My Thoughts on Love

Everyone has a desire in their heart to be loved. That's not wrong, by any means, in fact, God is the one who put that desire in our hearts in the first place! He created us to have a perfect relationship with Him, where we fully love Him, and we can fully experience His love for us. However, man sinned. We broke the relationship. We will never be able to have that perfect relationship with God because of our sin, so we yearn for the closest thing to it that we know of, relationships with other people. But those relationships are also broken. Our world has changed the meaning of love, perverting it so that we don't understand what it really means.


What does our culture say that love is? I'm obviously not an expert or anything, but our culture seems to think that love, infatuation, and romance are interchangeable. We put such an emphasis on material things, trying to put a price on something that we will never obtain without a relationship with Christ. Love is a word that we use to describe our opinion of our family, friends, spouses, significant others, and pizza. Romance is what you use to show someone you love them, mostly things you buy, like roses or champagne. Infatuation is that ooey-gooey feeling that we get when we like someone, and our culture has said that all of these things equal real love. But that's not true. 


Infatuation is not the same as being in love. God holds love to a HIGH standard. It's not something to be used lightly. While infatuation can seem like the best thing in the world, love is what keeps a relationship solid through thick and thin, for better or for worse. This is a very important thing to understand. The dictionary defines infatuation as a "foolish or all-absorbing passion or an instance of this: a mere infatuation that will not last." synonymous with the words, "obsession, passion, and fascination." So...not something to last for better or for worse. Let me sum it up this way...infatuation is like a Hollywood movie romance. Boy and girl meet. Boy and girl are attracted to each other. Several days later boy and girl confess their love to each other and live happily ever after. Probably not going to happen after only knowing each other for a few days!! 


Love is God's way to do romance. And He even tells us exactly what love is. In 1 Corinthians 13, the apostle Paul writes; 

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 

Love never fails." Our world's definition of love definitely doesn't stand up to that definition. But I strive to have that kind of love for everyone I meet, and in God's perfect timing, he'll bring someone special into my life if that's His plan for my life. :)

What is modesty?

Modesty.


What is modesty? I've been wondering that a lot lately. If you look at the culture we live in, it seems that modesty is getting less and less important. Does that mean that we should lower our standards? After all, we'd still be way more modest than everyone else, even if we are a little bit on the edge right? I disagree. I think that we should not only be more modest than everyone else, we should be totally modest in everything we do. 


Don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying you have to wear ankle length khaki skirts and long sleeve button up shirts all the time. I'm just saying that we should be different from the world in how we dress. I found this great website called "The Rebelution," and it's got some really interesting stuff on it. The founders, (who are teenage guys,) made a modesty survey and thousands of guys ranging from 12-30ish years old took it. Check it out! 


http://www.therebelution.com/modestysurvey/


One of the things I thought was really interesting about this was the fact that they put a section on there about how girls act. I don't know about you, but I used to think that modesty only pertained to what I wore. After I read this I realized that what I say and do can be just as immodest as what I wear. I want to act in a way that reflects God, don't you? :)

What is beauty?

     What is beauty? Well, in order to be able to see what beauty is, the first thing we need to realize is that the definition of beauty varies depending on who you're talking to. Look around you. What does our culture tell us about beauty? Simply this. To be beautiful is to wear the right clothes, do your hair right, or have a cute boyfriend. Our culture perverts our view of beauty because of the huge amount of fluff that is put into our heads. Commercials, tv shows, movies, magazines, and sometimes books, all tell us the same thing. LOOKING beautiful is the only thing that matters. Even in fairy tales Prince Charming always falls in love with the princess because of her beauty.  Beauty is, to the world's opinion, all about your appearance. But what does God think about that?

    
 In Samuel the Bible says, (speaking of David, when people said he couldn't be king because he was small,) that "man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart." But how can our hearts be beautiful? In Proverbs 31 it says, "Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." God thinks that we are beautiful when we are truly following him, and making him the most important in our lives. 


    Maybe you've heard the saying "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder." Well, I have a question for you. Whose eyes are the most important to you? Is it your families? Is it your friends? Or is it God? God's eyes are the ones that matter the most. If we're beautiful in his eyes, then it shouldn't matter to us what others think. But that's easier to say then do. I want to fit in just as much as you do! But if that comes at the cost of giving up my Godly beauty, then I'd much rather stand out.