For these posts I will be using the NIV Bible. Today we will start in 1 John 4:19-21.
We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, his is a liar. For anyone who does not loves his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, who he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Although this passage seems pretty cut and dry, there is still a lot to gain from diving deeper into it. Loving God isn't just about loving Him, its about loving your "brother" too. But who is your "brother"? Does that mean just the people I'm related to? Or my friends? Or just the people it is convenient to love? NO! He tells us to love everyone. That includes the people we find it really difficult to love, the people who come from different backgrounds than us, and the people who get on our very last nerve. If we are going to follow Jesus and love the Lord, we have to GENUINELY love everyone around us. The Bible tells us in Romans 12:9 that Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. To me that means, no more fake loving on others. I can't get away with "oh I love your skirt" or "where did you get that bracelet? It's so adorable" while in my head I think "I can't believe you're wearing that" or "I can't stand this girl, maybe if I give her a compliment I will be able to walk away without it looking rude." No more Regina George-ing my compliments.
We all have that person (or more than one) that we can't stand, but God is telling us "yes, you have to love them too." I have a few people I need to work on loving. It isn't going to be an overnight fix. In fact, it will probably take a conscious effort on my part every day for the rest of my life. But what kind of Christian would I be if I couldn't carry out one of God's simplest commands? John 13:34 says A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. I am going to need to spend time thinking of at least one thing I like about each person and focusing on it. Loving someone might mean only thinking and saying positive things about them. I can't imagine that the act of loving someone is limited to only what you say and do in their presence. Jesus loved all types of his "brothers," even the sinful tax collectors. In Luke 19:1-10 we read about when Jesus visited Jericho and asked Zacchaeus (a tax collector) if he could stay with him. All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.'" If Jesus can love sinners, we should too. We are all sinners. Not one of us on Earth can say that we are perfect. Who are we to judge who is more or less of a sinner than us?
I tend to judge people a lot. I am not proud of it, but it happens. My boyfriend and I have a running joke that I have a "judging" face that I put on. This week I am going to work my hardest to keep that judging face on the back burner and to love on at least one new person each day that I normally wouldn't. Seven new people to genuinely love on this week, that will be my challenge.
Dear Lord, thank you for giving us your Word. It truly is a road map to how we should live our lives. As I start this Bible study, I pray that you guide me to the sections of your Word that apply at the time. I ask that your voice shine through me so that I can bring you glory and that those reading this will be drawn closer to you. Amen.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
First 3 Topics
I didn't want to include this list in my testimony post because I didn't want it to get lost, but here is the list of the first three topics I'm going to cover. If anyone has any recommendations for topics, please let me know.
April 24: Loving Others Like Jesus Loves Them
May 1: Sharing the Word of the Lord with Others
May 8: Forgiveness
April 24: Loving Others Like Jesus Loves Them
May 1: Sharing the Word of the Lord with Others
May 8: Forgiveness
My Testimony
As promised, this week I am posting my testimony for y'all to know a bit more about me and my walk with Christ.
I was born into a semi-Catholic home. My mother was raised Catholic and it was important to her that my brother and I be raised Catholic as well. Growing up, my father would go to church with us, but he would always say he was more of a spiritual person than a religious one, hence the "semi-Catholic" term. My brother and I went to weekly CCD (Catholic Sunday School, but during the week) when we were younger but church and CCD were both forced activities. We were both baptized as infants and went through First Communion in elementary school. As we got older we started getting into competitive swimming and stopped going to CCD during the week so that we could go to practice. Shortly after that we started swimming in meets most weekends and church fell by the wayside. I was not terribly upset to see it go. I was always bored at church and only went because I had to.
In high school I joined Young Life (a Christian youth organization). While I benefitted greatly from YL, I never fully accepted Christ into my life. YL wasn't just a social club. I learned a lot about the Bible and what it meant to be a follower of Jesus, but I never made that connection. Instead, it just planted the seed in my mind. Even though I wasn't an active Catholic, I felt very tied to that faith, most likely for nothing more than appearances. I struggled to give up the label of being a "Good Catholic Girl", even though I never acted like one.
When I went to college I lost any momentum I had from YL towards accepting God as my personal Lord and Savior. I was living life in the moment. I didn't care about the consequences of my actions, but continued to falsely portray myself as a "Good Catholic Girl". I acted as if I was invincible. I wasn't off the deep end or anything, but I was focusing my life around what parties I would be at from Thursday night to the early hours of Sunday morning.
It wasn't until I met my boyfriend, "A", that the topic of God resurfaced in my life. He comes from a family who is very rooted in their faith. I went to church with them some weekends and was somewhat hit or miss with the sermons. From time to time, "A" would start a conversation about our differing faiths and even though it aggravated me to admit it, I realized just how little I knew about my Catholic roots. Over the next several months "A" and I argued about whether or not I had accepted God. I claimed that I knew Jesus even though I really didn't, but I didn't know that yet. "A" kept asking me to say out loud that Jesus was my personal Lord and Savior, but I couldn't say those words. All I could do is say "he is" or "yes" when "A" would ask me. I would get defensive and change the subject. One day our conversation took a different turn. Somehow we had ended up on how we would raise our hypothetical children. We had agreed that we wouldn't raise our hypothetical children in either faith, Baptist (as he was raised) or Catholic (like I was). We decided on "non-denominational Christian".
Seeing how I had little to no experience in a Christian church, I decided to do a little google magic and check one out. I found one who's web site appealed to me and I quickly sent it to "A" for reassurance. He then forwarded it to his parents and all of us agreed it would be a church worth looking into. To be honest, I was going because their website was cool, but I trusted "A" and his parents' opinions on the religious aspect. I visited the church with his parents at the end of August of 2010. I was in love with it.
At the end of the sermon, the pastor offered an invitation for people to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior. I felt something pulling at me to walk down to the front of the church and accept Him. However, part of me was cautious. I wanted to make sure I wasn't feeling pressured into it because "A's" parents were there or because it was new. I left that week at church determined to come back.
The next weekend I was out of town so it took me two weeks to make it back to church. That Sunday morning (September 12, 2010) I really did not feel like going. I was tired and even though I was already out of bed, I decided to stay home. A few minutes later I found myself getting dressed for church without having made the conscious decision to go. I went and found myself watching as 6 adults were baptized into the kingdom of God. The pastor talked about each one briefly before they were "dunked" as he says. I connected with one woman who had a story similar to mine. Her parents were there to witness her baptism and I leaned over to them and said "you must be so proud, that is truly amazing." I was saying them as if I were a person who had already accepted Christ, which simply wasn't true. Again at the end of the sermon, the pastor offered an invitation for people to come forward and accept Christ. I clung to the back of the seat in front of me like my life depended on it. Then all of a sudden, I was halfway down the aisle to the pastor. It didn't matter that I had decided not to go forward, God decided for me. He was not willing to let me go home wondering "what if" as I had the time before. That day I was one of 10 people who gave their lives to Christ. The Lord was working in that room that day, as I feel he is every week. He wasn't willing to let me or the other 9 people slip by. Immediately when I left church I called "A" and for the first time in my life I could tell him "I have accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior." I wanted to tell everyone. I would have screamed it from the rooftops if I could have.
Since that day, I have become a regular at my church. My life has changed tremendously. When I became a Christian my life did not turn my problems to rainbows and butterflies, but I now know that I am not in them alone. Over the last year and a half since I became a Christian I have struggled with lots of things, but every time the Lord has pulled me through each instance. He found me a home when I was days from homelessness, He provided me a vision when I had none, and He has given me the thirst for knowledge of the Bible. Even though I am very young in my faith, the Lord has blessed me with the desire to learn and to follow His word. He has also called me to start this Bible study and has placed people in my life who will help me through this journey.
I was born into a semi-Catholic home. My mother was raised Catholic and it was important to her that my brother and I be raised Catholic as well. Growing up, my father would go to church with us, but he would always say he was more of a spiritual person than a religious one, hence the "semi-Catholic" term. My brother and I went to weekly CCD (Catholic Sunday School, but during the week) when we were younger but church and CCD were both forced activities. We were both baptized as infants and went through First Communion in elementary school. As we got older we started getting into competitive swimming and stopped going to CCD during the week so that we could go to practice. Shortly after that we started swimming in meets most weekends and church fell by the wayside. I was not terribly upset to see it go. I was always bored at church and only went because I had to.
In high school I joined Young Life (a Christian youth organization). While I benefitted greatly from YL, I never fully accepted Christ into my life. YL wasn't just a social club. I learned a lot about the Bible and what it meant to be a follower of Jesus, but I never made that connection. Instead, it just planted the seed in my mind. Even though I wasn't an active Catholic, I felt very tied to that faith, most likely for nothing more than appearances. I struggled to give up the label of being a "Good Catholic Girl", even though I never acted like one.
When I went to college I lost any momentum I had from YL towards accepting God as my personal Lord and Savior. I was living life in the moment. I didn't care about the consequences of my actions, but continued to falsely portray myself as a "Good Catholic Girl". I acted as if I was invincible. I wasn't off the deep end or anything, but I was focusing my life around what parties I would be at from Thursday night to the early hours of Sunday morning.
It wasn't until I met my boyfriend, "A", that the topic of God resurfaced in my life. He comes from a family who is very rooted in their faith. I went to church with them some weekends and was somewhat hit or miss with the sermons. From time to time, "A" would start a conversation about our differing faiths and even though it aggravated me to admit it, I realized just how little I knew about my Catholic roots. Over the next several months "A" and I argued about whether or not I had accepted God. I claimed that I knew Jesus even though I really didn't, but I didn't know that yet. "A" kept asking me to say out loud that Jesus was my personal Lord and Savior, but I couldn't say those words. All I could do is say "he is" or "yes" when "A" would ask me. I would get defensive and change the subject. One day our conversation took a different turn. Somehow we had ended up on how we would raise our hypothetical children. We had agreed that we wouldn't raise our hypothetical children in either faith, Baptist (as he was raised) or Catholic (like I was). We decided on "non-denominational Christian".
Seeing how I had little to no experience in a Christian church, I decided to do a little google magic and check one out. I found one who's web site appealed to me and I quickly sent it to "A" for reassurance. He then forwarded it to his parents and all of us agreed it would be a church worth looking into. To be honest, I was going because their website was cool, but I trusted "A" and his parents' opinions on the religious aspect. I visited the church with his parents at the end of August of 2010. I was in love with it.
At the end of the sermon, the pastor offered an invitation for people to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior. I felt something pulling at me to walk down to the front of the church and accept Him. However, part of me was cautious. I wanted to make sure I wasn't feeling pressured into it because "A's" parents were there or because it was new. I left that week at church determined to come back.
The next weekend I was out of town so it took me two weeks to make it back to church. That Sunday morning (September 12, 2010) I really did not feel like going. I was tired and even though I was already out of bed, I decided to stay home. A few minutes later I found myself getting dressed for church without having made the conscious decision to go. I went and found myself watching as 6 adults were baptized into the kingdom of God. The pastor talked about each one briefly before they were "dunked" as he says. I connected with one woman who had a story similar to mine. Her parents were there to witness her baptism and I leaned over to them and said "you must be so proud, that is truly amazing." I was saying them as if I were a person who had already accepted Christ, which simply wasn't true. Again at the end of the sermon, the pastor offered an invitation for people to come forward and accept Christ. I clung to the back of the seat in front of me like my life depended on it. Then all of a sudden, I was halfway down the aisle to the pastor. It didn't matter that I had decided not to go forward, God decided for me. He was not willing to let me go home wondering "what if" as I had the time before. That day I was one of 10 people who gave their lives to Christ. The Lord was working in that room that day, as I feel he is every week. He wasn't willing to let me or the other 9 people slip by. Immediately when I left church I called "A" and for the first time in my life I could tell him "I have accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior." I wanted to tell everyone. I would have screamed it from the rooftops if I could have.
Since that day, I have become a regular at my church. My life has changed tremendously. When I became a Christian my life did not turn my problems to rainbows and butterflies, but I now know that I am not in them alone. Over the last year and a half since I became a Christian I have struggled with lots of things, but every time the Lord has pulled me through each instance. He found me a home when I was days from homelessness, He provided me a vision when I had none, and He has given me the thirst for knowledge of the Bible. Even though I am very young in my faith, the Lord has blessed me with the desire to learn and to follow His word. He has also called me to start this Bible study and has placed people in my life who will help me through this journey.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Why "Lead Me"
Our first weekly post will be this Tuesday, but I felt the need to explain the purpose of this blog and some background to it before I dive into the weekly entries. I have named this blog "Lead Me" after one of my favorite Christian songs by Sanctus Real. The song is about asking God for guidance and the words to lead others, and for God to lead us.
Recently when talking with a Christian friend of mine, I realized how little time I spent actively participating in faith-filled activities outside of my church. It was in that discussion that I felt God telling me that I should start a Bible study. At first I was skeptical because of my youthfulness in my walk with Christ (which I will share more about on Tuesday), but the more I prayed about this Bible study, the stronger I felt about this. My pastor has said on multiple occasions how God calls on people to do work in His name and how sometimes he takes the people we least expect because it isn't the individual He chooses that does the work, it is God working through them. And what would give God more glory? To use someone who we all would expect to be doing great things in the name of Christ or to use someone who is a believer, but might not have the platform or tools to do so?
When God decides to use someone for His work, He provides them with the resources, the platform, and everything they could possibly need to glorify Him. That is exactly what He did for me. He gave me the platform: This was originally made for a specific group of people, but has since been opened to others (because why should we limit God's love to only a few?). He gave me the resources: At first I thought what other resource will I need besides the Bible. Obviously that is my main source of information, because that is God's Word, but He has also put people in my life who have experience and knowledge in leading Bible studies to help me on this journey. I am positive that should any other need for this study arise as time goes on, the Lord will provide them for me because I doing work for Him.
This week I will not be posting the first topic, as I need more time to prepare my post, consult with my personal spiritual mentors, study the Word, read through, and re-read my entry. I am not taking this lightly. While most, if not all, of us have a relationship with Christ already, I don't want to cheapen anything by neglecting people who might be reading this as their first encounter with the Bible. That is why I am using so many sources and taking some extra time to make sure what I am writing is accurate information. This week I will be posting my testimony and a list of the first 3 topics that I am going to cover. The first topic will be covered Tuesday, April 24th.
Lord, thank you all that You give us. We are sinners and You wipe all that away with Your salvation when we trust You as Lord and Savior. I ask that You guide me as I start this blog and Bible study. I thank you for providing for me thus far and for things that haven't happened yet. Please use me as an avenue to bring You glory, not me. I pray that people reading this connect with You, Lord. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
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