Nothing is more heartbreaking than hearing someone put themselves down. Guys and girls alike, everyone gets this way, and especially with the way the media portrays celebrities these days, we're all trying to reach impossible (yes, impossible) standards. At this point in time, you honestly have to accept the fact that you won't ever be as thin, or as muscular, or tan, blonde, or *insert feature here* as the models on magazine covers. You won't. Not because you're not good enough, or you're not capable, but because nobody looks like that. Not even the people in the pictures. Every single picture you see of celebrities? It's safe to say it's been heavily edited. Here's one example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXoZLPSw8U8.
The thing is, we're all God's creations. All of us. No matter how bad you feel about yourself, or how much or little you feel like you've accomplished with your life, we're all His. Every one of us is unique; no two people on earth look exactly alike. So, if that's true, why are we all trying so hard to live up to society's expectation for everyone to be the same? It's ridiculous. It's a waste of time.
Imagine you've spent months making a documentary about someone and all the things they've done. After countless late nights you finally get it finished, and when you sit down to watch it, they go, "This is horrible. I look horrible. That was so boring; my life is so boring." They're just being negative about themselves, yes, but hearing that, a little voice inside you is going to say, "But I spent hours on this movie. I- I thought it was great."
That, my friends, is a small scale example of how God feels when you call yourself ugly. He made you himself, in His own image. You are just as much as a masterpiece as Angelina Jolie, Zac Efron, Blake Lively, and Channing Tatum. You are. There's absolutely nothing to set you apart from them. "But I look nothing like any of them. I'm not good enough." Yeah? Well, they look nothing like you, either, and I guarantee each and every one of them has days they wish they could change something about themselves. The difference? They can. They can turn to Photoshop and countless hair and makeup artists to change any of their features at the drop of a hat. Be happy in your own skin. It's yours.
"Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And
let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of
the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every
creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own
image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created
them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and
multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the
fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living
thing that moves on the earth.” -Genesis 1:26-28
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
"God gives the hardest battles to the strongest soldiers."
False.
How in the world can this be true? God isn't up in Heaven, like the captain of a sports team, looking at the group of people and selecting the mentally strongest, thinking, "You- I think it's time I bring your parents home to be by my side. Because you can handle it. And you- you've really grown closer to me and become a better person, so you know what I'm going to do? I think I'll give you some cancer. And, oh, can't forget you- you're going to get in a really bad wreck later, and you won't be able to walk for a few months. But it's okay, you won't mind, you can handle it."
What?
By saying God gives the hardest battles to the strongest people, we're (unintentionally) making our God sound like a horrible, cruel, punishing one. We're saying that he judges us by where we are now, rather than where we're going to end up, and we're saying that the closer to Him we've remained, the harder our lives are going to be. And on the flip side? We're saying the weakest people, maybe the people who have never experienced His grace, won't ever have to fight any hard battles. They'll have it easy.
What?!
So, I beg to differ. I've seen this quote posted online, I've heard it being said in a number of different contexts, and honestly, this needs to be heard. God puts us through rough spots in our lives to strengthen us. And, one more thing: if you've lost a loved one, God did not take them away from you just to make you stronger. If you've lost a loved one, it was their time. They were blessed enough to have already done what God needed them to do, and they got to go home early. Our God is a kind one. He loves us, and the last thing He would do is use such extreme measures to punish us, or even better us. True, you learn from overcoming things you thought you'd never overcome. You know that, God knows that. But this quote- it puts a barrier between you and God, and you might not even be aware of it. You're going to have trouble putting your full faith and trust in a God that gives the best of his disciples the hardest lives, and lets the people who are the farthest away from him off the hook.
We've all gone through awfully hard times in our lives. We've gone through them before. We'll go through them again. But telling ourselves this- almost to raise ourselves up, when the first thing we should be doing is staying humble- is just an excuse. "Well, this situation is really hard. Really terrible. But that makes sense; God gives the hardest battles to the strongest soldiers, and I'm dang strong. I can take this." This is so wrong. I can tell you straight up that if something bad happens to you or someone you love, God's intentions were not to compliment you, telling you how strong you are and showing you what you can handle. He has a plan for everyone, of course. But He has much bigger, better, deeper reasons for what He does than that. We have to give Him credit for that.
So, I'm going to go out on a limb here, and change up the way that quote is worded. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that God doesn't give the hardest battles to the strongest soldiers, He gives us all battles, in the grand scheme of things, some bigger than others, but individually, each battle is equally huge in our minds, and we all have to grow in Christ and strengthen ourselves through Him in order to win the battle. There's no "strongest/weakest" "hardest/easiest" to it. We're all going through something. We have all fought something bigger than us, and we have all come out stronger because of it.
We're all strong.
"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you." -2 Corinthians 4:7-12, and 16-18
"From God and not from us." God has given us these hard times, to teach us something. We haven't brought these times upon ourselves, our "strength" is not accountable for what's being placed in our life.
How in the world can this be true? God isn't up in Heaven, like the captain of a sports team, looking at the group of people and selecting the mentally strongest, thinking, "You- I think it's time I bring your parents home to be by my side. Because you can handle it. And you- you've really grown closer to me and become a better person, so you know what I'm going to do? I think I'll give you some cancer. And, oh, can't forget you- you're going to get in a really bad wreck later, and you won't be able to walk for a few months. But it's okay, you won't mind, you can handle it."
What?
By saying God gives the hardest battles to the strongest people, we're (unintentionally) making our God sound like a horrible, cruel, punishing one. We're saying that he judges us by where we are now, rather than where we're going to end up, and we're saying that the closer to Him we've remained, the harder our lives are going to be. And on the flip side? We're saying the weakest people, maybe the people who have never experienced His grace, won't ever have to fight any hard battles. They'll have it easy.
What?!
So, I beg to differ. I've seen this quote posted online, I've heard it being said in a number of different contexts, and honestly, this needs to be heard. God puts us through rough spots in our lives to strengthen us. And, one more thing: if you've lost a loved one, God did not take them away from you just to make you stronger. If you've lost a loved one, it was their time. They were blessed enough to have already done what God needed them to do, and they got to go home early. Our God is a kind one. He loves us, and the last thing He would do is use such extreme measures to punish us, or even better us. True, you learn from overcoming things you thought you'd never overcome. You know that, God knows that. But this quote- it puts a barrier between you and God, and you might not even be aware of it. You're going to have trouble putting your full faith and trust in a God that gives the best of his disciples the hardest lives, and lets the people who are the farthest away from him off the hook.
We've all gone through awfully hard times in our lives. We've gone through them before. We'll go through them again. But telling ourselves this- almost to raise ourselves up, when the first thing we should be doing is staying humble- is just an excuse. "Well, this situation is really hard. Really terrible. But that makes sense; God gives the hardest battles to the strongest soldiers, and I'm dang strong. I can take this." This is so wrong. I can tell you straight up that if something bad happens to you or someone you love, God's intentions were not to compliment you, telling you how strong you are and showing you what you can handle. He has a plan for everyone, of course. But He has much bigger, better, deeper reasons for what He does than that. We have to give Him credit for that.
So, I'm going to go out on a limb here, and change up the way that quote is worded. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that God doesn't give the hardest battles to the strongest soldiers, He gives us all battles, in the grand scheme of things, some bigger than others, but individually, each battle is equally huge in our minds, and we all have to grow in Christ and strengthen ourselves through Him in order to win the battle. There's no "strongest/weakest" "hardest/easiest" to it. We're all going through something. We have all fought something bigger than us, and we have all come out stronger because of it.
We're all strong.
"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you." -2 Corinthians 4:7-12, and 16-18
"From God and not from us." God has given us these hard times, to teach us something. We haven't brought these times upon ourselves, our "strength" is not accountable for what's being placed in our life.
Monday, July 21, 2014
"God isn't real."
If you're reading this as a Christian, chances are, you're scared you'll hear these words and have no idea what to say. There it is, God's testing you, He's seeing if you know what to do, what to tell people, and you're failing. That's a pretty big fear for a lot of people.
If you're not a Christian, maybe you don't believe in God at all. Maybe you were just scrolling through blogspot and ended up here. Regardless, just hear me out for this post.
I'm going to start with the simplest, most basic way to put it. As in, if faith was a giant swimming pool, this is the 3-foot zone. If you can get this in your head, you're in a good place. Everyone has doubts. It's natural. We grow up slowly learning what's real and what's not (for example, there was a reason the tooth fairy forgot to put your money under the pillow that one time, and there are people underneath the character costumes at Walt Disney World.) So after taking blow after blow, we start to doubt the more solid things in our lives, too. Like who's going to stay in our lives and who will leave, whether we actually have a chance at getting our dream job and living in our dream house, and mainly, whether there is a God out there. But look past these doubts, and think about it in the plainest, most selfish way possible:
If there is a God, and you spend your life living for Him, spreading the Word, along with joy, peace, and hope, to everyone you meet, you're set. You believe in Christ dying for your sins, you go to Heaven. Piece of cake. But here's where it gets even easier. You spend your life believing only to die and find out there's not a God. Cool- you can chill underground and, who knows, haunt people or something. But, knowing the consequences of living a life without Christ, would you rather die and find out there is no God? Or die and find out there was and have it be too late to change anything? Random metaphor time: would you rather put a little sunscreen on, just to be safe, and end up with a nice, even tan? Or go lie on the beach without sunscreen, and end up burned and peeling in some places, sorta tan in others, and completely pale everywhere else? There are a lot of times in life where playing it safe isn't necessarily your best option. Talk to that really cute guy/girl over there. Go for the drastic haircut. Don't be afraid to step off the platform on a zipline. But none of those things are overly life changing- they won't matter in ten years. The thing is, the way you choose to live your life now will. And if you feel like you have as much time as you need, honestly, you might not have as much time as you think. Because anything can happen in the blink of an eye. Think about letting Christ in your life while you still have the chance; it's harsh, but in this case, you're way better off safe than sorry.
Disclaimer: Faith out of selfishness won't get you anywhere. You have to truly believe that Christ died to renew you, to save you from your sinful ways, and it definitely doesn't hurt to spread His word and try your best to live the way He would. This is just a very down to the basics, step one way of looking at it. It doesn't end here!
If you're not a Christian, maybe you don't believe in God at all. Maybe you were just scrolling through blogspot and ended up here. Regardless, just hear me out for this post.
I'm going to start with the simplest, most basic way to put it. As in, if faith was a giant swimming pool, this is the 3-foot zone. If you can get this in your head, you're in a good place. Everyone has doubts. It's natural. We grow up slowly learning what's real and what's not (for example, there was a reason the tooth fairy forgot to put your money under the pillow that one time, and there are people underneath the character costumes at Walt Disney World.) So after taking blow after blow, we start to doubt the more solid things in our lives, too. Like who's going to stay in our lives and who will leave, whether we actually have a chance at getting our dream job and living in our dream house, and mainly, whether there is a God out there. But look past these doubts, and think about it in the plainest, most selfish way possible:
If there is a God, and you spend your life living for Him, spreading the Word, along with joy, peace, and hope, to everyone you meet, you're set. You believe in Christ dying for your sins, you go to Heaven. Piece of cake. But here's where it gets even easier. You spend your life believing only to die and find out there's not a God. Cool- you can chill underground and, who knows, haunt people or something. But, knowing the consequences of living a life without Christ, would you rather die and find out there is no God? Or die and find out there was and have it be too late to change anything? Random metaphor time: would you rather put a little sunscreen on, just to be safe, and end up with a nice, even tan? Or go lie on the beach without sunscreen, and end up burned and peeling in some places, sorta tan in others, and completely pale everywhere else? There are a lot of times in life where playing it safe isn't necessarily your best option. Talk to that really cute guy/girl over there. Go for the drastic haircut. Don't be afraid to step off the platform on a zipline. But none of those things are overly life changing- they won't matter in ten years. The thing is, the way you choose to live your life now will. And if you feel like you have as much time as you need, honestly, you might not have as much time as you think. Because anything can happen in the blink of an eye. Think about letting Christ in your life while you still have the chance; it's harsh, but in this case, you're way better off safe than sorry.
Disclaimer: Faith out of selfishness won't get you anywhere. You have to truly believe that Christ died to renew you, to save you from your sinful ways, and it definitely doesn't hurt to spread His word and try your best to live the way He would. This is just a very down to the basics, step one way of looking at it. It doesn't end here!
"Why do bad things happen to good people?"
Why do bad things happen to good people? It's always the same, isn't it? It's always the nicest people you know, whether at school, or work, or around town. They live Godly lives, they go to church, they wouldn't hurt a fly. But yet they're the ones that get sick, or lose a loved one, or go through some other horrible time that many of us can't even imagine. Or, maybe you, yes, you, are reading this because you're that good person. You've sent people Bible verses when they were down, you pray before going to sleep every night, etc. So now you're asking, "Why? Why me?"
First of all, it's really important to know that God has a plan for you. Right now, it probably seems hopeless. Of course it does. Because while God knows exactly what's coming around the corner, you have no idea. Only He has that power. So, while He is planning something great for you, something that will make you a better person and put you exactly where you need to be, you have no choice but to wait, right where you are, in the exact same state that you've been stuck in for days, weeks, maybe years. When you start feeling as if you have no purpose, think about this: if you knew about a miracle God had planned for you, if you knew what it was and when it was going to happen, would it be a miracle? And wouldn't you relax a little? You'd pray less, you wouldn't care so much anymore. And that's not how God wants us to be. We need Him, and He wants us. When he puts you through a hard point in your life, straying from Him is only going to make things worse in the long run. Keep your faith, keep marching along, and eventually, when the time is right, something will come along, be it a person, or an opportunity, you name it, that will change the way you live for the better.
"It's all for the best" is honestly such a terrible quote. If someone you truly loved just died, do you really want to hear, "Oh, no, everything's okay, it's all for the best"? Of course not. Because it's not okay, and it's not all for the best. God's not asking us to rejoice when things like this happen, to shrug it off and say, "Doesn't matter. It's for the best." It really is the worst possible way to word things. But, the truth is, whether or not it leaves us better off for the time being, when one door closes, another door opens. While you'll never stop missing someone, if you put your life in God's hands, lean on Him, and let Him guide you, as ridiculous as it sounds-- you will end up in the right place. You are only as strong as your faith in God; He is your strength. Therefore, it's impossible for Him to bring you to something that you can't get through. He will always get you through.
"And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will." -2 Timothy 2:24-26
First of all, it's really important to know that God has a plan for you. Right now, it probably seems hopeless. Of course it does. Because while God knows exactly what's coming around the corner, you have no idea. Only He has that power. So, while He is planning something great for you, something that will make you a better person and put you exactly where you need to be, you have no choice but to wait, right where you are, in the exact same state that you've been stuck in for days, weeks, maybe years. When you start feeling as if you have no purpose, think about this: if you knew about a miracle God had planned for you, if you knew what it was and when it was going to happen, would it be a miracle? And wouldn't you relax a little? You'd pray less, you wouldn't care so much anymore. And that's not how God wants us to be. We need Him, and He wants us. When he puts you through a hard point in your life, straying from Him is only going to make things worse in the long run. Keep your faith, keep marching along, and eventually, when the time is right, something will come along, be it a person, or an opportunity, you name it, that will change the way you live for the better.
"It's all for the best" is honestly such a terrible quote. If someone you truly loved just died, do you really want to hear, "Oh, no, everything's okay, it's all for the best"? Of course not. Because it's not okay, and it's not all for the best. God's not asking us to rejoice when things like this happen, to shrug it off and say, "Doesn't matter. It's for the best." It really is the worst possible way to word things. But, the truth is, whether or not it leaves us better off for the time being, when one door closes, another door opens. While you'll never stop missing someone, if you put your life in God's hands, lean on Him, and let Him guide you, as ridiculous as it sounds-- you will end up in the right place. You are only as strong as your faith in God; He is your strength. Therefore, it's impossible for Him to bring you to something that you can't get through. He will always get you through.
"And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will." -2 Timothy 2:24-26
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)