"What people think about Christians should help us be objective. Outsiders kept telling us that Christians are not realistic or transparent about themselves. An important perspective we should embrace is "You are what you are, not what you tell people you are." As Christians, however, we need to make continual, honest evaluations of ourselves so that we can uncover the ways in which our lives do not accurately reflect what we profess."
That really made think. How am I supposed to engage my friends and those who I care about if they have negative views about Christianity? What they think DOES matter, if I'm going to try to engage them. So it matters if my life doesn't reflect a Christlike one. I really need to focus on what I need to submit to God and the struggles that pull me away.
Here goes my honest evaluation of myself and are in no particular order:
1. I gossip probably...ALL of the time. I'm a girl in high school, but that should be NO excuse. “A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid a man who talks too much" - Proverbs 20:19. If someone hears me gossiping and telling the latest secrets or affairs in somebody's life, how are they going to trust me that I wont do the same with them? If I am representing Christ, my conversations should look welcoming and loving. SOLUTION: Think before saying. Harder thought and spoken than typed.
2. Materialism, (noun): preoccupation with or emphasis on material objects, comforts, and considerations, with a disinterest in or rejection of spiritual, intellectual, or cultural values. The more I think I need new clothes, new phones, or whatever to be happy, the more I don't depend on God to fulfill my life and REAL needs. SOLUTION: Quit job, no income for nice clothes, nice food, nice THINGS. My heart has really opened up to volunteering and being with kids that have almost never had anything new, and in my comfortable little life, I will only use something if it's new.
3. My hardest struggle. The sin that weighs more on my heart than anything else. I love to be the life of the party. I love getting drunk and dancing, doing crazy things, or whatever. The disillusion is that alcohol makes me feel "FREE". But real freedom comes from Christ. True love, true happiness, and true freedom comes from God. What makes me feel "free" is the social butterfly I become, I feel like I could do anything, and it makes me happy. WRONG. In how many ways? First, it's straight up illegal for me to be consuming alcohol. Until I am of age, there is no way that I should be drinking! I am to OBEY authority. Two, if it's against the law, it's DEFINITELY against my parent's rules. Three, I canNOT do anything, because it slows everything down. I could probably find dozens of scriptures that make my situation totally wrong. God's freedom is unmeasurable to anything in this world. Freedom from sin...freedom of grace...FREE WILL... God's freedom brings so much more joy! And joy from God, beats anything I've ever experienced! SOLUTION: Plain and simple. STOP drinking. Actually stopping...praying that I'll get the strength. It's a constant battle for me.
All three of these issues I have are not lining up with Christ. I definitely have more issues but these are the ones that I'm trying to work on NOW. NOW is the time for me to change, and FOREVER is how long it needs to last. I want to engage my friends so badly, but I don't want them to see me as a hypocrite. I am addressing my problems as real problems and I plan to do something about it. Maybe my friends and the people I hang out with can change their schema of me as a Christian.
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