Have you ever wondered just how far an obsession can go? I mean you hear about stories where a kid is so obsessed with drinking water that he goes to drastic measure to get his hands on it. Like drinking it out of the toilet bowl. Or what about being so concerned with your weight that you starve yourself! Or so obsessed with your looks you get plastic surgery.
Does any of this ringing a bell?
Our culture is so OBSESSED with looks, and weight and style, and reputation, that we don't realize we're making the worst impression on the only one we should care for the opinion of the most.
I've heard over and over again that so many non-believers hate christians because they've been so hurt by them. Stabbed in the back, turned against by the church, blah blah blah. I'm not saying they're right, and their is always two sides to every story, BUT what have we made of ourselves when we hurl insults at those who do not know Christ, and bad mouth those who do!? We are only making a reputation for ourselves that God would have nothing to do with.
There's this story in Matthew, about Jesus sitting down to eat with tax collectors and sinners along with his disciples. And some Pharisees come along and see this and ask Jesus' disciples why their teacher is eating with those kinds of people. Jesus hears this and reply's "It is not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick."
Is it not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick
I love this story. Yet sadly i have to report that i am one of those sick people Jesus came to save. I wish i was healthy as a bee (the coffee's probably not helping that much) but I'm not.
I struggle with wanting to be appear perfect. A clean house, a skinny waist, great hair, and OHHH how i wish.......a pimple free face!
Am i obsessed with reputation? Am i obsessed with perfection? How far would i be willing to go for my obsessions?
A couple years back, i was talking to one of my best friends, cat, on the phone. We were chatting about beauty, and the typical "want" of a young girl our age (popularity) for quite awhile when i all of a sudden exclaimed "I just wish i was Perfect!!" Cat paused for a second and asked me. "Who is the most perfect you can think of then?"
"What?"
"I mean who is the most perfect person that every walked the face of the earth?"
"Jesus" i stammered
"Then if Jesus is and has been the only perfect person in the whole world, and you want to be PERFECT, you need to be more like Jesus."
That life lessons has never left me. I bring it up, chew on it and tell myself again and again. Be like Jesus. A very hard, and daunting task. Not easy, and even painful at times, but a reputation worth obsessing about. If i could be so obsessed with being like Christ (in a healthy way of course) could i then help save those sick? Could i touch a life, or encourage a child. Could God use ME?
Reminds me of a podcast i heard once that said being a Christian is a lot like playing one of Mozart's most difficult musical pieces. We suck at it, and we slaughter it, and those listening (those watching) say "I HATE MOZART, HE CAN'T WRITE MUSIC AT ALL" but in reality, what mozart wrote was beautiful. It was flawless, and perfect. It was the student that could not play it well. In parallel, us 'christians' try to be like christ, but often we fail. And others blame what they see in us as what Jesus must be. We've given Him a bad rep.
So if i have to, i'll die trying to be committed to Christ. I'll die trying to help those who are sick, and need Him. I'll die from too much coffee in my attempt to get one more person to meet with me, so i can tell them about God.
Cause like the old saying goes...."Practice makes Perfect!"
~The Warrior and the Wife~
These are some awesome thoughts Shelley!! You have a way with words girl! Thank you!!
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