Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father[d] is not in them. I John 2:15
There are some things that I really love about the world. Cinnabon (McDonald's Cinnamon Melts are not bad), good chocolate, I have a newly acquired love of Dansko shoes. I love my dishwasher. I love good movies and good books. Oh and I love Diet Coke and I HATE coffee! :)
The question is what makes me different from the rest of the world. I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I feel like many of us Christians have compromised and not only do we live in this world but we are of this world. You did read that I wrote "we", right?
I live in an Amish community. Their black/dark clothing with black hats or bonnets make them stand out. You know they are Amish from a couple hundred feet away. The horse and buggy is a dead give-away too tho.
But is there something about me that shows that I am God's - that I am set apart?
I kinda feel that we as Christians get as close to that proverbial electric fence as we can without getting too zapped. Some of us have even convinced ourselves that the zapping feels "good".
I am not sure who said this (I've heard Einstein?): Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I think that is what the Christian world is doing. We do almost the exact same things that the world is doing and we expect different results just because we have the label "Christian".
One area I feel really convicted about in our family is how we parent our children. We complain about how the younger generations are falling away from God and yet we raise our children in the exact same way as the world and maybe go to church when our other activities don't supersede them.
So what do you do that makes you different from the "world"?
Hi Rach! I think in this world something that makes us different is hope. Because of Christ, I can complain all I want (not that this is a good idea) but I know that God intended me for better more perfect things (like heaven) and because of Christ I will be restored to that original purpose. Today, that means I can take all the complaining parent calls a little less seriously realizing in heaven, there are no phones. :)
ReplyDeleteGood post, Rachael. It reminds me of a book we're reading in small group right now ("Radical" by David Platt). One area where I've really felt God challenging me recently is in regards to how I spend my time. The bottom line is that I should be spending less time pursuing worldly things and more time pursuing HIM. It sounds so easy, yet why is it so hard?
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