A friend and I met for coffee yesterday morning, and enjoyed one of our typical discussions covering a wide range of topics that all in some way focused on living out our faith. (One of the many reasons I love this friend!) In this conversation, she said that when she was younger she wrongly believed that there was a whole lot of ambiguous gray area in life, but she has now learned that everything either honors God — or it doesn’t.
This applies to truly EVERYthing. Every decision. Every action. Some things are more obvious than others, perhaps, but even the so-called “little” things matter. Choices may be irrelevant (e.g.: which flip-flops to wear), but never ambiguous.
How I dress, what I eat, where I go, the words I speak, how I manage money — all of these things either honor God, or they don’t.
I must teach my children that every choice they make will either honor God or it won’t. Believing that some things are morally ambiguous is a dangerous and slippery slope. This is one of the many areas where they cannot listen to what the world believes. The sooner they are able to grasp this concept, the better, especially as they reach the age when they begin to make many of their decisions on their own.
There is no gray.
So true…..no gray! I’m so thankful for his mercy and grace because no matter what, I fail through out the day….but, he loves me, he loves me, he does….and I love him!!!!
Love your post….maybe we can get together for coffee some time! I think you mentioned you’ll be at the GHEA, right? I’d love to meet up with you!
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I love waking up to read the latest updates and finding something that will influence my thinking for the rest of the day and beyond. This is so true. My girls are at an age now that this will be understood and hopefully applied to their life. We talk about the choices we are faced with and how we should choose the way Jesus would want us to, but this is a more practical application of that thought. I can’t wait to talk to them about this and change the way I respond to their choices.
Thank you!
So true, Jamie! I am changing some things in my life to make them line up with the Word, and I needed to read this today. Thank you!
I. Love. Your. Blog. Yes I do. I love the way you think and then put it to written word. This is a fantastic concept to grasp – one i am working on.
I heard a story recently – there was a guy who was sitting on the fence between Satan and Jesus. He was trying to make up his mind on which side to climb down to. He went back and forth for so long, that both Satan and Jesus walked away. A little while later, Satan came along and was looking around as if he had lost something. He saw the guy on the fence and said, “oh there you are. Come on…” and started to pull him with him. The guy said, “But I am on the fence!” And Satan said, “Yes you are. I own the fence.”
Every word, action, thought, deed – MATTERS. Something worth remembering.
Such a thoughtful post and one I needed to read tonight. Thank you, my friend.
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My, this is rich. What makes it so rich is that we have discussed this very thing in our home this week.
There’s a song and a line of it says, “Jesus or the world my child, which one will you take? And then it goes in to the chorus saying, “I’ll take Jesus, I’ll take Jesus,” I pray these are the words that my children will choose and one day will be a vessel in His honor.
I like Jennifer’s story.
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I’ve not always lived my life for Christ, and since it’s been my ambition for almost a decade now; I too believe there is no gray. Like I always say to my hubby when we get into some wonderful discussions : it always boils down to no “beating around the bush” for it’s purely black or white- no in between.
hmmmm… coffee with a great friend, one of the best and fun girly things in life!
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How very clever of you to find a picture of women having coffee (as you and your friend were) and the picture is in B/W —- but I do see some gray in there too
I agree that things are either true or they are not. We may not know what is true in a particular moment, but the truth still remains the truth. It must please God a great deal to see us searching for what is true in each situation. How very, very sad to believe in gray and not even care to find what is true.
You mentioned the world saying there is gray. I wonder though if many Christians aren’t saying or wanting there to be gray areas — perhaps using Matt 7 or Rom 14 as their excuse — when they won’t pass judgment on the truth of a matter.
Twitter: jamieworley
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Absolutely. I think many Christians still believe there are gray areas. That would make life easier, wouldn’t it? But the Bible makes it clear we must choose either to live for the world, or for Christ; we cannot choose both.