Two months is too too long between posts... anyone still out there?
This devo is from 10/4, a few days ago. The question is about what divides Christians among themselves. Surprisingly, I find that there are more things that divide Christians than there are that divide non-believers. For some strange reason, we Christians seem to think that we, individually, have the final word on different aspects of Christian living.
It's like what Pastor Sonny was saying in his sermon last Sunday on "Building Up or Tearing Down." We need to look at ourselves and consider, are we fighting over preferences or ungodly behaviors? When we disagree to the point of clashing over preferences, we become legalistic and our attitudes become ungodly.
The Bible is pretty clear about what behaviors are not acceptable. But, when we politicize ungodly behavior and make them legally acceptable, we begin to lose our focus on God and His Word. From that point, it becomes easier and easier to justify ourselves to be more socially acceptable, politically acceptable. God no longer takes first place, but a slippery lower place.
Do you agree or disagree? BTW, it's okay to disagree, if that is your preference.
=)
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I'm here! Yay! someone finally posted.....even though i should be posting too xD....
ReplyDeletei think i agree. It's like judging people. I actually have a problem with this. I know it's bad, but i can't help it. If i don't want to be judged, then i shouldn't be doing that to others. In school, I see a lot of people claim to be christians. Although I don't know them that well, I know what their lifestyle is like. Sometimes it looks like they go to church for only the activities and the fun. Most of the people are part of the same group and they are usually the people that are considered "popular". I think some of them joined just because of their friends...I might be wrong though. Right now I am trying to think about the bigger picture. The fun is probably God's way of drawing in people. As long as they keep going to church, then there's a possibility that people would stop going for the fun and for God. A lot of us probably started going to cumberland for the activities. It's just that God's timing is different for all of us. i don't know.... Looking at my classmates, I often would think of the people in fellowship. Let's pretend I saw one of the fellowship people at school and they were not part of cumberland....I wonder if i would still judge them. I am pretty sure I would.
ok so now i learned know to not judge people so easily, but it doesn't mean i should be okay with people's lifestyle. I mean I believe that I should be able to disagree with how people act, but I mean I shouldn't believe that the way I act is what everyone should follow. I am not perfect too. Hmm I just want people to reflect on their walk with God. I want people to consider what God wants, and not what others want. That's why we shouldn't be the ones to judge. We often judge with a limited view. God sees everything. Hopefully God has something bigger than what we all can see.
Thank you for the post auntie jenn!
The thing I've been taught and learned is that I need to always first examine myself in every aspect of my own life and see if I'm really living out everything that God desires for me. It's seems so easy to find someone who's "worse off" than myself...but for every person that I find to compare that's worst off than me, I bet you another person can find twice as many people who's actually living for God more than me. I need to regularly look in the mirror...and then place myself against God's standards (not my standards or someone else's)...then I am humbled...which then allows me to go out into the world with a sense of thanksgiving, as well as love and compassion for every person I encounter...no matter if the person is kind and nice to me...or if the person does things intentionally to make me uncomfortable. The mission speaker Rita Leung mentioned the book "My Utmost for His Highest". I also highly recommend this book for any Christian who's serious about their walk with God. My college advisor Peter Yee (KK's dad) gave me that book one Christmas and it's one of several books that has molded me into the person I am today. If you want your butt kicked in terms of living for God, "My Utmost for His Highest" is the book to read!
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