of the Bible. Check this out!
“12 Now we ask
you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who
care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13 Hold them
in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each
other. 14
And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and
disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with
everyone. 15
Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do
what is good for each other and for everyone else.
16 Rejoice
always, 17
pray continually, 18 give
thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
There’s a lot of good stuff in here that’s been really helpful to
me. I want to break these down and then talk about what this might mean (I
mean, I don’t really know. This is just what I interpret.) The first thing we
are told is to hold those who work hard in high regard and to live in peace
with them. That’s easy enough to understand, right? In my experience, the
hardest thing about this is remembering that almost everyone ought to be
esteemed for their work. Everyone has a place in this world and it’s hard to remember
others and to not be selfish.
Next are verses 14 and 15: “And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.” There’s a big bundle of instructions. Or is it? I mean, to me, if you really think about it, this is really just saying to love one another. Hmmmm…(awkward thought bubble)
Well, what’s next? 16-18!
“16 Rejoice
always, 17
pray continually, 18 give
thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
Rejoice always. But, listen, my life sucks. No, no it doesn’t. I
hear stories (and will hopefully soon have some of my own) of people in third
world countries, who are starving and sick and at war who can celebrate every day.
Why? Because they are alive. Because many of them recognize that God has a
better plan than this world. So, why do we struggle so much to be joyful as
Americans (or my one German viewer)? From my own experience, I really believe
it is because we are very spoiled as a culture. We are expectant and not
wanting of much. I’m not saying we don’t want a lot because clearly we do. I’m
just saying that in general, most of us have food, water, shelter, heat and air
conditioning, television, computers, and phones. Perhaps if we didn’t have so
much, we would realize better just how blessed we are.
Pray continually. Well, listen. I have school, a job, a family,
friends, eating times…That.Is.Awesome. But you’re looking at it wrong. I went
to a conference…five years ago now…and they talked about this. What I’m told is
that what it really means is to keep Godly thoughts on your mind. If you’re
walking between classes and see someone on crutches, ask God to heal them. It doesn’t
need to be fancy. Just, “Hey God, he’s on crutches. Help him feel better?” I
think, as American Christians, we have really put too much emphasis on having a
formal relationship with God. We’ve started to lose track of talking to God
versus talking at God. Just in my head, I imagine God listening to our formal
prayers and wondering why we’re trying to impress those around us when we just
need to talk to him. Does this make sense? When we talk to God we let Him know
what’s weighing on our hearts. When we talk at God they’re just words. Whether
they have a deeper meaning or not, they don’t really necessarily improve our
relationship with him. I try to wear a ring with a dove on it each day to
remind myself to talk to God all day.
Hoooold up. What does anything I just talked about have to do with
how we define our lives??? Well it doesn’t. Not directly at least. Here’s what
I’m trying to say. We often get our roles mixed up with ourselves. Who am I and
who am I are totally different
questions. Does that make sense? We are called to certain actions as followers
and disciples. I try to live my life by these in particular. So how do you
define yourself?
Do you:
Love?
Heal?
Pray?
Celebrate?
Give?
What, as a disciple or follower of your Savior, defines you? There’s
no correct answer. It all depends on who you are. Here’s my challenge to you:
figure out now what defines you. Once you know, I challenge you to think about
it in everything you do and live your life by what defines you.
Good luck!
Until next time,
Just a Girl
P.S. I have a lot more to say, but I'm out of time. I want to talk Proverbs 31 next time :)
P.P.S. Next time I'm probably going to share some of what I'm learning from my new Bible! SUPER EXCITED!!!!
