Don't you hate the days when you don't seem to have any deep revelations? Kinda feels like a skipping record where the ideas and thoughts from yesterday are still in the front of your mind. Though, this is a good thing, I suppose, because yesterday offered no resolution. This shows me that God does like to take his time. I think how we as Christians evolve is a perfect example of that fact. I think that if a resolution did come within a 24 hour period, at least a resolution to what he has been challenging me with, I would be apt to forget it. The longer the issues of love and relevance stay in my head and heart, the more they seem to change me. I think a foundation for change is recognizing my own pride. What I mean is I like to keep the focus on me. I see it in not fully acknowledging his love for me. The second I accept that Jesus does love me, I lose a crutch and become accountable to that love. I can no longer use "well, I just don't feel God" or "Nobody really cares" as an excuse. Once I say that, yes, Jesus loves me, I have declared a fact and a truth. A truth that is not reliant on what I feel. A truth that I must then act on. And I guess that leads to caring about people more than caring about what people think of me.

I think we wear our "faith" on our sleeves as a badge and in the process give Christ a bad name. But on the flip, in our efforts to be Relevant, we hide it under the guise of cool. I know myself I worry too much about how everyone sees me and in doing so put the focus in the wrong place. I worry more about looking good to someone than I worry about the actual person.

Also God has been on my heart asking some tough questions. I find myself wondering if I really believe he loves me and forgives me. I say I do in my words, but I let guilt build up and pull me away. I think I can never live up to what I feel God wants me to do because I have screwed up so much.

So yea, I am learning to be loved as well as learning to love.

Relevance

Relevance is a very thin line that we walk. I mean, how do we as followers express our faith and not come off as cheesy and fake? Culture, by a basic definition, simply means "the way we do things around here." Sadly, our culture, based on bad personal experiences and media attention, seeing Christians, ALL Christians as snake oil salesmen and untalented magicians. So, we shun the name Christian and anything that looks like it belongs to the church, but sometimes in the process we end up denying Christ. Not by our lifestyles, but by our mouths. I mean, what is the purpose of doing good and walking steady if we take the credit. We are scared of saying, "It's not me, but Christ in me."