I've been struggling with the issue of whether or not I should be dating a non-Christian. I know that in my previous blog entry I had stated that the man who is to be my husband would have to 1. love God above all else. So it feels like I'm totally eating my words right now. What's a girl to do? I've been praying about this issue for a while now and I still don't know what to do. I will continue to pray about it to God and trust that he will give me an answer. Perhaps this is a time of challenge, a real test of my faith? Or is God trying to tell me something else?
When you are on a spiritual high, you feel like you can conquer the world. You feel like you've got God all figured out, and life will be filled with roses and daises from this day on. But when you go back to being in the secular world, when you go back to hanging out with your beer and wine drinking, stock-market discussing, secular friends, who happen to once be your nearest and dearest, who you discover are still awesome people, you start to wonder, what is the difference? This may sound really shallow. Because of course, the real difference is that us as Christians, believe in God. More specifically, we believe in Jesus as the son of God who came and died on the cross for our sins. Yet at times, few pause to think about what that really means. Many times it simply becomes something we repeat in words, yet fail to seriously ponder upon the issue.
Over the past few months I went through some troubling and stressful times relating to that of a personal matter involving members of the church. The whole incident made me realize that I had been somewhat blinded by what Christianity, religion, is all about. I may have been idolizing the Church, or the life that the perfect Christian supposedly "should" have. Imagine it, meeting the guy/gal of your dreams (who loves God), marrying young, and being the perfect couple. We do see a lot of it. But sometimes I wonder, if that why we are pursuing God? Why are we really called to be Christians? Is it merely to go to Church every Sunday to hang out with other Christians so all of our kiddies can play together, while we sip tea and chew on biscuits, lookin' mighty happy? Perhaps this is why we find spreading the gospel so hard nowadays. Are we really putting our faith into action.
Which leads me back to the topic of dating a non-Christian. Since God made all of us in his image, I'm sure he is to be seen in every single person on this earth. So if we really believe that Jesus is the only way to salvation (of which I have yet to be clearly decisive upon), then what is stopping us from fervently spreading his word? Furthermore, if we know ourselves (and in knowing ourselves more, we know God. In knowing God more, we know ourselves more), shouldn't we be confident enough in our affections to trust them when we feel something special for someone. That maybe it is a voice from God, calling us to bravely step into relationship that would challenge us to bring a piece of the secular into our lives. And to trust that the Grace of God would lead the way, presenting an outcome that is pleasing to his eyes, and our hearts and minds? Maybe I am just making this argument because I want to date a non-Christian. I surely could be defying God, and not trusting that he will bring the God-loving man into my life that I have been hoping for.
God, you overwhelm me. You greatness and your mystery reaches far beyond our comprehension. I pray that you be my guiding light in this life full of bumps and grinds, yet dabbled with joy unable to be expressed by words - moments of extreme pain and also elite happiness of which your presence can be keenly felt. I am but a small dot in this infinite universe, a grain of sand in the Sahara desert. Teach me to be your servant, for there is nothing else I want more in life than to do what is delightful in your sight, and to live for the purposes that I was made to fulfill :o)
When you are on a spiritual high, you feel like you can conquer the world. You feel like you've got God all figured out, and life will be filled with roses and daises from this day on. But when you go back to being in the secular world, when you go back to hanging out with your beer and wine drinking, stock-market discussing, secular friends, who happen to once be your nearest and dearest, who you discover are still awesome people, you start to wonder, what is the difference? This may sound really shallow. Because of course, the real difference is that us as Christians, believe in God. More specifically, we believe in Jesus as the son of God who came and died on the cross for our sins. Yet at times, few pause to think about what that really means. Many times it simply becomes something we repeat in words, yet fail to seriously ponder upon the issue.
Over the past few months I went through some troubling and stressful times relating to that of a personal matter involving members of the church. The whole incident made me realize that I had been somewhat blinded by what Christianity, religion, is all about. I may have been idolizing the Church, or the life that the perfect Christian supposedly "should" have. Imagine it, meeting the guy/gal of your dreams (who loves God), marrying young, and being the perfect couple. We do see a lot of it. But sometimes I wonder, if that why we are pursuing God? Why are we really called to be Christians? Is it merely to go to Church every Sunday to hang out with other Christians so all of our kiddies can play together, while we sip tea and chew on biscuits, lookin' mighty happy? Perhaps this is why we find spreading the gospel so hard nowadays. Are we really putting our faith into action.
Which leads me back to the topic of dating a non-Christian. Since God made all of us in his image, I'm sure he is to be seen in every single person on this earth. So if we really believe that Jesus is the only way to salvation (of which I have yet to be clearly decisive upon), then what is stopping us from fervently spreading his word? Furthermore, if we know ourselves (and in knowing ourselves more, we know God. In knowing God more, we know ourselves more), shouldn't we be confident enough in our affections to trust them when we feel something special for someone. That maybe it is a voice from God, calling us to bravely step into relationship that would challenge us to bring a piece of the secular into our lives. And to trust that the Grace of God would lead the way, presenting an outcome that is pleasing to his eyes, and our hearts and minds? Maybe I am just making this argument because I want to date a non-Christian. I surely could be defying God, and not trusting that he will bring the God-loving man into my life that I have been hoping for.
God, you overwhelm me. You greatness and your mystery reaches far beyond our comprehension. I pray that you be my guiding light in this life full of bumps and grinds, yet dabbled with joy unable to be expressed by words - moments of extreme pain and also elite happiness of which your presence can be keenly felt. I am but a small dot in this infinite universe, a grain of sand in the Sahara desert. Teach me to be your servant, for there is nothing else I want more in life than to do what is delightful in your sight, and to live for the purposes that I was made to fulfill :o)
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