Where God's Word Meets Our Mess
What do we hope to gain by spending countless hours running, walking, weightlifting, and doing other exercises? What are we trying to achieve by sweating persistently, feeling utterly exhausted, and even permanently injuring our bodies? Are we truly trying to be healthy, (as we claim)? Or are our motives a bit messier than that?
As you probably know, getting drunk and doing drugs at work is unwise because you’ll get in trouble. They’re definite no-no’s, along with a host of other obvious no-nos, like stealing from your company and vandalizing your office. But there are two subtler no-nos that are rampant in the workplace today that may not get you fired but are still sinful in God’s eyes and have negative consequences.
I'd heard "Just the Way You Are" before, but I hadn't seen the music video for it until a classmate shared it in a presentation for class recently. At first, the lyrics made me feel good. The song made me think of similar songs, like the crazy popular hit “What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction. But then I understood the message that this song was sending—especially when it was combined with the music video.
In our culture, we place a lot of emphasis on our calendars—whether they're on our walls, our desks, or our phones. We don’t always evaluate our priorities and decide what should take precedence in our lives. Instead, we rush from one activity to the next. But we don’t often think about how God wants us to spend our time. Perhaps this is because we believe these two major lies about our schedules.
Of course, I know what the truth is. We are commanded to do everything for God’s glory (1 Corinthians 10:31). We are promised that any work we do for God is not ineffective (1 Corinthians 15:58). So why does our work still feel mundane and insignificant sometimes?
Though I may be the exception to the rule, I feel like females constantly worry about their size, starting with adolescence. Facing the mirror with joy (or even minimal satisfaction) is always a challenge. Rarely can a woman say that she loves what she sees. Even when I was underweight and at an unhealthy size as an anorexic, I didn’t like what I saw in the mirror.
That's why we need to be careful about what we choose to look at and listen to. Maybe we’re not affected by every word we hear and every image we see. But when we continually fill our minds with immoral things, they begin to corrupt the way we live. Through the renewal of our minds, however, God can transform us and help us live like Jesus.
As I get older, I realize more and more how much social media influences the culture. We've been consumed by Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and a myriad of other social media platforms. But we've also been consumed by the lies that they tell us—because they serve as a "shield" that many people use to hide their sins, struggles, and suffering.
We're quick to pull out our phones to check notifications, send messages, and scroll through social media. But are we quick to listen to other people when they speak up? Are we quick to reach out to people who are typically ignored by everyone else? Are we quick to build others up with our words and actions? Sadly, we're not.
Tizzie's Tidbits of Truth 