Long story...
Okay, firstly, I would just like to ask myself why I am in such a crappy mood today, and why EVERYTHING and every one is pissing me off?... and why everyone seems pissed off with me...
I'd like to complain about my petty problems, but the problem is, that's what they are: really, really petty. It's almost like I'm looking for stuff to get upset about and then in my mind I'm getting all upset about nothing. How STOOPID!
Sooo... I'm gonna talk about stuff that's bigger than this... bigger than this bad mood I'm in.
Last night at BYG Jay Shaw was talking and he started kinda talking about what constitutes sin. Okay, so a lot of answers were being shouted at him from different corners of the room. (some of them annoyingly flippant and "briarwood" answers, but anywyas...) The point is there's a lot of stuff that's sinful, and we're all sinful. Jay was talking about how wrong it is for us as Christians to pretend we don't have struggles. A lot of time we think that if we tell any one that we're sinful it will be like, a bad witness. Of course, he did mention, that it is possible for one to go to the other extreme and brag about sin, which is not honoring to God.
Well, so, let's be real about our sin. Otherwise we give people the wrong impression about Christianity anyways: it's not just some religion of rigidity and rules to follow, but more so us as human beings with a divine connection. We still mess up, so let's admit that. But that's not it. What happens if then we're like, "Okay, I'm good, I confessed, I'm honest about my sin, I'm openly admitting that it's there." Well, it's there, we all know that. But what are we gonna do about it now?
If you just leave sin and don't ask God to help you to change, and really turn from it... well, basically there's consequences. First consequence that's always there for the Christian: It comes between you and God. I mean, seriously, it's hard to be open with God when you're not listening to what He tells you (Jesus tells us to turn from our sin and follow Him) So when you're not even ATTEMPTING to turn from it... I mean, He still loves you. You're still His, but it's pretty impossible to have the kind of meaningful relationship that your could otherwise have.
There's other consequences too... and those can be long term, depending on "the crime". Jay was talking about that too, and it made me feel sick. It's weird how patterns of sin can lead to huge things. You never expect it to snowball the way it does, and then you get to the point where whole lives are messed up and will NEVER be the same again. Not to say that Heaven can't still be good for the Christian, but God really does want us to honor Him and have a good relationship with Him in THIS life!
So Jay told us a pretty heavy story. I already kinda knew what he was talking about... already seen similar types of stuff around me in the world, but part of me just didn't even want to think about it, or hear about it. He told us about his friend....
The story was about his friend who was a typical teenage guy who struggled in the whole porn area just a bit. Well, then he started dating this girl who had just broken up with a dude who she had given her virginity to. So, they have their whole dating thing... not necessarily pure but who knows? Well, then they get married. The thing that sucks is that to her whenever they had sex, it was like HE was actually having sex with all these other porn star chicks in his mind. He would compare her to them, etc. So obviously she feels pretty sucky about that, and then she also compares him to her ex bla bla bla... every one's worst nightmare. Especially since they were Christian, so they probably knew better at one point.
Well, then their sex life is just basically unsatisfying, and so they have this idea to look at porn together (probably an idea they got from the media or something... sounds like something stupid that hollywood would promote.) Well, that just drives them further apart, and doesn't make their sex life any better. Then she starts having multiple affairs because she's looking for appreciation in a physical way and just as a person: All she wants is for him to really appreciate her the way God intended. He kinda gets close to this other girl, but apparently doesn't have an actual affair in physical deed, but probably in his heart.
So they end up getting a divorce, and that's where it is now...
It's the saddest thing.
Jay mentioned how no one plans for their sin to become a pattern, and their patterns to become addictions, and their addictions to end up ruining such a huge part of their lives. But that is what happens. More than that, Jay reminded us of this: "When you sin, more important than consequences, or being a bad witness, do you ever think about how much you are hurting God?"
I'll end with that.
I know we all have sin that we need to deal with. God willing we will pray for help and turn from it before it messes up our lives. For many people it already has.
Thank God that even then, no matter how far your sin has taken you, there is repentance and forgiveness. God still loves.
I'd like to complain about my petty problems, but the problem is, that's what they are: really, really petty. It's almost like I'm looking for stuff to get upset about and then in my mind I'm getting all upset about nothing. How STOOPID!
Sooo... I'm gonna talk about stuff that's bigger than this... bigger than this bad mood I'm in.
Last night at BYG Jay Shaw was talking and he started kinda talking about what constitutes sin. Okay, so a lot of answers were being shouted at him from different corners of the room. (some of them annoyingly flippant and "briarwood" answers, but anywyas...) The point is there's a lot of stuff that's sinful, and we're all sinful. Jay was talking about how wrong it is for us as Christians to pretend we don't have struggles. A lot of time we think that if we tell any one that we're sinful it will be like, a bad witness. Of course, he did mention, that it is possible for one to go to the other extreme and brag about sin, which is not honoring to God.
Well, so, let's be real about our sin. Otherwise we give people the wrong impression about Christianity anyways: it's not just some religion of rigidity and rules to follow, but more so us as human beings with a divine connection. We still mess up, so let's admit that. But that's not it. What happens if then we're like, "Okay, I'm good, I confessed, I'm honest about my sin, I'm openly admitting that it's there." Well, it's there, we all know that. But what are we gonna do about it now?
If you just leave sin and don't ask God to help you to change, and really turn from it... well, basically there's consequences. First consequence that's always there for the Christian: It comes between you and God. I mean, seriously, it's hard to be open with God when you're not listening to what He tells you (Jesus tells us to turn from our sin and follow Him) So when you're not even ATTEMPTING to turn from it... I mean, He still loves you. You're still His, but it's pretty impossible to have the kind of meaningful relationship that your could otherwise have.
There's other consequences too... and those can be long term, depending on "the crime". Jay was talking about that too, and it made me feel sick. It's weird how patterns of sin can lead to huge things. You never expect it to snowball the way it does, and then you get to the point where whole lives are messed up and will NEVER be the same again. Not to say that Heaven can't still be good for the Christian, but God really does want us to honor Him and have a good relationship with Him in THIS life!
So Jay told us a pretty heavy story. I already kinda knew what he was talking about... already seen similar types of stuff around me in the world, but part of me just didn't even want to think about it, or hear about it. He told us about his friend....
The story was about his friend who was a typical teenage guy who struggled in the whole porn area just a bit. Well, then he started dating this girl who had just broken up with a dude who she had given her virginity to. So, they have their whole dating thing... not necessarily pure but who knows? Well, then they get married. The thing that sucks is that to her whenever they had sex, it was like HE was actually having sex with all these other porn star chicks in his mind. He would compare her to them, etc. So obviously she feels pretty sucky about that, and then she also compares him to her ex bla bla bla... every one's worst nightmare. Especially since they were Christian, so they probably knew better at one point.
Well, then their sex life is just basically unsatisfying, and so they have this idea to look at porn together (probably an idea they got from the media or something... sounds like something stupid that hollywood would promote.) Well, that just drives them further apart, and doesn't make their sex life any better. Then she starts having multiple affairs because she's looking for appreciation in a physical way and just as a person: All she wants is for him to really appreciate her the way God intended. He kinda gets close to this other girl, but apparently doesn't have an actual affair in physical deed, but probably in his heart.
So they end up getting a divorce, and that's where it is now...
It's the saddest thing.
Jay mentioned how no one plans for their sin to become a pattern, and their patterns to become addictions, and their addictions to end up ruining such a huge part of their lives. But that is what happens. More than that, Jay reminded us of this: "When you sin, more important than consequences, or being a bad witness, do you ever think about how much you are hurting God?"
I'll end with that.
I know we all have sin that we need to deal with. God willing we will pray for help and turn from it before it messes up our lives. For many people it already has.
Thank God that even then, no matter how far your sin has taken you, there is repentance and forgiveness. God still loves.