Categories
relationships drive specificity growth

Growth – Day 30

My dad has many times said “Relationships drive specificity.”

I’ve seen many people try to develop relationships quickly. They want to tell you their life story. Spend lots of time with you. And it seems like many times these relationships end up blowing up in people’s faces. People are trying to get too specific too fast. It’s much easier to not be careful with others and no longer be edifying or encouraging one another when you’re around each other too much. “Familiarity breeds contempt.”

Proverbs 25:17 Seldom set foot in your neighbor’s house, Lest he become weary of you and hate you.

Relationships do have to mature. As you spend years with people, the relationships are able to handle more. You start with a twine, but over the years as you add more twine, it becomes a rope and eventually becomes strong enough to handle most things.

It’s over many years that you learn who a person truly is. Unless you can see where a person is going over years of time, you’re not going to know who they are. Even if you spend tons of times with someone over several months or so you’re only going to see a small part of their path. They might be in a really bad part of their life for those several months. Or be in a really good place headed in a bad direction.

We’re very weak with relationships. Around 50% of people who have been married have been divorced at least one time. We just aren’t able to handle these relationships without a lot of time and love.

People are delicate. Let’s be careful with them.

P.S.

I’ve found one thing you need to watch especially with your own family is being edifying and encouraging. It’s easy to be pleasant and nice with the rest of the world while at the same time taking out your negativity and crankiness on the people in your family.

Shouldn’t it be the most important to us to build up those who are closest to us?

Categories
Uncategorized

Boys vs. Girls – Day 29

This was supposed to go on Day 14, but it didn’t so here it is now.

Some of us have grown up in churches where the guys just didn’t talk to girls and girls didn’t talk to guys. Blech…

It seems as if there’s some sort of unstated rule that all conversations must be awkward and not be very edifying.

Why? I sometimes find that the best conversations can be had with girls. Sure, the relationship is going to be a different one then you have with your guy friends. Of course you’re going to need to be more careful with these relationships. You don’t want it to become unedifying. You want to stay away from attaching your hearts to one another.

In the end it’s because we’re not treating each other as brothers and sisters in Christ.

1 Timothy 5:1-2 Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren; The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity.

Are our hearts pure? Are our actions Godly? Are we loving one another in Christ?

P.S.

I sometimes wonder if this has a lot to do with boys and girls not getting married. Is it because we’ve created this awkward arena that we aren’t able to communicate in? Is it because we can’t be friends without thinking of another person as “marriage material?”

I don’t know.

Picture of the day:

Categories
Uncategorized

Free Time – Day 28

We all have some sort of free time. Some have more then others. What do we do with our free time? Is it video games? Or are we watching movies? Or are we walking the dog? Are we spending time with friends or family? There are many things we can do when we aren’t busy with our daily chores and work. But what are we doing?

I believe what we do should be profitable. Something that accomplishes something. It could be as simple as growing closer to somebody by spending that time talking to them. Or it could be improving some skill or ability. Reading good edifying books, etc.

I believe it should also be edifying. To tear someone down is generally a bad idea. Or even to tear down your own character. Sure, shooting the breeze with someone is great, but it should be an edifying time. I find if I’m around someone for a long time, but if our time together has not been edifying I almost feel as if the entire conversation would have been better left unsaid. But this doesn’t mean talking about some theological theory or doctrine all of the time. I honestly think it’s a different balance for different people, and it’s something you figure out over time with different people in different situations.

And last, and most important it should be honoring to God. Everything can be kind of encapsulated in this. If our time isn’t honoring to God why are we doing it?

Galatians 5:22-25 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

P.S.

I think one reason that many of our relationships are very weak and aren’t able to handle a lot of stress is because of our constant dependence on media. We have to immerse ourselves in the video games, television, social networking sites, and movies. People are trained by media to make relationships fake, sexual, and not that close.

I think if we spend this free time growing our relationships through edification instead of on ourselves our churches will be stronger, our families will be stronger, and our relationship with God will be stronger.

Thoughts? 🙂

I cannot get these days straight… Day 28.

Picture of the day: (Editing audio)

Categories
Uncategorized

Valentine’s Day – Day 27

A day with hearts, chocolate, champagne, roses, and most importantly that special someone. It’s a day where love is in the air..

Great! I’m glad there’s a day of the year that people are able to focus on the romance in their relationship. But Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was romance/love. It’s the doing the dishes, the cleaning the house, finding the time to spend with one another when the household is full of a bunch of children under 10, and the being together as a team that builds up a good romance. It’s when one isn’t giving 100% of themselves to the other that romance dies.

The world portrays the flashy/flirty moments before marriage and the moments where a man hooks up with some woman at some bar as romantic. But it’s not. True romance is growing closer each day over 50 years and laying down your life. It’s not so glamorous, but it’s oh so much more beautiful.

Picture of the day:

Categories
habits perseverence

Perseverence and Habits – Day 26

Growth is a difficult thing. For one to become something new they must give up old habits and begin new ones.

I think that much to being successful is building good habits. I.E. Going to bed early – getting up early…. (HAHAHAHA – yeah, I’m writing this at 11:30…)

Anyways.

A good habit is going to direct your day to day life. Reading God’s Word every morning before you check Facebook may be a good one. Or making breakfast for the family every Saturday. Or, etc.

Many people want to change things immediately. But it just doesn’t happen that way. Your life turns around by making a change here, making a change there. But always transitioning to a point where you are following Christ and the Word in a better way.

Good habits don’t necessarily come easily. Sure it’s easy to make a habit of going to the movie theater every other week, or a habit of laying on the couch all day. But the good things in life are typically hard to come by.

You need perseverance. You need to be able to set that alarm clock and get out of bed when it tells you to. You need to push harder when life throws its constant issues and problems at you.

And lean on Christ.

Picture of the day: (In anticipation of Valentine’s Day. ^_^ I’ll try to do some sort of Valentine’s Day post tomorrow.)

Categories
chivalry feminism love

The Knight in Shining Armor – Day 25

Chivalry

–noun

1. the sum of the ideal qualifications of a knight, including courtesy, generosity, valor, and dexterity in arms.

Every girl, at one time or another, has dreamed of their knight in shining armor. He’s one who protects them, honors them, takes care of them, and loves them. He’s a man who is faithful, charitable, just, wise, prudent, temperate, resolute, truthful, diligent, hopeful, and brave. He loves his God, his family, and his friends.

To some extent there’s never going to be a man who will live up to these kinds of standards perfectly. But as men we have a responsibility to be these kinds of men. Maybe we won’t swing a sword and rescue our woman. But that’s really not what life’s about. It’s about dying to ourselves in the small things that allow us to become the man who will be able to die for others.

When a man doesn’t hold the door for a lady or pull a chair out, he’s dishonoring women. I find it ironic that there are women today who see men honoring them to be a dishonorable thing to themselves. The relationship of men and women is complimentary. For one to say that they wish to be the same as another is foolishness. A team is built of different players with different gifts. God has gifted men and women differently. A man and a woman separately can’t do half as much as they can together.

However, in a team all the teammates must work together. And so it comes down to the fact that a man must be chivalrous. He must be willing to give up his laziness, selfishness, etc. The same goes for the ladies out there.

I believe, as we strive to be chivalrous, marriages and relationships will blossom. Romance will become something that is long lasting. In our culture we see romantic love as something that we read about in romance novels and watch in chick-flicks. It promises more then it delivers especially in regards to permanence. I think it’s because we perceive romance as something spontaneous, something that does not demand work. In reality, the very essence of romance is commitment. This is where chivalry proves to be a significant part of romance. In marriage, this is the very place that the virtues of chivalry are tested and manliness is proved.

Let’s go out and prove ourselves to be men. (Not just banging trees with our fists. 🙂 )

Picture of the day: (Yes, I’m still wearing that hoodie.. And no, nobody’s behind the camera.)

Categories
Uncategorized

TGIF – Day 24

Bam. Here comes the weekend. It’s time to party, get drunk, have a hangover, and brag about it next week at work.

Okay, okay I get that of the people who read this blog, nobody (okay maybe… somebody) is going to fit in the above mentioned category. But still, why are we so thankful for Friday? Is it because we don’t have to work for the next two days? Or is it because we’re tired of working for the man and go do something else? It really seems like it could stem from an ungrateful spirit for where God has put you in your day to day life, maybe? I don’t know.

Or it could be because you get to spend time with your family and friends. Which is a great reason.

But it does seem to give us this mindset of a 5 day work week instead of working six days and resting the seventh.

Tell me what you think! ^_^

Picture of the day: Okay I didn’t take this… <_<

Categories
Uncategorized

Online Communication – Day 23

“Hahaha”

“LOL”

“Where r u?””

I just read an article on how people spend about 7 hours per month on Facebook alone. This may be as much time as some people spend at church per month. On average people with cell phones text 500+ texts per month. They chat, voice chat, etc.

I’m noticing that many people don’t like to talk on their cell phone anymore, but would prefer to text or e-mail. I’ve made probably a little more then 8000 posts to online forums. And it’s interesting how different people can be online compared to who they are in real life. And the internet gives you that ability. You could play an MMORPG and create a muscular, good looking, and tall character online while being a fat, short, and weak kid in your basement. Your facebook can make you appear to be a cool and Godly person posting Bible verses every day and letting everyone know what a saint you are, while at the same time spending time watching porn and cursing your job. James 1:26 “If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.” Are you being real?

The internet has made it easy to ruin people’s reputations overnight or to create a superstar overnight. It’s a powerful form of communication.

We need to be careful what we say. James 3:5 “Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!”

Things come across a lot different over the internet compared to your normal life. People aren’t able to see your facial expressions, your vocal expressions, and your body expressions. One thing that may come across as a joke person to person can be read as being very offensive over the internet.

Take a little time and make sure what you’re saying is “true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

P.S. Haha, posted before 10 pm, gj me. 😛

Picture of the day:

Categories
Uncategorized

All About You – Day 22

I love myself.

To some extent everyone loves themselves. They feed themselves. They put themselves to sleep. They make sure they’re not cold, hurt, etc.

But relationships aren’t built on loving yourself. I’ve noticed this in my day to day life. When I feel sorry for myself and hide in a hole by myself people ignore me. Who wants to be around a sorry slob who hides under their earbuds and cares about themselves? I get that some people will bridge that gap and sacrifice themselves to talk to people like this. Are you the one reaching out or being reached out to?

In a healthy relationship there’s going to be give and take. One person will pray, love, and help the other when they hurt. And the other way around. I.E. Ephesians 5:33 “Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.”

And you know what, life’s never going to be perfectly fair. Sometimes you’re going to have to give more. Christ came down to this earth and gave everything up for us, who will never be able to give him as much as he gave us.

Are you willing to give it all for Christ and others?

Tomorrow: Online Communication

Picture of the day:

Categories
Uncategorized

Fantasy Land – Day 21

It’s really weird the things I think of day to day…

Today I was thinking of how we don’t live Hollywood lives. We don’t live a life where we wake up one morning broke and lonely and then by that night we have an 8 million dollar house, fought an alien, found the love of our life and had some kiss with a girl in the rain.

Life is far more dull in comparison. Life is about working day to day in a consistent manner. Relationships eb and flow, but rarely to the extent of a movie. Things move much slower. People aren’t quite as perfect or aren’t quite as bad.

But people want to escape into these fantasy lands. Take a look at the top grossing movie of all time “Avatar.” This movie was the ultimate escape.

Why are so many people constantly trying to lose themselves in this fantasy land? It’s because, well without God their lives are pretty lame. You’re not fighting aliens or saving civilizations with your pure brains or muscle. You don’t have Megan Fox as a girlfriend. Instead, you work in some job that promises maybe 40k per year and you look forward to the weekend so you can lose yourself in fantasy land.

When it comes down to it, when you look to God and you have hope for something better things mean a lot more and you don’t have a need to lose yourself in a fantasy land.

Tomorrow: All About You

Picture of the day: