Category Archives: Reflective Reading

Faith, Reflective Reading

God is holy

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“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies!
    The whole earth is filled with his glory!” -Isaiah 6:1-3

In my last blog, God is who He is, I finished with the question, “Who is God to you?” I explained our character and choices will reflect who we believe God is. If you believe God answers prayers, you will wait expectantly for God to answer your prayers.  If you believe God is a Father who provides for your basic needs, you will express thanksgiving when they’re met. If you believe God will catch you or teach you when you take leaps of faith, you will take leaps of faith. No psychologist, self-help guru, or pastor disagree: Our beliefs are powerful.

If you believe God is Holy, you will have reverence for Him. 

Let’s consider what it means to say, God is holy. In Habakkuk 1:13, God is said to be so pure he does not tolerate evil. Holiness means “to separate” or “to cut off” anything that is sinful, impure, or evil. Holiness is an inability to be corrupted and a state of being perfectly good. Because God is perfectly good, our sin separates us from Him. This explains why we can’t stroll down the street and sit in His office like Adam and Eve had the pleasure of doing. Although we are created in His image, none of us fully live up to the standard He sets. God alone is perfectly good, and He is far above and beyond us.

It sounds terrible to believe we are separated from God. His perfection might even evoke fear in your heart. It does mine at times. An unbeliever might think, “How inadequate Christian’s must feel,” but how much worse would it be if God were fallible like us?

It’s exciting to know that we can count on God to do the right thing.

“You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell.” -Psalm 5:4

Now, that I’ve explained holiness is an absence of anything evil, we can understand that everything associated with God is holy. God described the earth and His creation including Adam and Even as “very good.” It wasn’t until after the fall the world became filled with evil. When Christ died, His mission was to bring us back into a relationship with God. Through Christ Christians claim association to God. Christ didn’t die to only save us from eternal condemnation. He died to save us from our sin. He died so that we would become holy. What is the key to living a holy life?

Through faith in Christ we can draw closer to God and become less associated with sin.

Jesus’s death did not grant us the permission to sin. It was the solution to free believers from sin. Striving to grow in holiness is essential to the Christian life.

In John 8, it is evident that Jesus does not condemn us, but he said, “Go and sin no more.” In Hebrews Paul said, “without holiness no one will see the Lord.” Jesus’s death and resurrection laid the foundation for us to attain His command.

My prayer is that as we learn what it means to be virtuous, we grow in deeper reverence for God and allow Him to strengthen our beliefs, re-define our values, and bring clarity to what it means to be holy.

“For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.” -1 Thessalonians 4:7

What does holiness look like to you?

Faith, Reflective Reading

God is who He is

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I will never forget the Sunday morning a Pastor got down on his knee and in a tear filled plea said, “Church, God is not who you want Him to be, God is who He is.”

I’ve realized that a lot of Christians, including myself, have the tendency to believe God is a fragmented version of their best self.

Often times we think we are good and wise people, so we voice indignation at the wrong doing and crime of others. This is good. It’s evidence of protecting virtues, but rarely do we work to understand and acquire virtue itself. Donald Demarco said, “Trying to become virtuous merely by excluding vice is as unrealistic as trying to cultivate roses solely by eliminating weeds.” So many of us know who God is not, but few of us take the time to understand who God is and to develop an understanding of His character. Demarco goes on to explain that we have to work towards understanding, acquiring, and developing virtue in order to be the person God created us to be, a reflection of Himself.

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27

Throughout history people have used virtues to justify horrific and even simply wrong acts. An example of this is Hitler, the nationalist who believed that exterminating “inferior races” was doing right by his country. Compared to Hitler we are all angels so we must be doing pretty well, huh? No. In less volume and also tragic cases, the lack of understanding and acquiring virtue can ruin relationships with family and friends. It can ruin marriages and a child’s worldview.

On a positive note, virtue is what binds us together. It’s having faith that God lives in people and trusting each other to do right by one another. Its loyalty to God first and people second. Its charity, courage, compassion, wisdom, modesty, patience. It’s understanding love in relation to God’s perfect character and applying it accordingly.

If we don’t take the time to learn His character and understand what it is to be virtuous we will live a life reducing God in our minds and hearts. We will define Him and our values through our own limited understanding. We will be living a lie, and a life short of the abundance He promised.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. John 10:10

God desires for us to know Him, His character, His mission, and to reflect His image in the world. This is the design He imagined when He created us in His image. Its the design Jesus came to restore, and the design He’s coming back to perfect. Its flawless and beautiful just like the Creator.

Our lives will always be a reflection of who we believe God is.

Who is God to you?

Reflective Reading, Uncategorized

Misguided Compassion

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Love and compassion are inseparable, and the two combined have become the contemporary world’s most popular principles. Today we are constantly told we must have compassion for others, and if we do not, it is by popular opinion, morally reprehensible. There are many people who truly believe compassion must be applied to the furthest extent in all situations regardless of circumstance. This is compassion as a principle.

For example, have you ever known a parent that loved their child so much they supported them no matter what? I’ve watched a parent be supportive of their child all throughout grade school and for every sport they were involved, but this parent continued support while the child constantly misbehaved and made terrible choices. It continued into the child’s adult years and all the way to prison. This is an extreme example, but a result of consistent loyalty and unwavering compassion nonetheless. This mother loved her son dearly, and stood by his side regardless of their disagreements, which were many. Tough love was not an option, discipline was rare and ineffective without consistency. She justified this loyalty through a firm belief in unconditional love and acceptance, and still to this day will tell you she supports her children no matter what they do. She will always find it in her heart to be compassionate.

Loving you’re children unconditionally is one thing, but loving them enough to lighten their burden and the consequences of their actions 100% of time, is harmful. Love is the highest of all virtuous, but when it’s defined appropriately and applied it does not result in harm. I’ll talk about this in a future blog.

Today compassion is generally aimed at reducing the misery that currently afflicts the world. It has become nothing more than a word that means expediency, but compassion was never meant to be applied this way. It was also never meant to dictate our response to the sufferings of others-in which case many other factors come into play. This is compassion misunderstood and inflated to the extent that it drowns out common sense and is no longer virtuous.

Compassion as a virtue is like compassion the principle in that it enables us to recognize and identify with the sufferings of others. However, the difference is, when we apply compassion as a principle it will 100% of the time dictate our response in the name of acceptance. Compassion the principle will cause us to be accepting of even the most heinous behaviors like abortion, murder, etc. 

When compassion is applied as a virtue we can couple it with love, generosity, patience, and/or courage. We can also, take into consideration all other factors, including our own spiritual, physical, financial, and emotional resources, and respond wisely.

Compassion is a beautiful virtue, shining a light on the good of mankind. When we choose to respond to compassion we’re often given the opportunity to lighten a burden and lessen the pain and in turn allow love to rest in the hearts of those suffering. Compassion is a beautiful gift from our Creator, but when we inflate it above other virtues we undermine it’s power and remove what makes it virtuous.

The dew of compassion is a tear, but the do of compassion is “unclear.” – Lord Byron

Faith, Reflective Reading

No Justice, No Peace

I very recently came to understand and have a new appreciation for justice, but let’s rewind 5 years before I explain.

There was a time in my life I felt victimized by local and state laws. I sat in jail. A straight-A student in college and single mother, but also a very irresponsible driver. I could not afford to pay tickets, and so I sat there. It was terrible at the time. I learned from experience that most people in jail are mentally ill, suffering from addiction, and suffering from the sociological boundaries they allow to hold them captive. Having been in child protective services,  experienced the pain of drug addiction within my own family, and-well-even the fact that I was sitting in jail, there was enough to find common ground with the other ladies. In these moments spent separated from my son, I hated justice.

Fast forward to now, I’m glad to say I’m a much better driver. I have a husband that can hardly believe I ever sat my pretty little butt in jail. The consequences of me not sitting out my tickets would have stifled my career and life and also my sons. This is how legal or general justice is carried out in society. When someone has broken a law they are subject to consequences. Whether they agree with the law or not, they must submit to the consequences or they risk steeper punishment. This is justice. She carries out her duty to relinquish the wrongdoer of their debt to the community. A debt that is incurred from an action that is lawfully wrong. Justice is a fundamental virtue, and part of a system of virtues, that work to hold civilized societies together. Due to justice, we have peace in our communities.

Legal justice is a subset of an internal form of justice. Internally, justice is different. When we commit a wrongful act to another, a debt is incurred. This debt couriers itself as guilt, insuppressible guilt. Our heart betrays our minds ability to reason it away, and demands punishment in order to receive freedom. Justice is written on our hearts, and she serves as relief to our conscience when we have wronged another. Before justice is served the perpetrator wrestles their guilt, and zeal for life is lost. However, justice brings life. She is beautiful in the sense that when she is carried out she sets us free from our indebtedness; our debts to one another as well as our debts to society. Due to justice, we are able to have peace in our hearts.

“They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.” -Romans 2:15

This reflects the widespread belief held by Christians that Jesus came and justice was served at the cross. Justice that no longer has to be served by us, for eternal life with God. Other religions claim that if one chooses to live a moral life they are welcome to heaven. Christianity is different in that it says, people are born sinful and must accept Jesus, as willfully having accepted the consequences of their sinful behavior for them, in order for a Holy God to re-commune with them, despite their imperfections. Jesus’s recorded life teaches us how to live, and He extended the invitation to each of us to accept Him as serving the ultimate sentence, to set our souls and hearts eternally free. All justice was served at the cross, and through Jesus one can live a life of freedom. Due to the life baring fruit of justice, our souls have peace.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” -Matthew 11:28

The cycle of sin and redemption is: We make a mistake. In that moment the consequences are incurred. Before justice is served the wrongdoer is held captive by fear and guilt. While justice is being served we experience shame and inadequacy. Afterwards life is born, and freedom is reached. Our hearts long for the freedom born through justice, regardless of how we reason.

In every direction I look, whether backwards or forwards, I can praise God for justice.


“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” -Hebrews 12:11
“Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.”

-Revelation 3:19

Reflective Reading

Stress

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A six letter word we can all agree we don’t like, stress. This past week, I’ve been working toward wrapping up classes. I have three projects, 2 major projects, I’m juggling at work, and before any of that I am a wife and a mom. Stress is an understatement, if I don’t focus on managing it.

I believe to manage stress well we must understand the root causes of it, so for myself and my reader here is a tid-bit of information on stress that can help us manage.

Dr Karl Albrecht defined 4 common types of stress in his book “Stress and the Manager” and how to manage them. The 4 types of stress are:

Time stress is experienced when you worry about time or the lack of it.

Time stress can be significantly reduced when a person has good time management skills. Prioritizing a workload and creating to-do lists are essential to juggling any load, whether at work or at home. Another way time stress can be reduced is by using time wisely throughout the day and maximizing its potential. Being organized and maintaining a schedule  to ensure top priority work is being completed during your peak hours, which will vary based on whether you are predominately a morning or night person, will reduce the amount of stress induced by time constraints. Lastly, get enough sleep and don’t over commit yourself. Learning how to say “no” respectfully will help you reduce time stress.

When are you most productive?

Anticipatory stress is experienced when someone is concerned for the future.

Anticipatory stress can be reduced through visualizing the event positively. Anticipatory stress sometimes is a result of the fear of failure. To overcome this fear you can analyze all possible outcomes and plan for the possibility of all. This preparation will give you a greater sense of control over the situation. Another way to overcome anticipatory stress is through meditating on the here and now instead of the future. Also, accept that you are limited in what you can control.

Situational stress is when you are in a situation you have no control over.

Situational stress can be reduced by being self-aware. Being able to identify when you are in a situation that is causing tension or pressure by the signals your body, mind, and emotions are sending you, can help you understand that you need to react. How you react will depend mostly on the situation. Whether you choose to withdraw and remove yourself completely or manage a conflict, you’ll need to be quick on your feet to deal with this stress appropriately.

Encounter stress is when you worry about interacting with certain people.

Empathy is a great characteristic that can assist you in dealing with this type of stress, because it allows you to see the situation for the others persons point of view. Also , relaxation techniques that help slow down your heart rate like breathing exercises, mediation, practicing visualization, and exercising regularly can also help reduce encounter stress.

And don’t forget throughout every stressful situation always, always, keep your sense of humor.