Sarcastic-Who, Me? On Taming the Tongue

First of all, you might have noticed a few changes on the blog. Namely, my profile. The email I was using at first was my school email; I got a new email because that email was limiting what I could do on the blog (like post a profile picture). Unfortunately, that also means that my last name is now on display for all the world to see...there's some way to get rid of it, but it involves widgits and plain text and html codes and is way beyond me. If anyone understands that and wants to help me out, please let me know!

Now on to the real topic of today: taming the tongue. It's a theme throughout the Bible, and something that has been sticking out a lot to me lately. For example, a few weeks ago I was in Matthew, reading the Sermon on the Mount:

^" But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell." (Matthew 5:22)

Jesus is comparing insulting your brother, to murder. Now I haven't murdered anybody, but I definitely have insulted someone. Or maybe it was a few people...or a lot of them. It's almost a part of American culture, isn't it? There are so many insults that aren't "bad" words, necessarily, but aren't building the person up or encouraging them in any way. Idiot. Dummy. Stupid. Just to name a few.

The Bible tells us that we are going to be judged, by God, for everything we do, hidden or unhidden (Ecclesiastes 12:14). Words are included in this, "for out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matthew 12:34). And just two verses later, in Matthew 12:36, Jesus says, "But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken."

So let's go back to insulting your brother. God's creation, made in His own image. I don't know for sure, but it seems to me that in insulting the creation, you insult the creator. And if your first defense is, "I'm just kidding," I guess we also never know when somebody is really feeling that they are ugly, or stupid, or worthless, and our "joke" only serves to confirm it.

I'm just as guilty of this as anybody else. As a Christian, I need to go out there and build people up, saved or not, because (as that somewhat cheesy but accurate Facebook picture says), my life may be the only Bible someone ever reads.

The second passage about taming the tongue I'd like to write about comes from one of my favorite books in the Bible, James. I just love what he has to say about wisdom, about how works are a result of faith, not a replacement...last night I was in James 3, which I've read several times before, but this time it seemed to stick out to me. I recommend that you go and read it in another version-ESV, or NIV 1984 like I use for other quotes, or whatever-but just because it seems to have more impact in "modern" language, here it is from The Message, which goes from about James 3:1-10:

"If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you'd have a perfect person, in perfect control of life. A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse.

A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it!

It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.

This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can't tame a tongue—it's never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth!"

Wow.

It's easy to say, "I lost my temper," or, "I wasn't thinking" but that isn't an excuse in God's eyes, is it? We've already seen that we're held accountable for our words and actions, and I'm sure most forest fires start by accident after all. Like that one out in Colorado and New Mexico right now that's destroyed tens of thousands of acres and is still going strong, pretty much out of control.

We can't know the effect our words are going to have on those around us. Let's try and tame our tongues so any unexpected effect will be positive and glorify God!
So what do you think? Any tips on taming the tongue?

-Jenna

Is There Such a Thing As Guarding Your Heart Too Much?

First of all, I am by no means an expert on this.  I welcome, even ASK for, comments and other opinions, because I may be completely off base here!

Secondly, it's not that I'm saying the whole "guard your heart" principle is wrong.  I agree that it's very important, because as a woman, I'm essentially programed by society to long for a "perfect" relationship, being swept off my feet by Mr. Right, a happy ending, a perfect relationship.  What girl doesn't dream of meeting her Prince Charming?

But looking at it all logically...since I am far from perfect, how can I expect my future husband to be?  And life doesn't end at the end of the two-hour film-there are trials and disagreements and questions, even if you're having your "happy ending."

My question is, how do you know if it's the right person?  I mean, some married couples say "you'll just know" with these knowing little smiles, but I know that isn't true for everyone.  I mean, it's arguably the biggest decision you'll ever make in your life-don't like your major, switch it; don't like your job, look for another one; don't like your house, move.  But marriage is "for better or for worse...'till death do us part."

Nothing like a little pressure!

One of my favorites verses is Song of Solomon 2:7, which reads "Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires."  It's one of the popular verses for youth and makes waiting for the right person seem feasible. But imagine my surprise when I was reading in my Spanish Bible and instead of having the "Beloved" warning her fellow women, it's Solomon speaking-and he's telling the women not to awaken HIS love until SHE so desires!

As dating isn't mentioned in the Bible, I think it's easy for young believers just to accept "guard your heart" as a principle (which they should), but without really considering what it means.

So as for guarding your heart...it's great not to fall head over heels for the first person who looks your way and pays you a bit of attention.  It can be so easy, so flattering, to be sucked in by pretty words...at least, for women.  And that can be very dangerous.  To quote Shannon Ethridge and Stephen Arterburn in Every Young Woman's Battle:

"While emotional attachment is natural and appropriate, it's unwise to emotionally attach to guys over and over, assuming that each boy you go out with must be The One" (148).

This is obviously a recipe for heartbreak.  But what about the opposite extreme, if there is such a thing?  Can women be so intent upon waiting for the right guy that God has preordained for them that they are afraid to take that first step?

Again, I don't pretend to be some sort of expert on this.  But it seems to me that God guides relationships the same way He does every aspect of our lives.  Sometimes, we know exactly what He wants and are able to go forward in confidence.  But other times, He guides us with feelings and other, smaller clues and expects us to step out in faith.  The problem often is with this second case, how do you know if it's His will, or if it's yours?  (This is something I'm praying over about in another aspect of my life right now.)

In my own experiences, I can only think of two instances where I "knew" what God wanted-the night I got saved, and when I first heard about the missions trip to the Dominican Republic.  It's not that I don't pray over other situations in my life, but I think God speaks to me more the second way discussed above.  So I have to act based on these feelings sometimes, or else I would never do anything...as it is, I pray for more discernment so that I know if it's His voice or me just justifying my desires!

Is there such a thing as "stepping out in faith" in a relationship?  Not within the first 2 hours of talking to a guy-after you've been friends for a while and know where he stands with God, and if your plans are at all compatible, and after you've prayed for God to show you one way or the other His will.  It would be a lot easier to convince yourself that that is God's will if your emotions are already involved, but if you ask with an open mind (and heart!), God provides.  "Guard your heart," young people, especially girls, are told...but that implies at some point, you have to let somebody in.  If we just wait and wait for the neon lights to tell us that this is the perfect relationship, we might be waiting forever.

So what do you think?  Is there a balance between being hasty to fall in love and guarding your heart?  I think so...but then, how do you find it?

This is the first blog post I've made hoping for, anticipating, other's thoughts...please take a minute and let me know if you agree, or if you think I'm completely wrong!

-Jenna

And a few pictures I've saved to my computer that made me think...





Infused!

So I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth...I promise.

Back when I was thinking about starting a blog, I read some articles on blogging, and one thing that was repeated over and over was the importance of updating frequently.  I know, it's been almost 2 weeks since my last update, and I got home from my retreat Thursday morning at midnight, so it's not like I haven't had the time.  I've just been mulling things over a bit.

You know what one of my favorite verses is?  Luke 2:19, right after the birth of Jesus, when we're told "But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart."  Mary couldn't possibly understand everything that was going on-that she'd actually given birth to a baby despite being a virgin, that this baby would be the Savior of the world, the shepherds coming with tales of angels appearing a praising God...but rather than getting overwhelmed and incredibly confused, she just pondered these events.  That's something I love doing, too-oftentimes I need time to think back and reflect on conversations and events, and Infusion was no exception.

I'll be honest-I almost decided not to go on Infusion.  I just knew I'd be exhausted, and maybe there wouldn't be anything to eat (I'm a vegetarian as well as a fussy eater).  But I said I'd go, so I went-and I'm glad I did!  Satan's going to do whatever he can to make sure that we don't have these kinds of experiences, so that we don't meet fellow believers and ultimately grow closer to God.  And I also have a stubborn streak-so I refuse to let him win.  I went with the attitude that I was going to have an awesome time of it, and I did.

Swing-dancing, a bonfire, hiking (through waterfalls!) ,canoe races, volleyball, catching fireflies, awesome worship, fellowship, relevant workshops and electives-that's Infusion in a nutshell!  I could write so much about it, but I'm just going to focus on a few things that really stood out.  By the way, the "theme" of the week was Jesus and His life-pretty awesome, huh?  We talked about relationships (the woman at the well), dealing with loss (planned months in advance, it was pretty incredible as you'll see), how God sees and loves each of us individually (Zacchaeus), and more.

This is one of the waterfalls

And this is me stepping under one :)

One was the sense of community.  Campus Ambassadors stretches across the United States-we had tons of people from New York, of course, but also from Massachusetts, Minnesota, Colorado, and even from Oregon.  They say there 125 or so people there, maybe more-I never counted.  But it was great getting to talk to people and get different perspectives.

Community also stood out in the midst of tragedy.  I'm not going to go into a lot of details because I don't feel it's really my place, but one of the CA groups suffered a loss at another camp over the weekend, and some of them were really close to this person.  Each and every student chose to stick it out at Infusion, and the way they came together was just incredible.  The support they offered each other, the mingled tears and prayers, and the faith they have in God, without understanding His reasons...this is a true testament to the love of God that transcends even the grave, and something that I'll never be able to forget!

Something else awesome about Infusion was the workshops and electives.  Workshops were for an hour and half every day, while electives were just one day, for an hour and fifteen minutes.  My workshop was Social Justice, and it's really inspired me to get out there and do something (the problem being, I have no idea what as of yet!).  We learned that God hates injustice (Isaiah 1:10-17 and calls us as believers to do something about the injustice in the world.  Did you know that some of the forefront advocates for causes a hundred years ago were Christians?  And it just starts with one person...I may not be able to do everything, but I can do something, and I pray that God will show me what it is He has for me-I know He will provide the means because that's something else we talked about!

Here's a quote for you to ponder: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -Edmund Burke

On a lighter note, swing-dancing was one of my favorite parts of the trip!  I'm not much for dancing, but I was fortunate to have a really good dancer for a partner, so by the end I had it down pretty well.  We were all laughing and just having a great time, and I hope I remember what I learned for next year!

To close, I'm going to share something I wrote last Monday, which I titled "Letter to God."  Some parts I'm cutting out simply because they'd require too much of a back-story, or to protect others, but this is genuine, unedited, and personal-you've been warned!

"Usually I read my Bible at this point of my "God-time" on this retreat.  But today I feel like doing this.  It's not like my prayer journal, but I guess it's just my thoughts about the week so far.

I feel so bad [for those who lost their friend].  19-he was my age, and now he's gone.  It's got me thinking about life and death.  Should I die tonight, I don't want to be insignificant.  I want to have mattered, to have made a difference, beyond that typical "oh she was such a nice person and so young" way.  No, I want to reach out.  In my Social Justice workshop we keep talking about how we don't need to go to another country, that there's so much to be done here.  But my heart is for Spanish-does that mean I'm called to go to another country?  I mean, I think so, but I don't know for sure.  But then again, a year ago I had no idea about the Spanish either.  [See first blog entry for explanation!]  Time will tell.

Time will tell.  Time is so relative, isn't it?...I definitely feel like I've been waiting forever to know what's going on there!  But Your ways aren't mine, and neither are Your thoughts.

What can I do, God?...I feel liked You have something for me to do right now, but I have no idea what it is.  So I pray that You open my heart and mind to Your will.  Show me what I need to do and make me unafraid to try.  I'm young, I'm small, I'm "innocent," but I'm not a child, or helpless, or stupid.  Let me matter, God, but not for my sake, but for Yours.  Let my life be a testimony and [a] legacy to You, Your love, and Your power."

Thoughts?  Comments?  Questions?  Please share!

-Jenna