We’re all entitled to our own opinion. Right?

But are we really? As Christians, our responsibility is to share God’s love, not our own agenda. We are to further God’s kingdom through our words and actions.

Thats not to say that we can’t stand up for things. Jesus stood up to corruption and turned over tables in the temple.

But I think we should look at why. He didn’t turn over tables because he didn’t believe in tables. Or because the color or shape of the tables offended Him. Or because He didn’t think the tables had rights. He made this loud display because the actions taken place were undermining the purpose of the temple and deterring the worship of God.

I think, as christians, we should look to this example when we chose to take a stand and make some noise. We should ask, is this undermining God’s agenda or mine? Are we demonstrating our personal dislike or standing up for God’s kingdom? Are we bitter because of another person? Are hurt feelings causing our actions?

I think this could help create a way for christians to be heard and God’s purpose be protected, without so many personal issues. If it’s not worth taking a stand by these standards, then let’s just agree to disagree.

But that’s just my opinion.

My little has recently turned two. And he is very two. He gets upset easily, and when he does, he reaches his arms up for me. I’m not quite sure how picking him up fixes anything, but it’s what he wants.

This got me thinking. As an adult, it’s probably been years since we held our arms up for someone to lift us up. We’ve probably spent a few decades directly connected to the ground in some way. Just that concept feels heavy to me. Gravity is completely having its way with us.

There’s not much we can do about the physical connection to the ground, but what about emotionally? Mentally? Spiritually?

What if, instead of sinking into our problems, we held our arms up to God? What if we really let go of the situation and allowed our Heavenly Father to lift us away from our troubles?  Instead of worrying and stressing and pouting and doing all the things that bring us down and keep us down, let’s go to scripture, music, and prayer. Let’s reach our arms up and be lifted. I bet it would feel much lighter.

I’ve been thinking about this one for a while. It’s a challenge for me as much as you!

We are a part of a culture that really likes to know a lot about self. We know the color of our aura, our Disney princess spirit, our personality types (on all the different scales), the positives and negatives of our astrological sign, and much much more. And we like to share it all. We want everyone else to know exactly who we are and how we think.

What if this year we kept the same mentality, but changed the subject? What if we searched and read, and took a great interest in finding out who God is? What if we scrolled through His word multiple times everyday, like our newsfeed. What if we made notes in the margins and highlighted parts we “liked”? What if we shared as much about our new knowledge of God as we do about ourselves?

Lets try it and see.