Spiritual Pride

Doggone spiritual pride.

It gets people all the time. Sweeps them out from under their feet. What am I saying? Well, let me put it this way; I've got this incredible friend. Loves God with all her heart, gets excited about Him, buys new christian books to read all the time, heck; she always made me feel a little bad about myself. But then a leader told her to stop praying over students. (She was a leader). And she felt like they shouldn't tell her to not pray over the students. But I can understand where they're coming from, and the reason they said so at that time. Yet, she didn't like it, didn't agree, and went to have a meeting with the leaders. She still didn't feel right about it. Well, things changed. She began to complain a lot, and then someone told her she was being prideful. That she had spiritual pride. And we fall into this trap a lot. We want to be 'holier than thou', we want to do things our way. We become more like the Pharisees instead of more like Jesus. Well, this friend didn't ask for help in a desperately hopeless situation she was going through- because of spiritual pride. She thought she could control it all, handle it all herself, and that she wasn't doing anything wrong. Well, now she's pregnant. Now, I'm not judging her at all, because I was the first person there for her, the one who prayed with her, cried with her, sang to her, read scriptures to her about forgiveness.. But she was too prideful to ask for help in her situation with a certain person, and soon things were out of control. She had told me months before this happened that God told her that her ministry couldn't go on until she got this person out of her life, and I told her I agreed. But when I brought that up to her recently, she said things were different now. God doesn't change. And we weren't put here to live our lives alone, struggling, with spiritual pride not daring to ask for help. We're to be united. To share in our struggles. There is no one perfect, apart from Jesus. So if someone judges you for pouring your heart and your struggles out to them, they have bigger problems than you do. I guess what I'm saying is; don't let pride be your downfall. That's what got satan thrown out of heaven. I think pride is one of the sins I detest the most. And it's the source of most other sins. So anyways, if you're struggling talk to someone. It's so simple to avoid so many problems. No one is above temptation, and no one can live life alone. We need each other.

Sorry for the random jumbled post.

~Christina

Tattoos and piercings and the Bible.

Having tattoos or piercings is not a sin.
There, I said it folks. You may, or may not know a lot about me, but I'll tell you this. I have stretched earlobes, at this current date they are at a size 00g- which means I have big holes in my ears. I also have my nose pierced. Whether or not I will get more piercings is undecided. As for tattoos, I don't have one-yet. I want a few tattoos. But to honor my parents, since I can't afford to move out yet and they don't like tattoos- I'm waiting. Now, you may be someone who's going to argue back at me with this scripture: ""You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the LORD." Leviticus 19:28. Yet, do you know the context of this verse? When they tattooed themselves in those days, they would tattoo varies gods onto their bodies. It was against God, for it was honoring other gods above Him. They would get tattoos to honor the dead. Other than that, the Bible says nothing more about tattoos. And piercings- in those days when women got married, they would get their nose pierced. So, I think that clears it up pretty well. As long as the tattoo isn't of something that goes against God, then I believe it's okay. And if the tattoo has something to do with God- even better. A way to witness. We're not defined by what we do- so we aren't defined by our tattoos or piercings. We're who God says we are, regardless. Piercings or not, we're still who God made us.

The Purity Ring

Here's another blog I'm adding onto my account. Why?

Just for this purpose; to rant about religion. Or rather, not religion..

Considering I believe in a relationship with God and not religion,

But you get the idea I'm sure. I'm going to be brutally honest,

and say all those things that nobody wants to say. So, lets do this

thingy.

A few years ago, (I forget the exact date, but I'm sure it was 5 years or

so in the month of May) I went through a purity series at a church, I won't

name said church, and I will keep all names and characters in this story

anonymous. Because publicly humiliating people is NOT what I'm intending

to do with this blog. Anyways, purity series. It lasted 4 weeks. It was slightly

awkward, especially with all the snickering, young teenagers. We all learned

a lot needless to say. We learned about sex, and God's view on it, and to imagine

our pastors face peeking in the window when things are getting "hot and heavy".

Which is hilarious, because the pastor of that church was such an awkward,

innocent guy. So yes, there's that. At the end of the series, we all received purity

rings. I was thrilled, and flaunted mine everywhere I went. Years went by, and

I still wore it. And one day September 2010, I lost it beneath the Raptor rollercoaster

at cedar point. I later realized it, and was devastated. I promised myself that I would

soon get another one. I ran into some people who had been in the class with me, and

added their facebooks. Summer of 2011, at Alive festival, I bought a new purity ring

and still wear it to this day. But I've discovered that I'm one of the 5 or so that were

in that class that is still pure. And it blows my mind. We all left that series so inspired,

so ready to wait for our future spouses, yet so many failed. And the reason why is

beyond me. The temporary is always tempting, but in the end it's never rewarding.

I sometimes wonder about those in the class who gave up their virginity, if they regret

it. Or if they just treat it like it doesn't matter. Maybe they aren't following God

anymore. I don't know, it's not my place to judge their motives. But it's just been on

my mind. I don't know what point I'm trying to make with this post. It's just a rant

I guess. Purity is worth protecting, and so many don't get it. God isn't trying to hold

something back from you, He's trying to give you one of the most precious and beautiful

gifts He can. It'll be worth the wait.

~Ms. Conduit