It's my favorite time of week again..... Blogging time!
Good morning ladies. I pray blessings on this week for you!
Many of you do not know that I'm a student at a private, Christian university. This post is in no way going to persuade or dissuade you against any such education; it does matter for context, though. Every single day I am surrounded by Christians and non-Christians alike. Chapel discussions, devotionals, Bible classes: these things and more happen every single day of the week for me. I have a tendency to look at most systems I'm in and notice things. I notice what is done well, but I also notice what isn't done well.
A lot of times, in my experience, I find that a lot of things aimed at teaching the Bible do that. Especially here on campus. We have a phenomenal team of teachers, preachers and students. It is super important that we're learning the Bible. I am learning more verses and history from the Bible than I ever have before and I absolutely love it.
What I find missing, though, is "heart" discussions. I hear a lot of sermons preach against doing certain things. I hear a lot of sermons preach for doing certain things. But I have heard very few sermons preaching the why. In student-led discussions, I hear a lot about what the church should or should not be doing, but I don't hear very much about what we should each change about ourselves.
I think a lot of us have a heart problem. Our minds work quite well, you see. Most of us are capable of discerning situations and knowing, mostly, what the correct thing to do is. We have a lot of our "answers" to different questions already memorized and ready for when someone asks us about our hot topic beliefs. We're like a jack in the box: we get wound up and wound up each time a sermon is taught on this belief and then one day, someone comes up and asks us about the topic and we spring on them with our defenses. We're so thankful we know the answer and won't look like an idiot.
I don't think the Israelites had much of a mind problem either. They knew all the answers. They knew who they needed to turn to and they always knew God was the one throwing circumstances at them. But their problems were heart problems.
The thing about rules is once you know them all, you can find a loop-hole. You can find a way around the system so that what you're doing isn't "necessarily" wrong. When we stop looking at rules and start looking at the way our heart should look, that is no longer a possibility. When the rule says, "Do not cuss," that's all you do; you don't cuss. You know what else you do? You find filler words. You say mean things. You get angry. You tear people down or make jokes that shouldn't be made. The thing is, the Bible doesn't specify "cussing" as the problem.
Ephesians 4:29 "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear" (ESV).
Matthew 12:36-37 "I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned" (ESV).
These are both addressed to the heart; they give the why not just the what. Because this life is not about rules, it's about living. The Bible is not a rule book, it's more like a script. It's full of a lot more than "Do"s and "Do not"s.
Over the next few weeks I'll be looking at some of the things we see as rules and see how they could be addressed to the heart rather than to our actions.
I love you ladies. I have missed you so very much!
-Kat
"But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses." 1 Timothy 6:11-12 ESV
