Be Strong. Be Courageous.

Tonight I was challenged to be strong. and to be courageous.

I cannot count how many times in my life I have made mistakes because I wasn't strong enough or courageous enough. There have many many opportunities when I have said too much and sometimes not said enough. There have been opportunities when I did too much, didn't do enough or did nothing at all.

Joshua 1:9 says "Have I not commanded you. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

I feel like there are many instances where Christians are criticized for doing what we are all called to do. Society tells us it isn't cool to be a Christian and to live the life that God has called us to live. There have been COUNTLESS times when I have given into societal pressures just because I got tired of hearing people comment on how I was behaving. I wasn't behaving in a bad way or an immoral way. It was actually when I would give in to these societal pressures where my morality should have been questioned most.

     Why has it become so wrong to do the right thing?

         Why is it that we think its okay to live an ungodly life?

             To live a life that goes against the exact kind of life God has called each of us to live?

 Why is it that it's so wrong to (be in) love (with) God?

 And why do we feel like we have to live an unauthentic life? Why is it that some of us spend our entire lives lying, pretending we're something we're not? Is being popular and accepted really that big of a deal? Psalm 139:1 tells us that God has searched us and knows us. So why do we continue to live a life full of lives? Why do we continually wear these masks hiding who we really are? Is this life so much more important that we want to throw away our chances of spending eternity with the one who created us? With the one who loves us more than anything else in this world?

When I was in high school I never really had a group of people I fit in with. I was more or less friends with most everyone, but I didn't have that ONE group that I really fit in with. Not at school anyways. See, I fit in best with people who i went to church from and who were usually in their 30's or 40's. I guess some would say I have an old soul.  I like to say I was just mature for my age. In a way, I was set apart. Sure, I gave in to things I didn't necessarily want to do but as a whole I did what I thought was right and what I thought I should do--not what I was told to do or what "friends" pressured me to do. I caught a lot of crap for my "Jesus shirts" and no one really understood why I wanted to talk about this Jesus guy so much or why I wanted to show people that I was a Christian. I wasn't ashamed. Maybe I was a little stubborn, but I wasn't ashamed of my Christianity.  Until my mindset began to change. I got tired of hearing the crap. It was bad enough that people were talking about what I'd say, but they were talking about the choice of clothing (my Jesus shirts I had  mentioned earlier). I wasn't concerned with the latest fashion (plus, I admit I was overweight and couldn't fit into most of the "latest fashions"). This changed my junior year in high school. I began to change. I had become a "two-faced" Christian. I had one face put on when I was with church people and a different "face" put on when I was with school folks. And honestly, my life was a lot easier. A lot happier.

Or was it?

Now that I look back on it I realize I was actually more miserable being accepted by those who I thought I wanted to be my friends than I was being tormented and made fun of by those same people. They didn't provide for me the kind of love that God had provided me with. I left Jesus in my car when I arrived at school and met him back at my car when I got out. I wasn't strong like I needed to be. I wasn't courageous and didn't stand up for what I knew was right.

The truth is, I didn't have to wear t-shirts to tell others I was a Christian. And I probably could have never said anything to anyone about being a Christian. How I acted, how I represented Jesus at school is what really matters. I can wear Jesus shirts all day long, but if I'm swearing and cussing and living life the wrong way--my actions aren't worth anything. (You have to walk the walk as well as talk the talk, you can't do one without the other--I hear this in the back of my mind constantly).

the way we live our lives IS important. I know you've all heard the saying "actions speak louder than words" and the truth is they REALLY do. But both are important. It's just as important to share the love of God verbally as it is to show the love of God in the way you live your life.

It's a life that takes both strength and courage. God gave us the ability to stand out and to stand up for Him.

"...If any want to be my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me" -Luke 9:23 (NRSV).