A great Instagram post from my sis.. Check her instagram out!!! @mulato25
Expect to receive some encouragement and inspiration from her posts :)
I am in love..and still falling at this point. I am falling in love with Christ, our Lord and savior. One thing I like to say in my profiles or info is that I am enjoying God. Many may not understand this. The thing is, it seems that many people around my age look down upon Christianity. The Christian lifestyle is looked at as being boring, bias, closeminded, and unrealistic. Well, there is so much more to what we may be used to or what we see. Being a Christian is more than just following a bunch of rules. God wants a relationship with us. He wants us to enjoy him and the life he has planned for us to live. This in itself amazes me. And the thing is, that as young Christians, we have to be more bold in this!
I always wonder this: as much as we
can talk about our new boo or that crush of ours..Why does the topic of being a
Christian and having a relationship with God get placed on the back burner of
our conversations?? Why when I talk to friends about what a group of us are
doing over the weekend (when it doesn’t involve drinking, partying, or
something similar) is it almost looked at as a joke? Why do I even find myself
sometimes holding back when feeling like I need to be “respectful” of others
when I’m inclined to bring up my relationship with God, salvation, or the word
of God? OR let’s be honest, my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, why do we
even feel a bit embarrassed to speak of anything involving God??
In my first blog, I spoke about
salvation; accepting God into your life NOW rather than waiting for that
“perfect” time. (Check it out if you haven’t already!) This is the first step
in starting fresh. You now have a clean slate in this new relationship with our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ..with God, our creator..and with the Holy Spirit,
the one that was sent to live in us to comfort, renew, and guide us after Jesus
Christ’s resurrection. Once this is done
it’s easy to feel stuck in a sense. You wonder where to start reading in your
bible (if you haven’t already been reading), what to do next to help the Body
of Christ (if you have a church home, want to be apart of a ministry, etc),
and/or how to live right (change your old ways-even the ones that seem to be
so difficult to let go of). These are just a few questions and concerns out of
sooooo many others. But I am saying this to continue on from where I began. At
this point in your walk, on the new journey you have set on, one thing
holds..you are a new creature, a new creation. With this being said, it is okay
to share the Good News with others. Especially, the news of how your experience
was when making this decision to accept Jesus Christ into your life
wholeheartedly. When you make this life change, it is okay to be happy! It is
okay to talk about God and what he has done for you. It’s okay to share his
word and your excitement of it all! I had to realize this and I am still a
work-in-progress! I say it’s okay, because think about it: it’s just like when
there is that new guy or girl in your life and EVERYTHING you talk about seems to
include him or her now. There is no problem with being that excited about your
relationship with God. Your new love!!
I would find myself even posting
facebook statuses about my "newfound" love..for example, one status I posted was
“Falling, head over heels, falling in love with you..”something of that sort.
And boy, did I get questioned! Haha! Some people thought I was talking about a
guy at the time. Well, I was! I was talking about Jesus! J I can say at that
point in my life I was learning more in depth to love him, learning to enjoy
him, just beginning to truly understand his love for me. What is there to be
embarrassed about? Why can’t we express our excitement and love for him? No
doubt, it’s a great thing to share the word of God! That’s well-needed!! But
I’ll tell you this much..expressing your true feelings about God and how much
joy he has brought you, how much peace he has blessed you with, how much love
he has for all of us..this can help a person just as much as the word itself.
This is your testimony! Many of us have been through enough years of misunderstanding
what this thing is really about. Christ wants a relationship with us!!! That’s
it!! Everything else falls into place honestly. We just have to be open to him-FULLY. God wants his own individual
relationship with each and every one of us.
So, with that being said, in this
relationship we can and should share! It doesn’t have to be shared strictly
amongst our Christian friends. We can be just as open to share with others (even
with those who may not understand). I am still learning to be more open and
BOLD..It’s a daily thing for me. I’m still learning and being renewed. This never stops, as you continue to seek God. But yes, once we give
our lives to Christ we are looked at as his disciples. We need to bring more
people in! We are on the winning team you guys! We are a family..a body..the Body
of Christ. There is something to be joyous about! We need others to learn about
how great this relationship and walk really is. And yea, this even includes telling
the truth (about the struggles that still come and the pain that still arises),
but living this life is more than just reciting scripture and following rules
and guidelines. People need to know about your relationship with God and how much
of a change it has made in your life!
There is nothing to be ashamed of.
I don’t care how young you are! The joy and peace that God brings in your life
can be brought up in conversation just as much as anything else is. We are called to
be bold you guys! This is a lifestyle. We can live it and share it. Sharing
with others can have great effects! Through this, all of the negative connotations
some people have about Christians may begin to die. Especially when it comes to
those in the younger generations. We, as younger Christians, have to be more
bold about this thing! You’ll be surprised how many brothers and sisters you
may find you can relate to, if you open up a little bit more. This is nothing
to hide. And like I already said, I am speaking to myself through this blog
also. J People
of the world are so open with what they do, how they live, why they do it! We
are called to be the salt of the earth! Let’s become SALTY CHRISTIANS; those
with much flavor! God is awesome! This “walk” is awesome! Let’s be real with
people and stop hiding our light! It’s going to shine any way, so let’s stop attempting to cover it by trying to “blend” in. As corney as it may sound, being a
Christian can be cool too. Seriously. The realer we are about this, the more open others
may become. We’ll hear people saying things like, “Wow, she can do this so I
know for sure I can do it too.”
I love you. God loves you.
Be Blessed <3
~Colossians 3:3-4 says, “For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.”
~Colossians 3:10-11 Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your creator and become like him. In this new life it doesn’t matter if you are Jew or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.”
I love you. God loves you.
Be Blessed <3
