Monday, November 26, 2012

The Three-Letter Word-Part 4

Before specifics, let’s get perspective

As Christians we are quick to hand out rules.  It’s done with a good heart because we want to protect people and honor God with our life choices.  But we can easily become like the Pharisees who respected Old Testament laws, but, because they didn’t trust people to personally work out their life with God themselves, proceeded to create more rules.  This is something Jesus and other New Testament writers often criticized.  Instead, Paul writes in Ephesians 5:10 “Find out what pleases the Lord."

This requires you, yes YOU to come to a point of decision and say “I really DO want to please the Lord,” not just because you were raised that way (though that’s good), but because it’s time, as a growing person to say: this is MY relationship with God and I want to take it seriously.  Of course, it’s not about your sheer willpower.  You need to invite the Holy Spirit to help you, strengthen you, and guide you.  Yet, it’s good to say: my parents have carried the cross long enough for me.  Now I want to take up my cross and follow the One I love. 

At this point, now, you can engage the Lord about what pleases him, particularly in your sexuality.  This is going to be an ongoing process.  It will change as you change, but keep going.  Your goal is to learn how to build your fireplace.  Your fireplace may look different from others.  There was a time in my life when I needed to stop listening to non-Christian music.  It had too much of a hold on me.  So I ditched all my AC/DC stuff.  I thought everyone ought to do the same, but eventually I realized that this was God’s call for an area of weakness for me.  It wasn’t necessarily an area of weakness for others.  Also, I do listen to a good amount of music that isn’t necessarily Christian now.  It was God’s work for a time for me to have those parameters.  So stay in the game and keep walking with God.

So, how do I figure this out?  See you next time.

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