By RACHEL Larson |
|||
HAVE you ever heard the saying , “ You are your own worst enemy ?” I feel like I ’ ve been told this repeatedly , but for different reasons . Recently , I ’ ve felt it holds more truth than I would like to admit .
When it comes to sharing my faith in Christ , I often discredit myself and quickly dismiss potential opportunities . When it comes to opening up to others and being truly vulnerable , I will often tell myself that I shouldn ’ t burden them with my problems . Those times when you feel you have some truth to share with someone to encourage them , but you tell yourself not to because it might make the situation awkward or uncomfortable .
It seems that the world conditions us to flash our highlight reel on social media and hide away all the “ junk ” in our lives . We feel we must “ be a certain way ” to be acceptable to those around us or to fit in . This creates a platform for the wrong voice in your mind to tell you all the ways you don ’ t measure up . We begin to live in a world of comparison .
Jesus told His disciples that they would not be accepted , and they would be persecuted for His sake . That warning goes for us too . If we
|
are following Christ , we are not going to look like the world .
“ If the world hates you , keep in mind that it hated Me first . If you belonged to the world , it would love you as its own . As it is , you do not belong to the world , but I have chosen you out of the world . That is why the world hates you ” ( John 15:18-19 , NIV ).
We as believers should not be afraid to be ourselves , stand out , and truly love others deeply as Christ did . Love is a word that probably gets over-used . I feel as believers we talk about loving all the time , but do we truly love others ? Do we take time to think about how much Christ loved us and sacrificed Himself for us ? If we did , it would change the way we act and the way we think about ourselves . This is my challenge verse for you and for myself :
“ My dear children , let ’ s not just talk about love ; let ’ s practice real love . This is the only way we ’ ll know we ’ re living truly , living in God ’ s reality . It ’ s also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism , even when there is something to it . For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves ” ( 1 John 3:18-20 , MSG ).
God is greater , stronger , and
|
loves you with more passion and sacrifice than you could ever comprehend ! You were created with a purpose for this time in history right now . So you don ’ t need to be afraid to speak to your friend at school who doesn ’ t know about Jesus . You don ’ t need to be shy at the next rally when you have a chance to pray over someone and their motorcycle . You don ’ t need to hide your “ junk ” and pretend like life is always easy .
We just need to stop talking about love and practice real love ! Show others the life-changing grace of our Savior and be proud to talk about everything He has done for us . Listen to the voice of our ever-loving Savior , and not the world with its agenda . CMA
|