-

 Today is not a normal blog post for me, but this is what is on my heart. Today is September 11th. So many people today are talking about how they want to remember what it was like on September 12th. The day people drew together. The day people put differences aside and remembered what was important. Why did we do this? We were hurting, fearful, facing the unknown. So what did we do? We put aside our differences and were there for each other. We had a common "enemy" so we banded together. I can't help but think of life right now. So many are so desperately hurting. So many are facing so much unknown. Facing doubts and fears. And what are we doing? We are making each other the enemy. Instead of banding together we are biting, hating, devouring each other. Why? Because we are convinced we are right. We feel it is more important that we are right and everyone knows it than to listen to each other, and understand the pain that each person is dealing with. What kind of world do you want to live in? You have a choice. You can live in a world more concerned with sides, political affiliation, causes (or hatred of causes), what those in your "group" think or feel, or you can stop, breathe and make a choice. A choice to leave others better than you find them. A choice to love out loud, even in silent ways. Who knows- your choice to love may be just the thing to cause a ripple effect that can change your family, community, or the world.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

-
Image
  We read about the parable of a hidden treasure and a pearl of great value. Where the people sold everything they had to buy the treasure. In my study on these parables, I read two different interpretations that I found interesting. The most common interpretation discussed is that these parables do not mean that we can buy our way into heaven. It is that the treasure is the Kingdom of Heaven and the value is so great that it is worth more than any earthly thing. Everything else that we could have fades in comparison to that treasure and we should be willing to give up everything for the Kingdom of Heaven. The second interpretation was that we are the treasure. Jesus sees us and our value and He gave up everything He had to save us and purchase us with His blood. He gave up everything even to the point of His own life because he found us valuable and worthy. Both are very thought-provoking! To think of ourselves as a treasure worth Jesus giving His life for. It causes me to pause ...
Read more
-
Image
Lately, I've been really diving into the Old Testament and something that's been standing out to me is when God reveals himself as Yahweh in Exodus. In Exodus 3, God tells Moses "I am that I am" and in verses 14-15, He says "I Am Who I Am" in Hebrew, 'ehyeh 'asher 'ehyeh. This wordplay is like God is saying that the one who promises to be with Moses is also the one who sends him. Later, God shortens this to simply "I Am," which is translated as Yahweh in some versions. God tells Moses that this is the name he wants to be known by forever. Yahweh represents God's character and reminds us that He is a personal God. In chapter 6, Yahweh speaks to Moses again and gives him 7 "I will" statements. These statements were specific to the Israelites at that time, but since Yahweh's name is forever, we can also learn about His character and apply it to our own lives. The 7 "I am" statements are: I will bring you out of ...
Read more

Right or Righteous?

-
Image
As we read through the New Testament it is so easy to look at the Pharisees and judge how manipulative and self-righteous they were. It seems like all they did was follow Jesus around trying to trap and discredit him. I read about them and think of how angry they must have always felt and how sad their lives must have been. As quick and easy as it is to judge them I can look around at our world today and realize that there are so many similarities- especially in the Church. God's goal was for the Jews then, and the Christians now, to focus on Him and have a right relationship with Him. As Christians, our focus should never be so set on being right that we forget to be righteous. The Pharisees were so focused on proving that they were right and Jesus was wrong that their focus was completely off of the God they claimed to serve and completely on themselves. They no longer cared what the truth was, they only cared about their interpretation of the truth, and they would do, believe, a...
Read more