As Momma Put It

In plenty of self-help and therapy philosophies of the world we are told to love ourselves or to love ourselves more, with the assumption that certain people legitimately don’t love themselves. Now in theory, that is good thinking, but Biblically, we never hear that, the idea is that we already love ourselves, and if anything, we are told to love ourselves less. But what about those that treat themselves badly (cutting, drugs, drinking, promiscuity, eating disorders, gambling, i.e.)?? Well when you think about it, technically they love themselves enough to try to find an outlet to feel better or no matter how much of a negative behavior it may be, the world’s philosophy is to do whatever brings you pleasure or whatever it is that makes you happy in order to love yourself. I would say that the problem is not that people don’t love themselves, but they don’t know how to do it or they love themselves way too much. Think about it. When a person cheats on their spouse or abuses them, it’s not uncommon to hear “but I do love you.” Now, in actuality, they may really love them, but they were never taught the right way. Am I excusing it? Absolutely not, but making a point.

Long story short, our definition and idea of love toward self and toward others is backwards and so far from the way God intended. So much in so that we are blinded by happiness from what love is. The problem is that happiness is a state of emotion based on a situation, which would explain why people turn over and over again to vices, because that had only a temporary high. In turn, because people are ignorant of how to love ourselves, we are utterly lost in the ability to appropriately love others. So what’s the answer?

Well, Scripture lays it out pretty clearly. To love appropriately, you must first love Jesus, because he himself is love; it was Jesus that died in our place. Jesus showed love to whoever came his way, and so in loving him by getting to know him, talking with him, spending time with him, and communing with him via his Word, it’s inevitable that you learn to love him. I mean seriously, what’s not to love? And the more we fall in love with him, the more of his love should permeate through us onto others because we will begin to imitate his incredible version of love. Once you’ve met with Jesus, you will never be the same. Once he touches you, it is bound to rub off on someone else. Now, what’s next?

Jesus’ whole ministry was built on love, even loving the least of them. So by following the way of Jesus, we learn to love others, even our enemies and love our loved ones when they are most unlovable. The first of the greatest commandments is to love God, and the second is to love others. Paul in 1 Corinthians gives a whole chapter on what love for one another looks like, and the total of the Mosaic law can be summed up in loving God and loving others. If we are to be disciples, then our love for each other should be our defining trait. It’s a matter of putting others’ needs ahead or considering them more important than your own. It’s easier said than done, but as your love for Jesus increases, so does your ability to sincerely and unconditionally love others.

Looking back at the great commandment, after loving God, you love your neighbor, then after loving your neighbor, you love yourself. Now with many of the commands God gives His people, if you really examine them they are in place to protect us and keep us in good terms. For example, being careful of what you eat, and taking care of your temple, your own body, not participating in sinful acts, or participating in things to get you caught up in bad or compromising situations. If you love yourself, you will consider these things a lot more, because worldly thinking is that following Christ is a matter of all these crazy rules and killjoys, when instead God had our best interest at heart. And if we want to love God back we will love ourselves enough to consider what He says to make us most effective in the life assigned to us. If you don’t believe me, consider all the things He said we shouldn’t do or think and more and more we are falling away, and where has that gotten us? Okay, but so what? I know, I felt myself rambling so I digress and will keep it moving.

To be you for a purpose, you have to be anchored in love, because anything done without love, no matter how good or noble, is of no value. Therefore, let’s recap, how do we love appropriately? Love Jesus first, then love others, then love yourself. In that order. Jesus, others, yourself. Jesus. Others. You…J.O.Y. Catch my drift yet? The world’s philosophy of love is based on happiness, which is temporary; here one day, gone the next. But, when you follow God’s idea of love, you walk away with an incredible sense of joy, that the world can’t give you, nor can the world take away. My momma taught me that.

Generally Speaking

We all strive to find our specific purpose for our lives, we anticipate finding out what our calling is, specific to our individual lives. However, Scripture tells us of things that God wills for all of us no matter who we are that I think are crucial to live out in order to effectively fulfill our individual life purpose. There are five things in particular that generally speaking I believe God purposes for each of us.

The first is to simply be thankful. No matter how bad things look, be grateful (1 Thessalonians 5:18). In order to be who God called us to be, we have to be thankful for what we have because it makes us who we are. As we go through life, there are plenty of things that we can complain about or legitimately be upset about, but I think that if we learn to be humble and grateful in the roughest times of our lives, we will become content and at peace. When we have a thankful heart, it’s easier to stay focused on what matters and trust God to handle things out of our control or guide us in the decisions to be made. God’s desire for us is to be thankful.

In a world where sex sells and it’s so glorified, many miss this one more than others. God’s will for His people is that they refrain from sexual immorality (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Sex was made for marriage, not for an extracurricular activity or dating auditions. In order to be all of who God has for us to be, fornication and immorality are serious hindrances to His plans. From dangerous emotional relationships, attachments to others that aren’t helping you to your destiny, which of course is harder to detach from if a child is involved, which I see far too often creates messy situations, or medical problems. Sex outside of marriage limits what you are able to give your spouse, because a piece of you was left with someone else, and living in sin will limit what God will do in, by, through, and for you.

In a world like we live in today, there is a lot of stupid talk; a lot of ignorance, some of which is warranted by a record of ignorant behavior. As a result, God’s will for us is that we do good, in order to get people to stop talking (1 Peter 2:15). Just considering all of the talk against Christianity, let alone Christ, it mandates us, His people, to do good and to represent Christ well as much as we can so that foolish people will have less ignorant things to talk about. Do more positive things, the more positive people will begin to speak. In whatever specific calling God has on your life, doing good I am sure is a root of it, because the more you represent the goodness of the Lord, that is what people will begin to talk about.

However, doing good or going against the grain of the world’s thinking or standards of what it is good and right can create a sense of fear. Yet, God’s purpose was that we wouldn’t operate in fear, but in power, love, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). Fulfilling God’s purpose for your life requires all three, no matter how big or small. In a world like ours, authority, power, love, sensibility and self-control are critical to substantially changing the culture we live in and impacting the world as we know it, because there will be times when God will need us to step outside of our comfort zone and demand us to take giant leaps of faith, sometimes blindly, but we have to trust that God is who He says He is and can do what He says He can do, and that we are who He says we are.

All in all, whatever our individual purpose is, it’s all about growing the kingdom and being witnesses for Jesus in our homes to the far reaches of the world (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8). To effectively do this, the previous must become a priority for us. We must do good and love one another; we should be bold, self-controlled, sanctified, always being thankful.

There is much work to be done and being you for the purpose of being who it is that God destined you to be, it is essential that we strive to do these things wherever life brings us because they are core to walking in the center of the will of God.

Gothel

I can’t believe I am saying this, but “Tangled” has become one of my favorite Disney princess movies. However when I watch it, I am reminded of how damaged many of them were because of things that were told to them by those closest to them, which today would be easily called emotional abuse. Nonetheless, the last time I was watching it, I was again drawn to the character of Gothel, Rapunzel’s “mother.”

The story’s focus is on the sun and how a piece of it fell from the heavens and could bring healing and restoration. You may already see where I am going with this. Needless to say, that’s the exact thing that the Son did, he came down from the heavens and brought healing and restoration to whoever was in need, and that awesome power is still available today. The problem though, is that there are way too many Gothels, because if you remember the movie, she did everything she could to hide it and didn’t even consider the queen worthy enough to receive its gift. She wanted to keep it all to herself, like so many of us.

Too often those of us that know of the healing and saving power of the Rose of Sharon, just as the special golden flower in the movie, refuse to share it and instead hide Christ. We want Jesus all to ourselves or we falsely make judgments of who deserves his power and salvation, and as a result, the world around us suffers greatly. I mean just look around and listen to the news; it really is depressing. It’s as if people have truly lost their minds and it’s only getting worse. The world is in need of serious healing, and like the people in the movie, the world is searching for a miracle that only heaven can bring, because time in fact is running out. The world is desperately looking for a savior, and as a believer, we have what this sick land needs, but we hide it.

For some strange reason, like Gothel we hoard Christ and put him in this box of what he can and should do, limiting his expanse throughout the nations. Like Gothel, maybe we are afraid that someone will take our gift away and we will lose access to it, or the power will run out, or it will get in the wrong hands, or perhaps we are just greedy or prideful, let alone understand the greatness of what it is we possess. The awesome thing about the gift of the Son from the heavens is that his power stretches far beyond Rapunzel’s; he will never lose power and we will always have access to him no matter how much we share him with others. No one can separate us from his love or snatch us out of his hand. And all that he does is for our good, no one can misuse or manipulate him no matter how much they try. However, when we refuse to share the gift and the power that has been given to us, we in turn become powerless, because the more we pour out the more he will fill us up and the more we are able to see the awesome of the power of the Son. There is no reason to be stingy, hold out, contain it, or confine Jesus to one thing, like Gothel did in trying to stay young. Far too many are dying without the golden flower, the Rose of Sharon, the Lily of the Valley. Don’t let that blood be on your hands because you want things your way.

The world as I already said is in need of a drop of Son-light from Heaven; it’s crying out for a miracle, and we have it in our possession as followers of Christ. So being you for a purpose is simply sharing the gift of Heaven however you can so that others can be healed and saved physically, mentally, emotionally, and especially spiritually. Being you for a purpose is realizing that you are the hope and the light the world is searching for, so let the Son use you to spread his power. After all, that is what we were commanded to do.

Only Dead Things Can Live

Many times when I write, I get ideas from things I’ve read or studied on my own time, and many times I get an prospective topic, but it fizzles out, which is what has been happening lately. However, just recently I attended a concert for the Love Ran Red tour and one of the artists was a group named Tenth North Avenue, and the lead singing made a very interesting statement before one other their songs that keeps ringing in my ear. He said, “Only dead things can live.” Though it was a great concert and I was able to sing myself, those words to me is what I will always remember, because it’s such an oxymoron and so profound.

The premise of Be You for a Purpose is to encourage individuals to grow and become more of who they were created to be more and more each and every day through the way they think, speak, and live. The irony is that in order to do so, we must die. Many times in the New Testament especially, we are mandated to die to self that Christ may live through us (Galatians 2:20, 5:24; Luke 9:23; 1 Corinthians 15:31). When you think about it, we can’t function best or operate optimally unless we become new creatures in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17); we have to die so that our Creator can make into all He designed and desired us to be. Yet, it requires submission, sacrifice, humility, and faith. Nevertheless, if you are like me, the more I die to self, the more I see the glory of God in my life, the more peace, and greater satisfaction I have than if I had lived the way I want to live.

Being dead, however, is not the same as being out of touch with reality and having no type of uniqueness, or having no desires, but rather all of those things are focused through the sight and vision of the God of the universe. All of our senses are more awakened when we allow God to fully take over, and because His Spirit lives in us we have more power and authority to live an unapologetic, passionate, purpose-filled, meaningful, unforgettable life.

The best way to sum it up is this verse, “Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12:24). A lesson to be taken from Jesus himself as he was predicting his death, being you for a purpose means that in whatever field you are called to harvest with whatever tools you have been granted, you give of your life, which produces life, nourishment, and hope for so many others and allows God to multiply what you have to fulfill your purpose.

Like Children

It’s okay to be childish too. I have heard in one way or another that every person has an inner child in them, and some people are proud to show it while others completely ignore it. Furthermore, on more than one occasion, Jesus tells us to come to him in the manner of child (Matthew 18:3, 19:13-15), minus the fact that we are children of God. Nevertheless, not too long ago I had a conversation about this and I was pondering on it recently and I figured I’d write about it. Why not? Anyhow, when you consider what Jesus’ desire for us to be childlike, you have to stop and consider what it means to be the average child.

For starters, it means you have a giant imagination and a heart of dreams that seem impossible. As a follower of Christ we are called to think big and to come up with the impossible believing that God is who He says He is and can do what He says He can do. Far too often, us adults put God in a box, when God is urging us to bust the box wide open so that we can really experience His power that He can prove that He can do above and beyond all we could hope or imagine. God is only as big as we make Him out to be. So as a child does, dream as big as you can and believe that God put that crazy idea in your heart for a reason, because if what you are praying and believing God for doesn’t scare you, you aren’t praying big enough.

It’s being a sponge and soaking up everything you hear and see. We are called to me imitators of Christ, and so as much as we are able through His word and other ways He speaks and communes with us, we should be right at His feet soaking it all in, following everything He did and said. All through the Old Testament especially we are commanded to meditate and keep the Scriptures close to our hearts, soak it all in, because there will be a day when we are squeezed and what we have retained, good or bad, will ooze out. We should thus be ever so eager to learn about God and who He is as the Scriptures suggest.

Being as a child is constantly living in awe, being wonderstruck as Margaret Feinberg put it, easily captivated. It never ceases to amaze me how the smallest things can capture the attention of a child and how curious they are. They are fascinated by a shoelace or the sound of banging on a pot or bubbles, so should we. There are so many mysteries in this faith and when God reveals certain things too us we should be in awe of His revelation, or on the other hand, we should be looking for the face and hand of God everywhere we go, whether the beauty of a buttercup or a beta fish, or those little prayers He answers on a daily basis. I believe it was Donald Miller who wrote about how our wonder of God becomes our worship of Him.

Furthermore, unless they are taught differently or shown differently, children are more likely to be accepting of others’ differences as well as accepting of who they are. As children of God we are not to show favoritism, walk over those who are weaker, treat those that aren’t like badly or discriminate against them, but accept everyone as our neighbor and stand up for one another. Likewise, we know that we are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God with our own set of gifts, personalities, and differences that make us to be exactly who God intended us to be, part of which are the heart’s desires that others may laugh at or put down or think it as ‘cute.’ Children tend not to recognize or give much [negative] attention to their ‘flaws’ until they get older and learn the standard of beauty, otherwise they are content and thrive in just the way they were created.

Children are not afraid to laugh and have fun, and love color. This Christian life was never meant to be dull, lifeless, and colorless, but just the opposite. I mean if you just look at the vastness, vibrancy, vitality, and dynamic of creation alone, it would be an insult to think of God as mundane or boring without vivid beauty, so why would initiate our lives be like that? God is full of emotion, which includes happiness, so He in fact does smile and laugh, yes, it’s a weird concept, but His Word tells us He does. Children laugh, God laughs, as should we.

As a child, there is always the expectation of growth and development, which applies to children of God as well. Though God created us the way He wanted, we still have our sin and fleshly nature, those things that God loves us too much to let be. We are suppose to grow in knowledge, wisdom and stature, and develop more and more to be all that we were destined to be for His ultimate glory, for every stage of growth is a different complexity and a different wonder to be held.

When you think of children, you think of innocence and purity, and it’s the cross that allows us to restore our innocence and be pure. Time and time in Scripture you find that we are to strive for righteousness and perfection, and to be blameless, without blemish, which comes with the help of the Holy Spirit. This same idea of innocence and purity is how we stay in fellowship with God, hear from Him, and receive all that He has for us. We are to be holy just as Christ was holy, and the more we imitate Christ the more the world is able to see Him.

Children are bold and aren’t afraid to get close or speak truth, as should we in our speech, at any given moment, we should be willing and bold to speak life and truth as the Hold Spirit leads, even if it may be unpopular or unfavored. Coming as a child is thus also not being to timid to explore some new territory, and though the level of caution varies from child to child, they are still less reluctant than adults. In the same way, we should not be afraid to get out of our comfort zone and explore new things, for it is there we truly live and where God reveals more of who He is.

Nevertheless, just like children, we are immature, naive, and clumsy, we fall, we break stuff and make a mess of things, at times consistently, but as God our Father, He will always be there to pick us up when we fall and teach us how not to make a mess and break stuff, and will give us the experience and knowledge so that we won’t make as many messes so often. And as any good parent, He molds us to be our best, is patient with us, merciful, gracious, and from time to time, disciplines us, while having our best interest at heart, even when we don’t understand. He knows what we need as His children better than we do, vows to protect and provide for us, promises to hold our hand and comfort us when we get a boo-boo.

Above all, as our Heavenly Father, His desire is to foster us, His children, to be the awesome, fearless, relentless, and amazing persons He had in mind for us to be back in eternity past, maximizing our strengths and potential. He wants us to receive everything on Earth that Heaven has to offer, hoping that we are able to stretch our limits and command the impossible to be done. He wants His children to be confident in who they are because of who Christ is, and walk with all authority and power using their gifts as if they were superheroes with superpowers from another world. He desires His children to be so unmoved and sure of who their Father is and who they are, that they are not afraid to stand alone or go against the grain and give life all they have, thinking outside the box, believing that anything can happen and that there is something greater.

All in all, God wants nothing less than for you to shine ever so brightly,having no desire to harm or hurt you in what ever form, but to give you a hope and a future. .

Be childish and be you for a purpose because the kingdom of heaven belongs to you.