It's Hard Being a Christian... (But It's Worth It)

I’ll let you guys in on a little secret: It’s hard being a Christian at a secular college.

There, I said it. My goal is to be in this world, but not of it. But sometimes that's really hard when I'm constantly surrounded by the things of this world. It's not even that I'm tempted to participate in any of this world's actions, especially on a college campus. I've been there, done that, and it's just not worth it. No, it's more that I get offended just by sitting in a classroom and listening to conversation (or professors). But a spirit of offense is not from God, and I have to remember that when I do feel angry or upset.

Here's something you all need to know: Whether you're a Christian on a secular campus, like me, or in a broad sense, a Christian in this secular world, your faith will be offensive and offended. Sometimes nonbelievers don't like Christians talking about their faith. That's okay, because I'm still going to live out my faith, even if it's with actions instead of words. You being a Christian may be offensive to some people, but that's not your problem.

See, it's the same concept as "No one can upset you unless you let them." No one can offend you unless you let them. Therefore, when you offend people by showing the love of Jesus in your life, it is their choice to be offended. They could choose to ignore you, but instead, they choose to be offended. But you shouldn't be offended by their offense. In fact, you should probably be excited, because you just planted or watered a seed in their lives.

Being a Christian in a secular world also means that you will be offended. In fact, I was offended earlier today when a guy in my class used my Lord's name in vain and dropped a curse word (the F one) like it was no big deal. But, after thinking about it, I chose not to be offended. Does it upset me? Absolutely. But should I be offended? I don't think so.

His choice of language upset me, but it did not physically hurt me. It did not change the fact that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that He lives in my heart. It did not change the fact that God forgave me of my horrible sins and loves me as His child. It did not change the fact that I'm a Christian. Instead, it strengthened my faith.

When you find yourself becoming offended, upset, frustrated, or angry with someone who is directly or indirectly attacking your faith, channel those emotions into something good. Use that opportunity to show that person the love of Jesus. Plant and water a seed. You'll both be better off for it. Just as people can choose to be offended by your faith, you can choose not to be offended by their lack of.

Remember, though, that this does not mean we as Christians walk around this world with a "holier-than-thou" attitude. Being humble is key. How can we show Christ's love if we're too busy believing we're better than others?

The fact of the matter is, Jesus loves everyone, and He commands us to love all as well (even when we're offended). I'm going to start giving that a try, how about you?


Blessings,
n.

Focusing on God

My boyfriend recently posted a tweet that was so great, I had to retweet it AND favorite it. It said, "Today I choose to focus on the love of God rather than the works of the enemy."

That is FANTASTIC advice and also a great mindset to have when starting out our days! I'll be the first to admit, though, that I don't always have that kind of mindset, especially when something is really bothering me that day.

Sometimes I buy into the myth that it is so much easier to focus on the negatives than the positives. I feel sorry for myself, I'm upset, frustrated, sad, or angry, and sometimes I even just mope around (and complain...gross). But is it really easier to focus on the negatives?

Focusing on the negatives doesn't bring anything positive into your life. It attracts all kinds of other negatives. Suddenly it's not just the one thing that is bothering you, but all sorts of little things (and sometimes big things) bother you. I find that when I focus on the negatives in my life, I feel like I'm in a pit and can't climb my way out of it. (And believe me, pits are not fun to be in.) I feel a little, well...suffocated.

The Bible says to think about good things, which, if I'm correct, doesn't mean focusing on negatives. Philippians 4:8 says, "And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise." The last time I checked, none of the negative stuff in my life was ever excellent or worthy of praise.

Focusing on positives sometimes is easier said than done. Like I said, that whole pit thing...it can really feel like your whole day has turned to mush because of a few negatives. I've been dealing with that a lot recently, but my boyfriend has helped remind me that one negative does not equal an entire ruined day (sometimes I'm quite the drama queen). But he's right! One bad thing does not mean that the rest of your day can't be great.

I've been trying to remember that even if my day doesn't go how I want it to, it still goes how God has it planned. I have to take a deep breath and remember that I am exactly where God wants me to be, and there's a reason He has me where I am, doing what I'm doing. Instead of having a bad attitude about unpleasant things throughout my day, I am trying to have an open mind. I've been asking myself, "Why did I get upset over [insert whatever it was I got upset over]?" and "What can I learn from this?" I believe God can teach us great things through unpleasant times, if we allow our minds to be open to His teachings and hear what He has to say about it all.

If anyone else has been feeling discouraged recently, or just overwhelmed, stressed, or upset about things, remember that you are not alone, and that God is waiting for you to reach out to Him so He can comfort you and guide you.

I'm going to end with one of my favorite Bible verses: "I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33


Xoxo,
n.

Walking Away Isn't Always a Bad Thing

So, in honor of my last post, here is a blog post from Donald Miller that talks about walking away from people who aren’t good for you: What Jesus Taught Me About Walking Away From People.

I thought this might help anyone who may be now or in the future having some issues with walking away from people who don't benefit your life.

Enjoy :)

-n.

If It's Stopping You From Getting Closer to God, Part Two

It it’s stopping you from getting closer to God, it needs to go

Part 2

So it’s been a while since my last blog post, and I apologize greatly for this one taking so long to arrive. Here’s the deal: just when I decide I want to do something that takes time, my life gets busy. It’s unavoidable. But I’m still here, and so is this post. So let’s get to it!

Here’s a refresher of the main points of Part 1:

·      We wander off the path of our faith and think it’s acceptable to do so.

·      We toy with sin and think we’re having a great time.

·      There’s a lie floating around that you can sin and live for Jesus at the same time.

·      There’s a lie floating around that college is the one time period when it is acceptable to sin.

·      The enemy doesn’t care about you, but instead, uses guilt, shame, and doubt against you to try to weaken your relationship with Christ.

·      God shows us grace and mercy, regardless of whether we deserve it or not (we don’t, by the way).

I’ll let you in on a little secret: the reason why I know the things I do about wandering from God is because I wandered from God for 2 years, and believe me, they were horrible. Sure, I experienced great things during those 2 years, but when I look back on those years, I don’t remember very many great things. Instead, I remember how far I truly fell from God and my faith, and how much it not only hurt me (and believe me, IT HURT), but how much I hurt God in the process (which made me hurt even more).

Now that I am living out my relationship with Christ in my everyday life, I try to look back on my “wild days” and remember why I did the things I did. But the truth is, I don’t have any good excuses. I can’t remember what a valid reason was for a single thing I did that went against God or my beliefs. When I really get down to the nitty gritty of remembering those days, all I can remember is that I wasn’t where I should have been in my relationship with Jesus Christ, and I was using a lot of different sins as a way to try to make myself feel better.

We all want to be our own person. We all want to make a difference in the world. We all want to experience things we have never experienced before. And we’re also human, which makes us stubborn, which means that we won’t take anyone else’s opinion for truth until we ourselves have tried whatever it is we shouldn’t be trying.

Give yourself a break and skip all the heartache. If there is anything, and I mean ANYTHING, that is standing between you and God, step back and ask yourself: “Why?” Why is it between God and me? Why is it so important to me? Can I live without it? Is it benefitting my life? Is it benefitting my walk with Christ? Would my parents approve? Would my grandparents approve? And then ask yourself one serious, deep question: “Do I approve of the way I’m living?”

I personally know that it can be really hard to get rid of something or someone who is hindering your relationship with Christ. I had to get rid of a LOT of things (and people) when I came back to Jesus. Let me be the first one to tell you that the people you have to leave behind will not understand why you have to leave them behind. But if God truly is the only One you need, then you will be okay. I promise :)

Why don’t you take this time right now to write out a list of positive things in your life? Write down positive actions that you do, positive words that you say, things that you like and love about yourself. Now after you’ve done that, write out a list of negative things in your life. These can be emotions, material things, people, etc. It can be hard to come up with positive and negative things about yourself and about your life. If you need help, ask some family or friends, or whomever you trust to give you a loving, honest opinion about yourself. Now compare your lists. Which list is bigger?

If your negatives outweigh your positives, it’s time to decide what needs to go and what deserves to stay in your life. You can use some of the questions you asked yourself earlier: Why is it on my list? Why is it so important to me? Can I live without it? Is it benefitting my life? Is it benefitting my walk with Christ? Would my parents or grandparents approve? Do I approve of this negative thing being in my life?

Here’s the deal, though: If you ask yourself “Is it benefitting my walk with Christ?” and you answer no, then it needs to go. I don’t care what it is, why you have it, or how long you’ve had it, it’s time to say goodbye and send it on its way. Believe me, this is NOT always easy. But I can guarantee that it will be worth it. Jesus wants to be in your life whether you’re sinning or not, but He also wants to help you rid yourself of sin. Don’t be afraid to seek His advice and ask Him for help when it’s time to get rid of negatives in your life. He doesn’t disappoint :)

I hope this has helped. Remember 1 Corinthians 15:57: “But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Xoxo,

n.

If It's Stopping You From Getting Closer to God, Part One

If it’s stopping you from getting closer to God, it needs to go

Part 1

“Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.”

-1 John 2:15-17 NLT

Wow. What a handful of words all strung together to make a big blob of powerful paragraph. But really, what does this passage of Scripture mean to you? To me, it is saying, “The things of the world are not worth it. Don’t give in. Love your Father and what He has to give instead.” Pretty clear, huh?

Then why is it that we “wander off the path” and stray from our faith in order to try out new worldly things? I can tell you first hand that leaving your faith behind is not worth it. Trying out worldly things is not worth it. Yes, whatever cravings you are satisfying may seem worth it while you are doing them, but are they really worth giving up your personal relationship with Jesus Christ?

“Oh Nicole, you don’t understand. You’re being extreme. I can still do [insert worldly sinful desire] and still love God. I can still go to church and be a good Christian.”

Oh, but I DO understand, all too well. Here’s a little background for you: I grew up in a Christian family. We went to church, read the Bible, prayed before meals and before bedtime. I had a good relationship with Jesus. Then along came college. And suddenly, before I knew it, yours truly was giving in to the lie that “It’s okay to do bad things. You’re in college. This is the time of your life that it’s most acceptable to do these things. If you don’t do them now, when will you?” (P.S. I was also still attending church every once in a while.)

DO. NOT. BUY. INTO. THIS. LIE.

I don’t care if it’s college pressure, alcohol, drugs, partying, hooking up, money hungry, jealousy obsessed, etc. It is not worth it. It will never be worth it. You may have fun for a while, but in the end, it will drag you down.

That’s the funny thing about the enemy: he will entice you with all kinds of “forbiddens,” but after you’ve tried them all out, he will use your weaknesses against you. He will not feel sorry for you. No, instead, he will use guilt, shame, doubt, all against you.

But then enters the beauty of grace and mercy. Grace is “the free and unmerited favor of God.” Mercy is “compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm.” (Thanks, laptop dictionary!)

God’s grace and mercy: the perfect ingredients to equal a recipe of love after repentance.

Don’t forget that God loves you regardless of what you’re doing, but it does break His heart when you do things that go against Him.

Well, this is all for now. This is just an introductory post about my topic of “If it’s stopping you from getting closer to God, it needs to go.” Hope it gives you some food for thought, and have a wonderful day/evening/life :)

Xoxo,

n.

Keep Waiting!

I promise my blog series is coming! I'm working on "If It's Stopping You From Getting Closer to God, It Needs To Go" but I am also a busy girl!

For instance, enrollment for spring semester was today at 5 AM. I waited for 40 minutes for one page to load. It didn't. I finally was able to enroll at 8 AM. So there's a little snippet of what's been going on in my life recently! :)

Anyway keep your eyes out for Part 1 to HOPEFULLY show up within the next week!


Xoxo,
n.

Short But Sweet :)

The title basically describes me...haha no but really, this post will be very brief, but informative-ish!

So I just wanted to post a little posty post here and let you all know what's coming soon! I'm going to do a blog on "If it's stopping you from getting closer to God, it needs to go." Anything that hinders your relationship with Christ is a no-no!

And I know this because I had to cut a lot out of my life once I rededicated my life to Christ back in January. It was rough, but necessary, and definitely has paid off! Believe me, once you get rid of the bad and fully focus your life on Christ, you will be amazed at the results. His love is so magnificent!

Sooo anyway, stay tuned! I'd like to post within the next few days about this topic, but since my life has decided to go and get all busy recently, it may be closer to a week-ish. Sowwy. It will happen though! :)

Xoxo,
n.