Walking with a limp...

All my life I've believed every word someone has said about me. Every small incident of picking, every joke, every rude comment I believed in some shape or form. Most of the time I would just brush those off and pretend it didn't bother me. I also believed every nice comment and every compliment I recieved. You might say that the first one is worse, but in my eyes, the second part has and haunts me to this day. I recently gave my testimony at a Young Life banquet, afterwards a lot of the  people in attendance and leaders there were talking about how awesome my testimony was and complimenting me and telling me I did a great job, pretty normal right? During that whole time every compliment I got was just building me up and setting a standard for myself that is impossible to reach. Within the next week I was tempted really heavily to return to my old ways. I looked at the standard I had of my self and crumbled. I layed in my bed for hours just feeling like I was worthless and I was a horrible Christian. After the temptation was gone the feelings persisted. I talked to a friend of mine and he blew my mind with some knowledge. The fact is if our lives were metaphorically demonstrated, before we met Christ we were dragging around a boulder of baggage behind us and it has caused us to limp. When we accepted Christ, He cut off the rope connecting us to the baggage. Yet alot of us are still limping. I was letting my old problems drag me down. I think the reason that God brings these things to our attention is because he doesn't want us to be weighed down by those problems anymore.

Loving well.

I have a feeling this blog is going to be alot about love, but to be honest, love is tossed around so many different ways that a correct representation is necessary. Love is such a vast and deep word. The dictionary has 27 different descriptions of love. It can be a noun verb or adjective and it can be a term of endearment. I never really undestood love until I became and follower of Christ. Before, I thought love was a temporary feeling between to people that could last longer for some, but some people lose it(divorce). It took people to pour their heart and soul into me for me to finally get it. Love is thirsting for someone, as if it can never be quenched. Love is the neverending desire for the person to succeed, and never giving up on them. To love is to not always to be loved backed. John 3:16 says "For God so LOVED the world..." God loved everyone before we loved him, God loves everyone even while living in sin. God thirsts for us, God wants nothing but for us to love him. This is crazy. Gods love for us is as vast and wide as the ocean. I think if we love in this very way, the world would be immeasurably differrent. If we consider this in loving our classmates, parents, neighbors, our community, or anyone, all of these things look very different but they are all rooted in the same thing love, and Gods love for us. It's so easy for us to forget how much God loves us. I once heard a man say Gods love overflows in us, we need to pour it into those around us. That is called loving well.

Taking a step back.

Oftentimes in life we can slip into the flow of the world. Running on the demands of our schedule and coffee, we lose focus on why we are here. Why are we in the spot we are? Every person has a purpose every single day. When we don't know what that purpose is or lose sight of what that is, we slip into the flow of the world. This is so easy for us to do. I found myself in that position tonight, I didn't know it but I had lost sight of my purpose at my high school. I went to the top of a big hill to look out upon the town and at the stars. It was so revealing to me when I noticed the little cars going 55 seemed to be going slow from afar. That's the way life is. When we take a step back, we realize that even though life can fly by when we're in the thick of it, it seems clear when we take a step back and evaluate things. I encourage you guys to take a step back  if everything seems to be going to fast.

Post One.(How creative, right?)

This isn't the start of anything big, if your looking for that go to CNN, they've got all of the headlines. I'm not going to blow your mind with sophisticated commentary either, cause' that ain't me. Understanding that this is going to be my thoughts typed out, get ready for something to not make sense or be really stupid, either way I don't care. I guess my first post should explain the title. Love Acts. Let's break it down shall we. Love--- I'm not talking about the way you love bean burritos, Taylor Lautner or your cat. Nor am I referencing your teenage BF/GF "love". I'm talking about someone you would lay your life down for. Someone that, because of your love of God and God's will for you to love them well, you would give them the shirt off your back and your pants (I'm not big on cliches). God calls us to love everyone in the same way he loves us. Acts--- acts in the sense of an action. You can't love someone by saying you would have after the fact(" I should've stopped them from picking on you"). Love is fearless, love doesn't care and cares too much at the same time. Love is for all. Love befriends and love uplifts. Love Acts.