Tolerate

I'm feeling a little inspired to blog after catching up on my list of blogs that I read semi-regularly. Some are funny, some are boring, some have pictures & some I try to read but just can't seem to get into. You may feel that way with mine. It's okay. This is my journal. Feel free to read as you choose.

So first off, I am super-duper excited that I have re-figured out how to add my own background to my blog again. (This will lead to my post. I promise.) I've spent more hours than I should looking for freebie digital stuff to download (and have found a great new one BTW... click here) and then coming up with new design templates to use for every month through, like, summer. Regardless of the fact that I stay up way too late working on this (because I like it... a lot) and therefore have a lack of good rest each night...I tolerate no sleep, but do not tolerate a blog designed by someone other than me.

Secondly, I just took down my Christmas decorations this week. Still haven't taken the ones outside off the front porch. Because it's cold. Doesn't matter that we are well past new years & I still have red bows, garland & snowflake lights hanging from the banisters.... I tolerate this because I don't see it except when I pull into my driveway each day. Outta site. Outta mind. Sort of.

Thirdly, I've been thinking a lot about what I tolerate. Hence the post. My Sunday School teacher made this statement last week. "What you tolerate, you will never change." Okay. Good statement. Hmmm... makes you think. Done thinking about it. Wednesday night one of my friends re-stated it again as part of her devotion during praise & worship practice. Okay. Thinking. Thinking. Maybe I should re-visit that statement again. Wednesday night... thinking about it. All day Thursday... thinking about it. Friday afternoon... still thinking about it as I'm writing this post.

I can think of a whole list of things that I tolerate but shouldn't. We tolerate our lives as Christians as long as we are doing the good deeds we feel that make us, well...Christian. Most of the time we really don't sell ourselves out to be who God has fully called us to be because we can tolerate what is going on around us. I'm fine with doing my Bible study on a semi-regular basis. I'm fine with going to church each Sunday & singing on the praise team. I'm fine with volunteering & helping out at the church when I can. I'm fine with leading a small group each Sunday night. Don't get me wrong. I love doing these things & being a part of the church & feeling like I'm part of something greater than myself (part of our church motto). I know that God calls me to be a part of these things. But I'm also learning more & more that it's not about me and the things that I do. It's about HIM and my relationship with HIM.

Our pastor started a sermon series this month that is talking about being politically correct vs. biblically correct. He asked the question "What are we investing in our lives?" Our childrens lives? We've become a nation that is so tolerant of not disturbing anyone or their beliefs that we've let that intercede into our personal lives & relationship with Christ.

"Do not be mislead- you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant." Galatians 6:7

Gosh. Makes me think about what I am planting in my own life... my children's lives, my friends lives. Being a Christian in today's culture has become easy because we've let it. We tolerate way too much & accept that it's okay because we don't want to hurt anyone's feelings or step on any toes. What we do is settle. I should not tolerate my half-hearted efforts to love Christ. This is going to sound stupid, but I want to crave God like I crave wanting to play Guitar Hero each night. Why do I get so excited about a silly video game? It's new, it's fun... it's challenging. Why shouldn't I think that my relationship with Christ can't be that way as well? If I dig into the Bible & seek what God really has for me, then it can be new, fun and most certainly challenging as well. So why do I tolerate my "less than" efforts? I don't know. I'll blame it on my humanness because that's what we tend to do. But since it's a new year and a new start, I'm going to try my hardest to evaluate that question everyday on all levels of my life. I'm not going to say its a new years resolution (because I never stick with those) but rather a new years question.