two faces of legalism // an article

     I have an article for you to reeeead. :) It's about legalism and it's incredible. I grew up in legalism (actually, I was in the very same situation as the author if this article), so it really hit home for me. This past year I have grown so much in living like I'm free in Christ. Kristen (the author of the article) is such a wonderful writer and has such a beautiful heart.

Two Faces of Legalism

(written by Kristen Morris)

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love them... please.

As Christians, we are called to love everyone.

     So why do we have such a hard time with that? I know, loving is hard. It's hard for me too. I'm sort of zoning in on the lost celebrities of our time. There's Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, One Direction, Taylor Swift... the list goes on. They get so much hate because they are lost, and it makes me sad.

     Christians! Wake up! You are supposed to LOVE the lost. How does it reflect upon Jesus when all you do is yap about how terrible celebrities are and the horrible things they do? I get that they do some pretty sinful things. I'm not saying to tolerate them. I'm saying to love them.

     Love is patient and kind. Don't be so comfortable in your little Christianity bubble that you are shocked and dismayed and feel the need to tell the world your opinion on the latest celeb news. We're all people. We all fall down and we all need help. The only difference between Christians and unbelievers is that we have that help. You were once an unbeliever, so get off of your high horse and start loving.

     I understand that we are to think of ourselves as royalty - we are sons and daughters of the King! All this is true and healthy to be thinking about. We are in Christ. We are loved unconditionally by the only One who matters. We have hope of eternal felicity in heaven.

So...?

Love. Love as Christ loves.

     Seriously. I'm tired of hearing - One Direction, for example - get hate just because they are that new boy band that tons of girls are freaking out over. PEOPLE. They are a talented group of singers. Christians these days can't even say they like a secular band without being judged for it! It needs to stop. We need to give people the benefit of the doubt. You can enjoy someone's music without supporting their moral standards. And you can love someone like Christ loves them without supporting their moral standards. And you can pray for them. Also, it wouldn't hurt to be able to recognize talent when it passes you on the street. ;)

I'm sorry if this got super passionate... but there it is.

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Jesus is loving Barabbas - a Judah Smith video

     My sister showed me this video last night and it brought me to tears. It's so beautiful and true, and it reminded me of the truth of the cross in a way I didn't know I needed. Please take eight minutes to be blessed by this. Judah Smith is a dynamic and gifted speaker, and the graphics of the video help to intensify the message. For this reason, I suggest you view it in Youtube so that the screen is bigger. :)

-Sarah :)

P.S. My spiritual life has been a whirlwind lately. So many new things that God is introducing to me! I'm not sure I will be able to share them all; I'm afraid of coming across as confusing and I don't want to lead anyone astray. But I hope that I will be able to put some of my thoughts in order enough to give you a couple of posts soon. I haven't blogged in exactly a month! :P

who we are in Christ - God doesn't create junk

     Christians need to have a certain amount of self-esteem. I'm not talking about constantly doing things to keep people thinking highly of them. That's more of what the world (read: unbelievers) would say self-esteem is. People are always saying "believe in yourself!" As if you were something so amazing, that you could rely on yourself to accomplish anything.

     But we can't do that. We can't rely on ourselves. Jeremiah 17:9 says: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?"

     So, as Christians, where do we get self-esteem? We all need it. Otherwise, we'd have such a low opinion of ourselves to the point where we would start lying to ourselves about our worth. We do have worth. But it's not in ourselves. If the heart is deceitful, there's no way we could look in ourselves for truth about who we are. We are more critical of ourselves than anyone else is. We all have our insecurities, and NO ONE on earth is entirely immune to peer pressure.

     We get our worth from JESUS. Since Jesus bore the punishment for all of our sin and fear and insecurities and failings, we have HIS record. That doesn't mean we don't sin. It does mean, though, that we aren't going to be punished for our sin. God looks at us as beloved sons and daughters. I don't know about you, but I find it comforting to know that God thinks I'm beautiful. THAT'S how I should look at myself. The devil likes to whisper in our ears and tell us lies about how we aren't worth anything, how we can never be a success, et cetera. That's when I look at what God thinks of me. He loves me as a Father loves his child! And his opinion will never change. Oh, happy thought!

     I'm an introvert myself, so I count myself as one of the socially awkward club. You know, the kind that go to Chick-fil-a and have to muster up all the courage in their being to go up to the counter and order lemonade. (True story.) So, when I go out in public, I'm constantly comparing myself to people, whether it's my physical appearance, or the way I speak, or my sense of humor. It's easy for me to sit here on my bed and type a bunch of words about how comparing yourself to others doesn't get you anywhere, and how God made you unique and for a special purpose. It's harder once I go out there and try to apply it to my life. But God's always working. He really is. He's showing me this and, slowly but surely, bringing me out of the pit of low self-esteem.

     God has perfect timing. I started attending my new church around August of last year, and last September, youth group started. Our theme for this whole year in youth group has been: "Be yourself; who you are in Christ." It's amazing and wonderful that God would place me in this group, talking about this subject, right around the time I started struggling with self-esteem. Last week at youth group, we did a sort of recap of everything we've learned in the past few months. I wanted to share with you who we are and what we have in Christ.

1) We are inseparable from Christ.
"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:38-39

2) We are sanctified (set apart and being made holy).
"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus," - Ephesians 2:4-6

3) We have the Holy Spirit in us. 
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." - Acts 1:8

4) We are free. 
"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." - Galatians 5:1

5) We have authority. 
". . .so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs  according to the hope of eternal life." - Titus 3:7

6) We are masterpieces. 
"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." - Ephesians 2:10

     Everyone in my youth group also received a card with the following printed on it:

I am a child of God.

I was created in His image for a unique 

purpose that He prepared for me before I 

 was known to this world. 

     I constantly need this reminder of who I really am, otherwise, I would always be beating myself up for my shortcomings and mistakes that I'm bound to make. When I read this card, I'm reminded that God is a forgiving and loving God, no matter how many times I mess up. 

     I'd like to leave you with this video made by the Skit Guys about being who God created you to be. Enjoy. :)

-Sarah :)