God's warning against gossip

"Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene.  Among them are...[those] who have wandered away from the truth....and they destroy the faith of some. Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: 'The Lord knows those who are his,' and, 'Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.' In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will." 2 Timothy 2:16-17a, 18, 19-26

What's important to you?

"Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven."

Matthew 5:14-16, The Message

Look at your life. Can people tell what's important to you? Have you posted about God in your Facebook status? Do you "keep open house" about your faith?

I'm going to talk about bookshelves in this post (because I love books), but this applies to everything--your social network profiles, your blogs, your journals, everything.

Owning romance novels, "get-rich-quick" books, or other non-Bible books isn't bad by itself. My bookshelf reads like this: Girl to Grrrl Manga: How to Draw the Hottest Shoujo Manga, Country Gourmet, The One-Year Chronological Bible, In Search of Excellence, The Starbucks Experience, Succeed with Math, Learn French the BBC way, Pride and Prejudice. God wants us to explore and celebrate the world around us, and we can do that through secular books.

However, when you look at your bookshelf, you will see a reflection of yourself. Take a look at my above list. You can probably tell that I like to draw and cook, enjoy reading the Bible, study business techniques, work on math, learn French, and read Jane Austen books.

Now, let me give you a different list. Say you came to my house and saw that my bookshelf read like this: The Starbucks Experience, The Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting a Successful Business, How to Be a Teenage Millionare, Dave's Way--but there were no Bibles or devotionals that were easy to get to (pretend I had them all packed up in a box somewhere). Well, that says something else about my life, doesn't it? If that scenario were true, you could probably honestly say that my goal in life is financial success--it's what I worship.

You see, it's okay if you reflects your interests, but your life should always be centered around Jesus and reflect Him. I have an entire shelf-level of books dedicated to foreign language dictionaries, because I love to study foreign languages. That's an interest God gave me. Because it's important to me, I keep those books handy--right in my bedroom in a place where I can quickly get to them. However, my life goal isn't to learn the languages perfectly or fluently. That's a good goal, but it's not my #1 life goal.
Right next to my shelf of foreign language books I have a bookshelf I've dedicated to Bibles, devotionals, and Christian books. God is also important to me--much more important than foreign languages--so I make sure that those books that help me grow in my knowledge of Him are also readily available for consultation.

Like I said above, this concept doesn't just apply to bookshelves. The girls I know who shine brightly for Jesus are obvious Christians in every area of their lives. Those who are on Facebook just can't keep Him inside--they're so excited that they have to share Him in their statuses and posts! Those who blog, even just as personal blogs, write about His work in their lives. I know a girl who runs her own business. Almost every time I ask how her business is doing, she replies "It's going really well--God has really been blessing it!" Sometimes she tells me about what God is telling her about the business: things to change, areas to expand to, etc. Every time, though, it's about God.

Let me make one more comment: all of this should come naturally. When I think about how much God loves us, I can't help but want to share it with everyone I know. The girls I mentioned above would say the same thing.

I'm going to close by re-stating the Bible passage I started with. As you read it, ask God if there's any area of your life in which He'd like you to shine brighter or more obviously.

"Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven."

Matthew 5:14-16, The Message

Obeying Parents: What is respect?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mistermundo/ / CC BY 2.0

Obeying parents is a tough topic with several areas to cover. Today's post is about respect.

It's a term we hear all the time: respect. Respect me. Respect them. Respect your elders. Respect your teachers. Respect your sister. Respect their wishes. Respect their time. Respect your brother. Respect your friend. Respect your classmate. Respect your parents.

It's a word that we learn when we're young, but what does it really mean? We know that when someone says "respect," they basically want us to be nicer. But respect is so much more than that.

According to Dictionary.com, respect is "esteem for or a sense of the worth or excellence of a person, a personal quality or ability, or something considered as a manifestation of a personal quality or ability...deference to a right, privilege, privileged position, or someone or something considered to have certain rights or privileges; proper acceptance or courtesy; acknowledgment....to hold in esteem or honor."

Think of the most amazing, honorable person you know of. Maybe it's a movie star, a top designer, an American Idol winner, the Queen of England, or the President. Now, answer a few questions about that person:

How much would you pay to see that person? To have lunch with them? To get their advice on your life problems?

Could anyone do their job as well as they do? How would you feel if they were suddenly gone?

How would you describe them? Amazing? Excellent? Skilled? Wise?

Would you say that they hold a high, privileged position?

Do you hold them in esteem and honor?

Would you treat them the way you treat your parents? Would you treat them better than you treat your parents?

Look at the answers to your questions. No doubt you've established that, even if you wouldn't always agree with this person, you would recognize the value of their life experience, the honor of their position. Think over the way you would treat that person. You wouldn't be rude. You wouldn't dis them in front of your friends. You wouldn't be unkind to them or talk back.

Now, think about your parents for a second. Maybe in your eyes they're already amazing. Maybe all you can see is flaws. I don't know what you see; every situation is different. But I want you to put aside all of your opinions for a moment and consider what I'm about to tell you.

The God of the Universe, the Creator of galaxies, the One who runs the world, the One who holds the power of life and death, the One whom angels worship and demons fear, the only One who knows everything, the only One who is all-powerful, and the One who died a horrible death to save you from hell because He loves you deeply and infinitely, this One who wants you to be your best--your best, as an individual with potential to impact the world and shape it for Him--He is God. God knows everything about every adult in the history of the world. He knew that you would have parents, and it was His goal to give you parents who would shape your character and help you become the amazing person you can be. And when it came time to pick out these people who would shape your life, your parents, He--God--could have chosen any adults in the entire history of the world to raise you. He picked out the ones that you now call your parents (and stepparents, and adopted parents too).

Some of you may be like, "Whoa, God made a mistake." Nope. God doesn't make mistakes. He knew you. He knows that you could change the world you live in. And to prepare you, out of all the parents in the history of the world, He picked yours.

That's pretty special.

Your parents were chosen by God to raise you. To teach you. To help you learn how to interact with others. To help you learn right from wrong. To help you follow God.

You know how you respect that famous person? You should think of your parents as 100 times more amazing than them. Because God could've given you that famous person as a parent. Maybe you think that'd be pretty sweet, but God knows that your parents would do a better job of preparing you for life than that famous person. Wow. Pretty cool, huh?

God could've picked anyone, and He picked those people you call "parents." They deserve respect.