In the last blog post (Part 1) was mostly about friendships. In this post, I want to talk about relationships and changes that you go through.
2 Corinthians 6:14 – Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?
When you are looking for someone to date. You should always find people with the same beliefs. You have to have the foundation the same or over the long haul it isn’t going to work.
I know people who date just to date but that is usually flawed because many who do that end up dating people that they know in their hearts they would never marry because they lower the standards since they are only dating and having fun.
Here is the problem with that before you know it you have fallen for that person. Now what? What if they don’t believe in God? What if they are of a different belief or religion? If so then how will you raise your kids? Whose religion is then right in the kids’ eyes?
He or she sees mommy and daddy fight over whose church they are going to. All he or she knows now is God must be bad because this issue is causing so many fights.
Then the kid grows up not believing and you could have solved all of this right from the beginning by only dating people with your foundation. This is a price to pay but it’s a price that is worth it in the long run. Never give in on this price.
Also, as you start getting closer to God you start to feel the drinking and everything you do just doesn’t feel right. That is God nudging you. Am I saying you have to change? No, that is between you and God but from what I understand if you don’t change then just maybe you never fully accepted Christ into your life.
You start giving up stuff. What you used to do just doesn’t interest you anymore.
You also pay a price because you give up your past. This is the hardest one for most people. We all have done things we wish we would have not but it is what it is. It is our past. We can’t change it but we don’t have to repeat it. Our past will always be there but we need to give up on dwelling on what we did or didn’t do.
We learn that we aren’t supposed to fear the future and need to live in the present. Many people have so many fears and it keeps them paralyzed for life. Don’t allow your fears to stop you. Your fear can become your biggest strength when you have fully accepted who Christ is.
We learn that our doubts can haunt us. As you read the bible you start thinking WOW, the faith of some of these people is so strong how can a wimpy person like me ever come close to them. Guess what? You don’t have to. We don’t have to be anyone else except the person God called us to be. Never let who you think you are stop you from becoming who God called you to be.
If we aren’t careful we will start to doubt even the existence of God. This is an easy road for people to go down because we look at the world through our own eyes and see all the bad but God is looking at the world through his eyes. Only he knows how all this turns out in our lives. Granted we should take comfort in knowing that in the end, Jesus WINS!
Are you ready to pay the price for living for Christ? It is a price that is so worth it. The peace that comes with it is second to none. I don’t care what you can buy nothing can buy your peace. You may think that money makes you feel peaceful but eventually the God of money takes over and you find out that even that has no peace behind it.
The only thing that can give us true peace that can last a lifetime is the peace of Christ within us. When we give up all these things and live for Christ something special comes over us and we have this peace within us even if on the outside our lives are falling apart.
God never said when you accept Christ into your life that your life becomes perfect because he knows that isn’t what will happen. He did say that no matter what comes your way he is right there with you through it all. That is where the peace comes, knowing that God is who he says he is and knowing that he is with you always.
Usually when we start walking in Christ fully that is when it seems that everything is falling apart. Satan knows he is losing you so he is going to try and make your life feel like heck in order to get your heart away from Christ. Don’t allow it to happen. Keep focused on Christ.
So the big question again is are you ready to fully serve Christ? Christ is looking for people who want to commit to living for him the rest of their lives. He realizes that we are all going to fall short from time to time but he is watching our hearts. Is your heart ready? Lets move forward in Christ and pay the full price for living righteously and watch what happens.
Ask Christ to come into your life or back into your life right now. Acknowledge that you have fallen and that you are a sinner. Ask for his forgiveness of your sins and for him to walk with you for the rest of your life.
Ask him to help guide you from this point and to nudge you when you need it. Ask him to bring people into your life that you can’t con. People who when they see you be less than you should be will call you out and help you get back on track.
We all need this kind of support. None of us can do this alone nor should we.
Be Inspired or Be Left Behind!
Chris Benton