Getting used to it

"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" 1 Corinthians 6:19

So I'm vegetarian. I made this choice about two or so years ago, and that in itself was difficult enough (I very much enjoyed eating chicken). Being vegetarian certainly makes life more difficult at times. Especially when it comes to eating any place other than at home. So why do it? All in the name of health! When people ask me why I'm a vegetarian I always have a little bit of a problem...I never quite know what to say. It's always a case of how do I explain it? Do I tell them about the health message? Do I mention the whole "we won't be eating chicken in heaven thing"? Do I go down the meat eating + disease route? But when I think about it now, the answer is simple! It's that my body is God's temple. It isn't mine. I was bought with a price and therefore, I am to do the best I can to look after myself! Though my decision wasn't initially based on this fact, when I think about it now, it's so very obvious! Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying people have to be vegetarian to take care of what God has given them. Let's face it, health conscious meat-eaters are probably healthier than the not so health-conscious vegetarians out there. The mere fact of being vegetarian doesn't automatically make us healthy. Neither am I saying that I've arrived. If I were a superhero, I wouldn't be superhealthyvegetariangirl! But I'm working on it, and the point is that fact that my body is the temple of God should re-arrange my thought processes. And it isn't just about being veggie. It's about all the things we put into our bodies, the way we take care of ourselves, our behaviour, the way we dress. Do these things reflect that we belong to God? Or do we just look like every other person out there who doesn't know what they're worth in God's eyes? I once heard someone talking about eating for God's glory. Sounds strange, yet it's right there in the Bible: "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31. That really hit home for me. Paul tells us that everything we do should be to glorify God. So we should eat, drink, walk, talk, dress, think, and so on for God's glory. That's some heavy stuff isn't it! So where does that leave me? Second guessing everything I do. Struggling, forgetting, regretting, falling, not quite making it, asking for forgiveness and trying again. In short, I'm getting used to it. After all, if a just man falls seven times, where does that leave me? Fortunately, God reminds us that though we fall, we shall not be utterly cast down because guess what?! God upholds us with HIS hand!! And that's good news to me! Once again, it's all relational. It's still just between us and God and the great thing about that is that in all things, He gives us the strength to overcome the temptations, to gain the victory in our struggles and reminds us that in Christ, we're more than conquerors. When we come to Him, He upholds us with His hand.


~Kiki Labelle: Getting used to it~

It's all relational!

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33

It's great in theory and I'm sure it's the principle that every Christian claims to live by. But what does it really mean? Total surrender. God first and only. I wonder, is that the reality that I live? Sad to say, the answer is no for a large majority of us. Sure, we say that we want God to be the centre of our lives and we even commit things to His care and allow Him to work things out on our behalf but when it comes to the really important stuff, we like to give Him a helping hand. A nudge in the right direction according to us. Which brings me to my point...relationships. I was listening to a presentation on this very subject. It said the first step to building a good relationship is having a good relationship with God! Surprise surprise! We all want to find that special someone. The person who makes us feel "whole" and "complete". The person who's able to "make us happy". We want to get married so we can be or become happy. Or at least that's what we're told we want. By subscribing so wholeheartedly to the world's messed up view of happiness and good relationships, we forget the a most important truth. Let's ask ourselves a few questions: Am I happy? Is my life complete? Can I truly say that I have achieved wholeness? If the answer to these questions is a resounding "no", then why would be think that we would be able to achieve with another person, who's probably in the same situation, what we can't achieve on our own? If we put two incomplete puzzles together, will they complete each other? If we "marry" two empty ketchup bottles, will they magically become full? Of course not. The reality is that so often, we try to fill the God-sized hole in our lives with other people who are inevitably trying to do the same thing and then we turn around and cry when the heartache comes and ask God why He allowed us to get hurt when things don't work out. So what's the solution to our problem? Matthew 6 explains it pretty simply, Seek God first! Sort out our own dysfunctional relationship with the only person who WILL love us unconditionally; the only person who's able to complete us and make us whole and happy all alone. And then, He'll give us the desires of our heart. Jesus created us and He knows that we're relational beings. He didn't intend for us to be alone. He told us that our Heavenly Father knows exactly what we need. All we have to do is leave it to Him!