Glow Stick

As I sit here watching The Santa Claus and drinking hot chocolate from my favorite Christmas mug, I am filled with so much peace I can't even describe it. My Christmas tree is lit, the room smells like fir trees and chocolate, and I can't stop smiling at the antics of Tim Allen.

This mood is far different than the one I had a few nights ago.

That night, I wasn't happy, I wasn't peaceful and I wasn't feeling the Christmas cheer. I just wanted to lay in bed and sleep the darkness away.

I'm not going to lie...I have nights like that every other month or so. My brain mis-wires and I just shut down. Most of the time, my fiancé (yes! I am engaged! 💑) can't even be the one to comfort me. So, I end up locking myself in my own head until it all goes away.

Those nights are not fun. Not for me and especially not for him. I can't imagine what he feels like when there isn't anything he can do for me. And usually, I can't find anything to help myself either. It's an awful feeling..the helplessness...the darkness...all of it.

The morning after a night like that is usually much better. I'm in a better mood and I can feel things again. This particular morning, however, a Facebook post caught my eye...

And I lost it.

I wanted to run and hide and cry my eyes out because everything in that post was 100% true for me. The only problem? I couldn't hide from God.

This post talked about how we can shine as humans and how we must be broken in order to do so.

You see, we, as humans, are like glow sticks. We sit in our packaging, dark and uninteresting. We may be colorful, but those colors are dull, lifeless. Our potential is very low.

We aren't doing what we were created to do. 

But imagine this: God takes you--a dark, boring glow stick--and breaks you. He breaks you to your very core. To the point where you are bruised, battered and cracked. Then, something amazing happens...

You begin to shine. 

The light that has been hiding inside you all along begins to show. Starting from your core and spreading outward. You get brighter and brighter until all you do is shine.

Sometimes you have to break before you can shine.

God works in so many mysterious, but wondrous ways. He is always working. In you. Around you. For you. He is shaping and molding you into the person he created you to be. Don't push yourself away from Him. Allow Him to break you. Allow Him to place His hands on you so that you can live to your fullest potential.

You see, these dark nights in my life...those are just nights that I need to be broken again in order to shine. I just need to allow God to place His hands on me so that I can shine again.

My life has been a mess of highs and lows, but I am thankful for every single one of them.  Without those moments in my life, I wouldn't be where I am today. I thank God every day for my journey and for Him putting me on it.

So, remember, don't be afraid to break every once in a while. You have to do it in order to shine.

In His Name.

Sinner

I want to be honest with you guys for a few minutes. I feel that I owe you all that much.

I, Kaitlyn, am a full blown sinner.

Yeah, I admit it. I'm a sinner.

I curse. I'm ashamed to say this, but I do. (Especially while driving and when somebody cuts me off or like to tailgate me). I'm not proud of it and I work hard not to and to exchange those words for something else, but sometimes, it slips and I can't do anything but apologize for it.

I get jealous. Boy, do I get jealous. I'm a girl, so I find myself wishing for a slimmer body, manageable hair, whiter teeth, etc. I want to look like those girls on the covers of magazines.

I'm prideful. I would love to say that I'm not and that I'm as humble as I can be, but that would be lying and I can't do that.

I'm greedy. I want things or myself and don't wish to share them with others.

I'm a glutton. I love food. (People who know me, know how much I love food.) And I understand the horrors of waste of food, but there are times when I'd rather feed myself than the poor and hungry.

I am sometimes a sloth. There are moments when I just want to reject the grace God has given to me.

I experience moments of wrath. I'm a naturally emotional person. I can get angry very easily and very quickly if the wrong thing is said to me or about me.

And last, but not least, I'm lustful. That may be a strange thing for a girl to admit, but we can't deny it. I may not lust after men for sex, but I do lust after relationships and for love.

You see, just like everyone else, I sin. Every week. Every day.

But, here's the thing: even though I sin, I'm forgiven by the grace of my God.

Easter is coming up this Sunday.

Holy week is something of a big deal for me in my journey with Christ. I spend the week doing devotionals and reading my Bible. I tend to listen to only worship and praise and work on focusing my free time, praying and journaling. I watch and re-watch Passion of the Christ and start posting bible verse all over my room.

Easter is the time to celebrate God's grace. He clothed Himself in flesh and came down to this earth all to be put on a cross to die for our sins. We are cleansed from our mistakes and are forgiven for our sins.

His grace means that all of our mistakes now serve a purpose instead of serving shame.

I get chills every time I think about that.

This past week, I went through a mid-college crisis and broke down one night. I cried and cried and couldn't stop. I wanted life to stop. I felt like I couldn't handle it anymore. It even came to the point where I almost picked up a knife. But I didn't.

I immediately texted a few friends about it and within ten minutes, I had people in my room, holding my hands, hugging me and making sure I was okay and sane enough to make it through the night. They dropped everything and came to me when I was in need.

I am so blessed by those relationships. The fact that they would put down whatever they were doing doing just to check on me and make sure I was safe means the world to me. Even though I sin and make mistake after mistake, they still care for me day after day.

(So thank you to those people--my people--who came to me that night. Thank you.)

So as Easter comes around the corner, let's remember a few things:

1. God loves us despite the fact that we fail Him everyday. He shows us this through His never ending grace. He sent His son to die for us. If that isn't everlasting and merciful love, I don't know what is.

2. God can transform a sin-stained soul into a masterpiece of grace. We are washed clean by His sacrifice and we are forgiven through His love. There is no greater thing in the word than this.

3. God loves us even in our darkest times (Romans 5:8).

4. Our sins are paid in full. Every day. Every hour. Every minute. We don't have to worry about our debt because Jesus paid it for us.

5. And most of all, death has been defeated by love.

Let me repeat that...

Death has been DEFEATED by love.

The darkness of the world...the worst thing that humans can experience has been vanquished and slain by God's everlasting love for us.

How amazing is that??

In His amazing, everlasting love.

Jealous

"I wish I could have her hair. It's so straight and perfect."

"Why can't my body look like hers?"

"He gets all the girls. Why can't I be more like him?"

"His car is so cool. I wish I had a car like that."

Did you know that a sin is a sin is a sin? We often forget that, in the eyes of God, sins are equal no matter what. We, as humans, put them into "smaller" and "greater" categories, with jealousy and comparison falling into the former while murder, theft, and adultery fall into the latter.

However, we must remember that all sin separates us from God. We don't want that. So, all sin needs to be taken seriously, no matter how severe or less severe we seem to find it.

I recently met up with my friend, Blake, at Starbucks to talk about my blog and his spoken word that he does. We wanted to find a way to incorporate a spoken word piece he wrote into one of my blog posts. We ended up talking a little about the sin of comparison and how rampant and rooted it is in our lives today.

After, going through some of the things that I did in the past, I came out with a lot more self-confidence than I used to have. I'm not so worried about who I am or what I do. However, the sin of comparison is definitely still in my life. Thinking about it after the talk Blake and I had, I realized how guilty I am of comparison, or envy and jealousy.

I may be secure in my looks and in my personality, but I will find myself comparing myself to others in the classroom. I ask myself why the girl who sits beside me in class got a better grade than me when she barely studied while I spent an entire week studying. I find myself comparing myself to others in the gym. How can he spend 45 minutes running at a steady pace when I have to take a breather every 30 minutes? No matter how much self-confidence you may have, I believe that we all fall victim to comparison and jealousy.

This sin of comparison is killing us.

That's right. Killing us.

We use comparison like a measuring stick. We assess our own worthiness to others' victories and/or failures. We beat ourselves and others down with it.

I recently discovered a way to describe comparison: It's a thug. It robs your joy. But it's more than that. It makes you a thug who beats down somebody--or your own soul.

The thing about measuring sticks is that we use it to rank people as either big or small. Truth is: we aren't sizes. We are souls. We are God-made souls and because of that, we defy measurements from others and from ourselves. There is no bigger soul nor is there a smaller soul. So there is no point in trying to compare ourselves to others or others to ourselves.

When we walk through life with this measuring stick, our eyes get so small that we can no longer see God.

Here's something to remember:

You were created with intention. Those flaws that we see in ourselves? Those little imperfections that we wish to fix? Yeah....they aren't flaws to God.

When we continuously berate ourselves and pick at our flaws and others' flaws, we are missing the opportunity to bring glory to God by lifting others up.

I also read some advice about defeating the sin of comparison:

Whenever you find yourself comparing your flaws to others, go right up to that person and compliment them on the very thing you are jealous of. Tell them congrats on getting an A on the test. Tell them that you love their hair. Tell them that it's awesome with what they do in the gym.

When we turn comparisons into ways to build people up, the devil loses and God wins.

Blake talks in his spoken word ("Just Be Yourself"--click to watch the video!), about how there's a wish to go back to a time when comparisons didn't happen. When innocence was running rampant and we didn't care who owned what or who had the best hair or eyes or clothes or cars.

One of my favorite verses from his spoken word is: "We should celebrate the fact that we're all so uniquely diverse and actually start to converse; so we can learn about each other as well as learn from one another and celebrate our differences."

He hits it right on the mark. We should celebrate our differences.

My battle cry for this week will be the same thing morning, noon and night:

Boys and girls RIVAL each other. Men and women REVIVE each another. 
Boys and girls EMPALE each another. Men and women EMPOWER each other.
Boys and girls COMPARE each other. Men and women CHAMPION each other. 

Let's not be people who compare each other; let's be people who champion each other.

Like Blake says:

"It's your story. It's the life you've been given. So, celebrate every day, enjoy every second your liven'...We need to be happy by being ourselves...to be cool, simply, just be yourself."

[A big thank you to Blake, who sat down with me to help get rid of my writer's block and to talk about life. Go check out his other cool spoken words on his YouTube Channel: AsToldByGingerSnap.]

In His Love.

Believer

(PSA: This post will not be a rant on why you should believe in God. Nor will it be one where I tell you over and over again that your beliefs are wrong.)

Today, my family rented the movie God's Not Dead. Let me just say, while this is a good movie, it is by no means the best. I feel that the movie only focuses on the Christian side of the argument while completely ignoring or overshadowing the atheist's view.

But, I don't want to delve into the details of the movie. Watch it and decide for yourselves.

However, this movie has inspired me to write this post. I want to put something out there:

If you couldn't tell, I'm a Christian.

Shocking. I know.

I believe in an all powerful, all knowing God.

Being a Christian in this world is hard. People want to tear you down. Society wants to tear you down. The Devil wants to tear you down. It's easy to get lost in a world such as this.

Here's the catch.

This God that I believe in...you know, the all powerful, all knowing one? Yeah...He also forgives you for everything that you do. Any sin? It's forgiven. You are washed clean. God sent His son, Jesus Christ to this earth to forgive us from all sins. He sent His ONE and ONLY son to die. For us. (John 3:16)

How amazing is that??

I mean...death has been defeated by Love. His Love.

God wants us to have an everlasting life with Him in heaven. This is why we are forgiven. When we confess our sins and confess that Jesus is Lord, we are saved and we are freed for the pain and aguish of this world. (Romans 10:9)

Now, I'm not going to sit here and claim that I don't sin and that I'm a perfect Christian. I'm not. I fail my Father every day. I'm not faithful to Him like I should be. I cheat and lie and don't listen to His word. I don't necessarily believe in a perfect Christian. Perfection doesn't exist in our world. Perfection is left up to God and His plans for us.

So, that's really all I wanted to say. God is pretty awesome and He does pretty awesome things.

I'm a believer and proud of it.

In His love.

Depressed

Now, before any of you go freaking out...no. I am not depressed. I am not suffering through depression. I am perfectly happy with my current life and want to keep on living it.

I just wanted to take a few minutes to discuss depression with you guys. The news about comedian Robin Williams is all over media and I felt it fitting to talk about what depression is and what it does to people around us.

I want to point our, first of all, the depression is not a sin. It isn't. Nor is it a choice. It isn't a character defect, a spiritual disorder, or an emotional dysfunction. Depression is a mental illness that should be taken very seriously. Viewing depression as a sin in and of itself ultimately prevents individuals from seeking treatment.

We are all human. We are of flesh. So, it is natural for us to feel upset and to feel sad. We cannot all be happy all the time.

I'm beyond willing to admit to you guys that I used to be depressed. Now, I never went to a doctor and was never given prescription medicines to combat my depression. However, I diagnosed myself.

You guys know my story. It was in high school that I began to stray from God and everything I used to know. I didn't want to go out anymore. I didn't want to hang out with my friends. I didn't want to go to church. I didn't want to attend youth group or any social gathering for that matter. I just wanted to stay in bed and be antisocial.

I wasn't happy anymore. Yeah, I would smile in front of others, but it was a fake smile. I was lying through my smiles and forced laughs. And the thing is that, I thought that nobody was paying attention. That they didn't care enough to be able to tell that everything I was saying was a lie.

That just caused me to sink further into myself and into that dark hole. Dark thoughts clouded my head every day.

If people don't care, why should I?

Why does everything hurt so much?

People wouldn't care if I was gone, right?

I want this pain to end.

What if I ended it?

What if I ended me?

Yes, it did get that far. I began to self-harm. I had suicidal thoughts weekly. I was not well.

Luckily, I was able to get help. From family. From friends. From people who loved and cared for me.

And here I am today. Alive and healthy. I still have scars lining my arms, but they tell my story. I am not ashamed of them because I defeated death and depression. I won.

Please understand though, I still have some thoughts like that. They aren't often, but I do have them. When I get upset to the point of where I don't think I can handle life anymore, I begin to wonder about slipping into my old ways. But I don't. I start to pray and have God take everything from me.

So, yes. I am a Christian and I had depression. There are some people who believe that Christians can't have depression. Just because we have an amazing God, doesn't mean that we don't get upset at times. Like I said before, depression isn't a choice. It's a serious mental illness.

"Often, we ignore the fact that our spiritual condition and psychological state of mind are highly affected by what is happening to us physically. Sometimes depression is simply the result of exhaustion. In 1 Kings 19, we read how the prophet Elijah, worn out from his struggles to defeat Jezebel and her prophets of the pagan deity Baal, is so depressed that he cries out to God to end his life. In response, God tells Elijah to eat a good meal and go to bed, and that he will feel differently in the morning. For those of us who are depressed because we’re not getting enough sleep (and most Americans don’t), it is a great comfort that we can take our burdens to Christ, and He will give us rest.

Diet and exercise also figure into our emotional and spiritual conditions. The Bible tells us that the body is “the temple of God” (1 Corinthians 6:19), and it is sad how badly most of us treat our bodies. How many of us would feel more spiritually alive and joyful if only we exercised and stopped dumping junk food into God’s temple? Big doses of chocolate bars can put us on a high, but we'll experience a spiritual and psychological downtime a short time later.

Depression can also be brought on by chemical imbalances in the body. A person’s DNA can trigger chemical reactions that put him or her into an intensive funk. For women, the bodily changes that accompany menopause can bring on extreme depression. With prayer, “all things are possible,” but escaping from depression that is due to a chemical imbalance in the body through prayer alone is not probable. Those who try to dissuade religious people from getting medical help for clinical depression, claiming that faith alone is the cure, can do devastating harm. In many cases, a severe depression that lasts more than a few days is bio-physically based and requires medical treatment. This is certainly true for any who suffer from a bipolar condition. A psychiatrist is trained to diagnose both medical and mental causes of depression. To seek such treatment does not denote a lack of faith, but rather evidence of a willingness to take advantage of what God has made available to us through modern science."


     [[Read more at http://www.beliefnet.com/Health/Emotional-Health/Christians-Take-Depression-Seriously.aspx?p=2#6QJV448hLcdaxBOG.99]]

I also just wanted to say please don't joke around about depression. You don't know who's suffering through it at this present moment. I personally take offense when people joke about going to kill themselves or say (kind of snottily) that my band aids make it look like I cut myself. 

Just be mindful of what you say to others. It can really hurt even if you don't mean it to. 

Also, if you are feeling anything like I've been describing, please go talk to someone. It can be a parent, friend, doctor, relative, anybody. Don't let yourself get to that low point where you are self harming for release. There are hotlines and websites to help out with anything and everything. Don't be scared to reach out.

For now, that's all I have to say. If anybody needs someone to talk to, I am always available. Text me. Call me. Stop by my house. Write me a letter. Shoot me an email. I'm always willing to talk.

Stay cool. Radiate positive vibes.

Kaitlyn

Broken and Healed

Hey friends.

I know that it's been a while since I've posted and I apologize. I've been busy. It is summer, after all. (That's not really an excuse, but I'm going to use it anyways.)

Before I get into what I want to talk about today, I wanted to update you guys with what's going on in my life. First things first, I got a promotion at work so you are now looking at a new assistant manager (WOOO!). I also got to move out of my parents' home into another house because we had friends from my church need a house sitter for two months. It's been great. I'm living with a good friend of mine and it's honestly been nice to not live with my parents this summer.

Other than those two things, though, nothing much has changed. I'm still a college student; I still work on my photography and writing books. However, because of working full time, I can't find much time to do things.

But, don't fret. I was able to get next week off to go on a road trip with my best friend for my birthday week. I am beyond excited. We are heading up to the mountains of North Carolina and then headed to the coastline. It will be good to get out of this city and to explore the country a bit. I'm so ready for it, that I've already packed up all of my stuff! Haha.

Anyway, the reason I am writing this post today is because I wanted to talk about something that's been on my mind for a few weeks. It will get a bit personal, but I feel like God is asking me to share this with you guys.

First off, I wanted to talk a bit about my testimony. Some of you may know what happened to me a few years ago and some of you may not. For those who do not know, let me give you a shortened version. (If we ever meet in person, I'd love to tell you the entire story.)


When I entered high school, I didn't realize how hard it was going to be to keep my faith. I had so many people spread rumors about me and ridicule me for my beliefs. I began to stray away from God because of all of it. I started to hang out with the wrong crowd and became more and more distraught and distant from everybody who used to hang out with me. 

I didn't want to believe there was a God. I began to curse and to rebel against everything I used to believe in. (No, I did not start drinking or smoking. I still didn't like people who did that.) Don't get me wrong. I was pressured into drinking and smoking. The people I hung out with were the ones who partied every weekend and who used sex as a means out of their troubles. I may not have been into this, but there were times when I seriously considered it. 

It was in tenth grade that everything came to a screeching halt. I argued with my parents all the time and there was morning when it got so bad that I told my mother that I hated her. It was that morning that I began to cut myself to feel relief from the pain I was in. It was that morning that my life just felt like it was going down the drain.


Now, obviously, I'm still here today. I am alive and healthy. I don't cut or harm myself anymore. I've healed from that even though I still have scars lining my body. I was never sent to a doctor and was never medically claimed depressed. I diagnosed myself. It wasn't until the summer after tenth grade that I began to work towards my healing.

The reason I want to talk about this is because it has been three years since this has happened. It has been three years since I last placed a knife to my skin. It has been three years since I last thought I wasn't worth anything. It has been three years since I last wanted to end my life. It has been three years since I was reborn in my Savior's arms.

I'm not telling you guys this because I want you guys to feel sorry for me or to make it seem like I've gotten it all together since then. I still stumble. There are times when I get so frustrated or so upset with my life that I want to go back to my old ways. But, I don't. I take a deep breath and go spend time with my Creator instead.

I now realize that I can end the pain with healthier options. I don't have to resort to self-harm to get through something that is difficult in my life.

When you see/meet me, you will notice the scars. They are etched into my skin. They are noticeable. They are there and I am aware of it. Yes, it is hard sometimes to tell the story of my few months spent in a dark abyss called depression. Especially to people I've know for years and years. I've gotten better at it, but it's still hard. However, I trust that the Lord will provide me with the words I need.

With my "dark" past, I used to think that people were a little intimidated by me. I used to think that because I had these scars, other people wouldn't know what to do with me. I was terrified to think that people wouldn't want to try to understand what happened to me. I know that some people are just scared to deal with others who have done the things I have.

Things are quite different, actually. In the past year, after going to college, I have found so many people that support me. They have listened to my story and still love me for who I am. They don't shy away at mention of my scars and are always there for me when I need a shoulder to lean on. They love me for who I am. I am so blessed by them.

I also want to reach out a hand to anybody who feels like they have been dealing with what I dealt with. You are not alone. You are loved. You are amazing. Don't let anybody tell you anything different. Be you and know that there are people out there who love you for you. I want to leave you guys with a letter. I have this letter framed for my dorm room at school and always look back on it in times of struggle. Feel free to do the same.




Dear Sons and Daughters,

I want to remind you today that you are beautiful.  As you know there is a father of lies who will try to deceive you.  He will tell you that you aren’t attractive enough, good enough or smart enough.  He will tempt you to doubt Me and then, after you do, he will accuse you of being a failure. He will also tell you that you have broken too many promises, lived one too many lies, and fallen one too many times.  He will try to discourage you and tell you you’ve been going in the wrong direction and that it is pointless to turn  back now. “You,” he hisses, “Are unimportant to God.”
Guess what?  You do not belong to him. He is not your father.  I AM.  I am your King.  You are born of my thought! Every part of you I carefully put together by My hands.  You have my thumbprint on your life. You are my workmanship! You are My creation! You are my joy! My very own sons and daughters!

You not loved because you are precious.  You are precious because you are loved…by Me your KING!  There is nothing that can separate you from my love.  There is no ocean too deep. There is no mountain too high.  Yes, sin did change my perfect creation. Yes, you live in a broken, fallen world.  Every human being is born in sin because of Adam and Eve’s disobedience.  However, I could not turn my back on them.  I will not turn my back on you.  I robed myself in flesh and came to earth to pay for you with my own blood.  I am your redeemer and you are covered with My grace.  I have done everything  there is to do and given all there is to give–for you!  Your life is precious because I created it and redeemed it!  My love for you is everlasting, unfailing and eternal.

The father of lies may whisper in your ear; “Did God really say…?” He ignites flames of doubts.  But I am unchangeable.  My Word is truth.  I desire to spend time with you, every moment of every day.  My love for you never grows cold.  My promises are never broken.  My character never changes.  You, my child, have been made in my image.  You are beautiful.  You have purpose.  You have destiny. You have hope in every situation, because of Me.
I love you unconditionally, dearly and completely.  I know your emotions.  I see your tears.  I see your thoughts.  When you don’t know what to pray, My Spirit prays for you with words deeper than any sigh. I know all about you.  I know your secrets, fears, weaknesses and failures.  None of this changes my love for you.  My faithfulness is eternal.  Learn of Me! Believe Me! Trust Me! Find order in the midst of your chaos with Me.  Begin each day with me. Calm your nights with Me.  Entrust your heart to Me, I hold it close to my own.

Forever & faithfully yours,

Your Heavenly Father/Your King




If you ever want to ask more about my story, feel free to ask me. I can explain more about my depression and what was happening in my head. All you have to do is ask.

And remember: YOU are loved by the Creator of the earth, by the One who placed the stars in the sky, by the King of kings.

Love and be loved.

My testimony on YouTube.

Hypocrite

Happy Wednesday, everybody! It's time for another blog post!

Today, I wanted to bring up a very touchy subject for a lot of Christians. Before I get started, I want to make a disclaimer that I am not trying to say that I am perfect. Cause I'm not. I am going through a lot of the same things that you all are going through. I sin. But I am forgiven by the Father and that is what makes me want to go on living from my mistakes and not repeating them anymore. 

So, do not feel that I am trying to say that I am better than anybody else. I know that I am not. I struggle to be who I really am, but with the love and compassion I receive from my family, friends, and God, I know that I don't have to try so hard. I just need to relax, and be me. 

Anyway, for the topic today, I feel that I may push a few buttons. But that is what this blog is for. Please feel free to disagree or to make your argument. Say whatever you like. Just, try and keep it clean. (Thanks.)

So....

Hypocrite. 

What does that mean to you? By the dictionary it means 'an impostor'. Someone who says one thing and then turns around an does the other. To get it all out there, we are ALL hypocrites. All of us. Don't deny it either. The bible even says, "For all fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) And it is completely true. We do. We sin. We are sinners. 

James 4:17 says, "If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them."
Some examples of hypocrisy are gossip, being judgmental, disobeying parents, lying, unhealthy habits, cussing, idolatry, etc. I will touch a bit on a few of those aforementioned. Ready? Here we go...

Being Judgmental:


Here are two verses that I want you to look at. 

"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me." (Matthew 5:10-11)

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." (Matthew 7:1-5)

These verses talk about us being judgmental towards people. We all do it. Whether it's making fun at that guy who sits by himself at lunch or that girl who wears hand-me-down clothes. It's not cool. But we do it. I do it. And I'm not going to deny it. I feel so guilty after doing it, but I still make fun of them. 
You see, there is this book called unChristian. I've read it. And in it, there is one entire section that focuses on the topic of being judgmental. It is crazy and very eye-opening to read.

We are supposed to be building each other up. Not tearing each other down. It's very cliche, but don't judge a book by it's cover. 

Idolatry:

I'll be quick on this one because it is a topic that is very easily understood.

Idolatry is a big part in our life. We get distracted by things other than God and end up getting addicted to them. To put it simply: If you have to think about it, it's an idol. 

Don't let any of the material things get in your way of a perfect God. He should be the only thing that you are 'addicted' to. 

Gossip:

This is a topic that I will delve deeper into at a later date because it can get very sticky. I am going to try to not go too far into this subject but, gossiping is something we do A LOT. Everybody does it. Little kids, teenagers and even adults. Every one of us is guilty of gossiping. And I really do mean every one. We always have to be in somebody else's business, when in reality, it's their business. Not ours. We don't need to talk about them behind their backs, because we don't want people gossiping about us. 
Just because Johnny did this with Susie, doesn't mean you have to go blab it to the entire school. Susie told you that in secrecy. Now, the whole school knows about it.

Bottom line: don't spread rumors/gossip.

Cussing:

Don't lie. You know that you have cussed at least once in your life. I will admit that I have too. There have been moments where I really want to yell out some choice words. (Especially when I'm driving. I'm no too bad, but there will be some drivers that really grate on my nerves.) I've accidentally let some slip, but I try really hard to swallow it and keep on going.

Honestly, I should always think before I say something like that. I should ask myself, is this crappy driver really more important than shining my light for God? The answer will always be 'no'. Just remember that. It will always be 'no'.

Unhealthy Habits:

Unhealthy habits include lust, drinking, smoking, illegal drugs, etc. Our unhealthy habits are leading us away from God and towards the wrong path.

Usually, peer pressure is the main cause of our unhealthy habits. Our friends do it, so we think we have to do it, when we don't. We need to shine His light to our friends and say "no, I don't do that kind of stuff." Just think, the earlier you start shining His light, the easier it will be to say no to peer pressure. 
These things are a very big deal. You get addicted to them and it leads you from the right path to the wrong path. 


Hypocrisy destroys yourself. It starts building up walls to block you from the good things, keeping you with the wrong things (sin). It destroys your relationship with God and pulls you away from Him.

Eventually, after making the church look bad, you make every single Christian look bad. I found this quote from this girl online and thought you guys should read it.

  "Christians, they love to talk about how loving, dutiful and compassionate they are, yet I have yet to meet ONE who does not practice hypocrisy to the highest degree.  Their willful ignorance of the Bible combined with their two faced idealism to preach it, has made us sick, hasn’t it?  For nearly two thousand years Biblicists have been lecturing people on the importance of adhering to the Bible’s teachings on ethics, manners, and morality.  They quote Jesus and Paul profusely, with a liberal sprinkling of Old Testament moralism.  The problem with their approach lies not only in an oft- noted failure to practice what they preach, but an equally pronounced tendency to ignore what the Bible itself, preaches.  Christians practice what can only be described as “selective morality”.  What they like, they cling to and shove down other’s throats; what they don’t like, they ignore vehemently.  That which is palatable and acceptable is supposedly applicable to all; while that which is obnoxious, inconvenient, or self-denying is only applicable to those addressed 2,000 years ago.  Their hypocrisy is so rampant that even the validity of calling oneself “Christian” is in question."

This is what people are saying about us. This is what non-Christians believe about us. And you know what's funny? We are the cause of all of it. We are hypocritical and the atheists are just waiting for our one slip-up so they can blame an entire group of people. Us being hypocritical is the number one reason for atheism in the world. We ruin people's chances of salvation.

As one of my friends said, "If it weren't for Christians, there would be more Christians."


So, my final question for you today is, when you leave your house, are you shining the light of God?