Life lessons

What an eye-opening seven months it has been.

About seven months ago at this time, I was a new creation. As one dear friend made clear in her blog, "their lives were headed toward hell and have been turned around" (referencing me). That sounds so scary - and, at the time I did think it was scary - but in reality, this is the case for every living being up until the moment he or she accepts Jesus into their heart. There's no sugarcoating it. That's just reality.

But enough of that sappy stuff. It's time for the four biggest life lessons I've learned over the course of 221-ish days of my faithwalk! (And be reminded that some of these things I am still working on... and probably will be for a while... but I have learned that they are important.)

1. Love everyone. I know, I know, that's like the #1 rule of Christianity. But it so often gets overlooked. Last night I began fuming and thinking really awful things about a person who caused me a lot of emotional pain earlier this year, but the reality is that this person has struggles that I am completely unaware of. That's important, because even though I was hurt by them, that doesn't mean that two wrongs make a right.

2. Don't focus too much on "being perfect." While this sounds like I am waving off God's supreme law, I am not. Scripture repeats again and again that we as human beings can never escape sin, and that's why we need Jesus Christ. That does not make any sin justified; however, it washes the sin away the moment it gets into our hearts. So don't wallow in pity every time you hit a bump in the road. As a good friend of mine says (this is kind of a paraphrase), "God doesn't want you to feel sorry; He wants you to get back on your feet and keep going with Him."

3. Don't get put in the box. This goes along with my previous blog post, but I feel the need to reiterate it just because of how big it really is. God created you as a unique individual with unique features, passions, and a personality. If He wanted us to conform to the rest of the population, then He would've just manufactured a bunch of robots that look and act the same.

4. And last but not least, be honest with the people you can trust. This is an extremely hard thing to do. However, real friends will show you God's untainted love even if you're confused, angry, or not perfect. Because in reality, we all have our issues. Some of them may appear to be worse, but God does not see it that way, and He does not want us to keep our burdens to ourselves. It's not healthy, and I realized that as the summer winded down.

Anyway... that's all I've got this weekend! I'll be at the State Fair for the next five days, so have a fun and safe week folks! :-)