WonderChristian

"Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love."
~1 Corinthians 16:13-14

Some days, I feel like a wimp. I just quietly walk around and practically let people pick on my faith without much of a fight. I let relativism invade the way I live.

Other days, I feel like WonderChristian. I can tackle any obstacle that may come across my path. I have good arguments for my point of view. I know how to slam the Gospel in someone's face. If I catch someone slipping up, I can rebuke them with awesome force. I can really lay the Gospel-smack down.

Every once in a while, WonderChristian will come bursting out of my wimp mode. Those moments are kind of scary.

All three of these approaches to Christianity have problems.

We are to be on our guard. Against what? All manners of things. We need to watch out for sin, obviously. It can be so easy to fall into a bad habit or do any number of things. We need to be on our guard for those who would try to weaken our faith. Satan is very cunning and he knows what he's doing. It's not like he's a stupid devil that is easily bamboozled. Paul knows that Satan will try to get at us in any way he can.

Paul calls us to stand firm in the faith. No matter what Satan throws at us, we need to remember that God is bigger. Things will happen that will rock our foundations, but we need to stand our ground.

We are to be men [and women] of courage, to be strong. Sometimes the opposition will seem to be stronger than us. Sometimes the way will seem impossible. Paul knew that it would be hard, he lived through diversity like none we've ever seen. Still, we need to have courage. Take courage in the fact that Jesus is Lord and He conquered the grave. Don't give into temptations. You have the good guys fighting with you. Good always wins. Be strong.

Do everything in love. Wow. Now that's the hard part, isn't it? It's easy to look at verse 13 and think of a warrior Christian able to take out anything and anyone in their path. It's almost as if Paul knows that he is talking up a bunch of warriors and so he tacks on the end: "do everything in love." How does a warrior act in love? It's not easy, but it's necessary. Love is an essential element to being a Christian. Have you ever heard of the phrase "kill 'em with kindness?" It's kind of like that. We need to be like Christ and love everyone, even those that would seek to harm us.

So I say to you: Be strong! Be courageous! Be a WonderChristian! But don't forget that love is your everything. Love is what saved you, it's what will save others too.

A Beginning

Well, this is my first blog and I have never done anything like this before.  We all have to start somewhere, right?

In this blog I intend to pick a Bible verse and write a short devotional on it.  I don't know how often I'll get a new post up.  I'm hoping to get a new entry up every week.  I am just starting the semester though, and who knows how much time I will have to write.

The title of this page was inspired by a poem I wrote my senior year of high school.  I feel like "brightness in brokenness" has been the theme of my life and I know that others feel that way as well.  I am so broken and Christ has filled me with an overwhelming brightness.  I can only hope that others will come to know that kind of hope.

God Bless,
Anna Katrina