This Thanksgiving, our timelines were covered with dub challenges -- an old and recent picture of yourself juxtaposed to show how much you've "glo'n up" since grade school. The ugly years (then) vs. the pretty years (now).
While I honestly thought these were gold -- won't He do it! Lord knows I've been through my ugly stage -- I thought about what this means in terms of our spiritual glo up... or have we had one? Fall 2012, I was a naive freshman on the University of South Carolina's campus. I liked to hangout with my new friends. I liked to drink and party and smoke. I liked to kiss every cute boy who came my way. I liked to gossip with my friends (that's a whole 'nother blog post). I also had suicidal thoughts. I also suffered from anxiety so severe it would cause me intense stomach pain. I also used to obsess over my weight and body image so much I'd just stop eating if I thought I was getting too big. But in January 2013, I rededicated my life to Christ one Sunday evening after getting off work at Hollister and heading to my home church for evening service. The same church I'd been attending since I was 3 years old. The thing about your relationship with Christ is that it's not real until it's just you and Him. It's not real until you get to your wits end and are SO unhappy about life and your decisions and your situation that you can't do anything else but seek His face. No one can build your relationship with Christ but you. That's a deep COVENANT between you and God that no one can touch or interfere with. Fall 2016 looks A LOT different. I seek God in every aspect of my life, making Him the center of my life and not just a priority. I have a job I love and one in which I believe I'm doing God's work. I have a God-fearing, loving boyfriend who sets up physical boundaries FOR US. I have great mental health. I have friends who challenge me to be more like Christ. And, with God's guidance, I'm finally walking in my purpose and using my spiritual gifts by collaborating with my good friend in creating this blog. God is SO GOOD! Y'all - you can't compare your life to others' lives. You can't compare your glo up to others' glo ups. You can't compare your relationship with Christ to others' relationship with Christ. In Ephesians 4:22-24, the Bible says when we put off our former selves, when we die to our old ways, we are made new in the attitude of our minds. When we remove ourselves from lives corrupted by deceitful desires, we are new and created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Talk about refreshing! A concept noted in both Mark (chapters 9 and 2) and Luke (chapter 5) is that, back in the day, people didn't pour old wine into new wineskins. The reason behind that was because the new wine would not only burst the wineskin, creating a mess, but it would also ruin the new wine because it was mixed with the old wine. As Believers who are born again in Christ, we can't mix our past ways and our new selves. We can't live according to the flesh when we're trying to be made new in the Spirit. All it does is create in us a HOT MESS of a life and ruin our future selves. And just like wine, which is said to get better with age, our souls are supposed to get better with age as they are continously pruned by God. One time for the wine analogy. So, how do we do this aforementioned spiritual glo up? How do we have a better understanding of who God wants us to be, in Him? The more you press into God, the more you'll see yourself for who you are. You'll see you still need to work on denying your flesh (me). You'll see you still need to take better care of your body, working out and eating better (also me). You'll see you still need to work on being the friend, sister, daughter, coworker God is calling you to be (meeeee). But the best part about all of this is that you can see the growth you've had from where you were a month ago, a year ago, four years ago. You can see the growth you've had since you rededicated your life to Christ and surrendered it ALL (yes, all) to Him. Now that's how you win a dub challenge. Prayer: Father God, first off - thank you so much for saving me from my old self! Through your Son Jesus Christ, my Savior, I am made NEW! Please show me ways in which I can die to my flesh and live according to Your spirit. Please guide me in Your ways so that I can show others Your goodness. I know my body and my life are not my own - please lead me in my purpose and show me how to live the life You're calling me to live. I desire to know you more and more each day and spiritually mature in You. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. - L
1 Comment
Alexis Coleman
12/3/2016 12:13:42 pm
I enjoyed reading your blog and it's so great to see how God is using you and your story to spread his word!
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