Be Swift To Love

"Life is short, and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are traveling the dark journey with us. Oh, be swift to love; make haste to be kind." 

-Henri Frederic Amiel

You cannot choose to be born, but you can choose to live, and every person that chooses to live, strives to live as best as they can. This is what I believe.

This world is a very difficult place to live in. There is hunger, heartbreak, abandonment, disease, rejection, hate, abuse, betrayal, judgment, laziness, regret, illness, selfishness, lies...and the list goes on. We all experience these things. We ALL encounter difficulties and sadness. We are in this together. This is what I believe.

It is hard to understand why some people act the way that they do. Some people annoy us. Some people make irrational decisions. Some people say rude comments. Chances are, those people only do those things because of an inner struggle. I know that when I've had a rough day, I'm not the most uplifting person to encounter. I can be short and snappy. So, why do I expect others to act happy all the time? Why am I so quick to judge when a person has a scowl on their face? I have no idea what is going on in their heart. 

I want to have the mind of Christ. I want to love where it is most needed. I want to love when it is the most difficult to love. I want to love because every person deserves it.

This life is burdensome, and we are all going through it together.

It is a wearisome journey. Be gracious.

Good Video To Watch

An Unbiblical "Bible Verse"

"This, too, shall pass." 

The origin of this statement is not fully agreed upon, but many people believe it was coined from a Hebrew folktale. The story speaks of King Solomon being given a gold ring with the Hebrew letters for, "This, too, shall pass," engraved on the inside, and after the king read the inscription, he realized that his earthly possessions were but fleeting things. They would pass away. I believe this story has great value, but only in the sense of material things having none. 

Have you ever been going through a painful season, and someone tried to encourage you with, "This, too, shall pass"? Said statement can sound quite relieving and uplifting. It feels good to hear, and it tells you that what you're going through will not last forever. But this popular quoted phrase is poisonous.

It is unbiblical, shallow, and lazy. Many people -even Christians- believe this phrase to be a Bible verse. 1. It's nowhere to be found in the Bible. 2. It doesn't match up with these verses:

"Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer." Romans 12:12 ESV

"We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope," Romans 5:3-4 ESV

"And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28 ESV

If we take heart in the knowledge that our pain will last for a short while, we are taking comfort in the wrong thing. We sit around, sighing, waiting for our problems to disappear; crossing our fingers, wishing that the sun will shine before the dark becomes permanent. We are putting hope in Time rather than our omnipotent God. Is Time more powerful than God? Do we really think that waiting out our trials will make us happier than putting our faith in God, and asking Him to direct us? There is no greater intimacy than shared pain. If we share our struggles with the Lord, He will draw near. We can choose to be bitter or better. We can choose to twiddle our thumbs or thumb through our Bibles. We can choose to look at our misery or our mission.

If we believe that all things work together for those who love the Lord, our only problem is our mind. If we can detach ourselves from our unfaithful thoughts and erratic emotions and put our full faith in God, our situation can no longer be labeled a "problem." God sees our "problems" as strengthening tools. He has already taken care of us. He has already created the perfect plan for our lives. Be encouraged by that. :)

So, instead of telling your mourning friend, "This, too, shall pass," try, 

"This, too, shall promote."

The Looking Glass became Lethal.

"Let's play 'Rugrats'!" my best friend exclaimed as we headed out to lunch recess. My face brightened, and I was about to express my thrill, when she said it:

"You can play Tommy... 'cause he's the ugly one."

I was seven. I had never taken my looks into account, and I barely recognized the concept of a beautiful person. But that day changed everything.

My struggle began as a seed with one trivial comment, was watered by our media-saturated culture, and then fertilized by Satan's venomous lies. Swiftly, my seed grew into a Sequoia of deep, agonizing pain. The looking glass became lethal. Nasty thoughts would run through my mind every time I caught a reflection of myself. Countless times a day, I would see another girl and wished I looked like her. 

My battle is not confined to the past. It is still a daily conflict of wishing I was different than I am; desiring to look like that model, and I am quite certain that if you are a woman reading this, you can relate. You can relate to feeling like you're not good enough.  You can relate to seeing another woman and envying her looks. You can relate to never being satisfied with your own beauty. 

On January 30th, I wrote, "I believe there is great strength in the individual who dwells on Truth, ponders rightness, and meditates on loveliness. I aspire to be this person." Now, when I was writing my first blog about Christ-like thinking, I was anticipating the Christ-like thinking to be aimed toward others, difficult situations and the world. But, exactly eleven hours after writing those words, I told myself, "You are worthless." God immediately directed my thoughts back to my new resolution, and He stated, "The thoughts you have about yourself are not true, therefore; you are not thinking Christ-like." Wow. I was hit with a strong conviction. I was overlooking the way I think about myself. So, how do we know what is a true thought about ourselves? Well, we can start - and end - by understanding the way our loving God sees us. 

"For You formed my inward parts; 

You wove me in my mother’s womb. 

I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; 

Wonderful are Your works, 

And my soul knows it very well." 

Psalm 139:13-14 NASB

 ^"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, 

which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."

Ephesians 2:10 NASB 

    "You are altogether beautiful, my darling,
And there is no blemish in you."

Song of Songs 4:7 NASB

"The LORD your God is in your midst,
A victorious warrior.
He will exult over you with joy,
He will be quiet in His love,
He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy."

Zephaniah 3:17 NASB

 ^"Then the King will desire your beauty.
Because He is your Lord, bow down to Him"

Psalm 45:11 

Looking in the mirror does not need to be torturous. Keep what Christ thinks about you in the forefront of your mind.  Believe what He says. It's Truth.

I am His.

If you have the Holy Spirit living within you, you can say...

I am the salt of the earth. Matthew 5:13
I am the light of the world. Matthew 5:14
I am set free. John 8:31-33
I am protected by the power of his name. John 17:11
I am one with God the Father and God the son. John 17:23
I am God's gift to Christ. John 17:24 
I am made right in Gods' sight by faith. Romans 5:1
I am at peace with God. Romans 5:1
I am in the place of highest privilege. Romans 5:2
I am justified. Romans 5:9
I am reconciled to God. Romans 5:10
I am a receiver of God's grace. Romans 5:20
I am dead to sin and alive to God in Jesus Christ. Romans 6:11
I am free from the power of sin. Romans 6:14
I am a recipient of eternal life through Jesus Christ. Romans 6:23
I am free from condemnation. Romans 8:1
I am freed from the vicious cycle of sin and death. Romans 8:2
I am a son of God and co-heir with Christ. Romans 8:17
I am confident that all things work together for good. Romans 8:28
I am being conformed to the image of Christ. Romans 8:29
I am protected. Romans 8:31
I am inseparable from from God's love. Romans 8:35
I am more than a conqueror through Christ. Romans 8:37
I am established to the end. 1 Corinthians 1:8
I am infused with Jesus, made acceptable to God, pure and holy.  
    1 Corinthians 1:8
I am a recipient of things too wonderful to imagine. 1 Corinthians 2:9
I am God's temple, indwelt by the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 3:16,17
I am washed, sanctified, and justified in Jesus. 1 Corinthians 6:11
I am of one spirit with God. 1 Corinthians 6:17
I am in the image and glory of God. 1 Corinthians 11:7
I am a sweet aroma manifesting the presence of God. 2 Corinthians 2:15
I am Christ's ambassador. 2 Corinthians 5:21
I am strongest when I am weak. 2 Corinthians 12:19
I am redeemed from the curse of the law. Galatians 3:13
I am filled with the fruit of the spirit. Galatians 5:22
I am in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:1
I am chosen by God to be holy and blameless. Ephesians 1:4
I am accepted. Ephesians 1:6
I am forgiven for all my sins. Ephesians 1:7
I am lavished with God's wisdom and insight to know His will. Ephesians 1:8,9
I am made alive with Christ. Ephesians 2:1,5
I am raised with Christ and seated in heavenly places. Ephesians 2:6
I am saved by faith through God's grace. Ephesians 2:8
I am God's handiwork, created in Christ. Ephesians 2:10
I am able to walk boldly into God's presence. Ephesians 3:12
I am strengthened with power through His spirit. Ephesians 3:16
I am indwelt with Christ to know the fullness of His love. Ephesians 3:17
I am strong in the Lord to fight all of Satan's attacks. Ephesians 6:10
I am a citizen of Heaven. Philippians 3:20
I am rejoicing in the Lord always. Philippians 4:4
I am anxious for nothing. Philippians 4:6
I am guarded by Gods' peace. Philippians 4:7
I am filled with the knowledge of His will. Colossians 1:9
I am strengthened with all power according to His might. Colossians 1:11
I am filled with Gods' power that works mightily in me. Colossians 1:29
I am complete in Christ, filled with God. Colossians 2:10
I am blameless. Colossians 2:12
I am being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of Jesus. 
    Colossians 3:10
I am chosen. 1 Thessalonians 1:4
I am not given a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and a sound mind. 
    2 Timothy 1:7
I am adequate, complete, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:17
I am delivered from every evil deed. 2 Timothy 4:18
I am able to come boldly before the throne of grace to find mercy and grace. 
     Hebrews 4:16
I am lacking no wisdom. James 1:5
I am loved. Revelation 1:5
I am victorious. Revelation 21:7

Note: This not my own material. I borrowed it. :)

Contemplation, at its Best

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." Philippians 4:8

I believe there is great strength in the individual who dwells on Truth, ponders rightness, and meditates on loveliness. I aspire to be this person. I invite you to come along with me on this journey of Christ-like thinking. 

Through my blogging madness, I will strive to form a smile on your face and maybe give rise to deeper thinking. I intend this place to be a home of anything and everything that is good. A picture of a flower. A story of forgiveness. A joke that makes you laugh. A conversation on God's goodness and sovereignty. I am dedicated to making this blog one small piece of the Kingdom.

I am excited. :)

This will be contemplation, at its best.