Loving God - Part Two

Continuing on from Loving God - Part One... 

How can we show God we love Him? What can we do every day? 

Taleisha: For me I LOVE to sing. The way I can best connect and feel God is through worshiping Him with music. It's common for me to grab the guitar and just sing praise and worship songs in my room. Because I love playing the guitar and singing, and I love God, it's a blessing to me and gives me an amazing feeling when I can sing my love to God through something else that I love. I've written songs for God, it's my way of explaining to Him how grateful I am, with lyrics from the heart and words of gratitude. Find something you love and are passionate about, use your talents to glorify Him! If you like to draw or paint, draw or paint something for God! If you like to dance, dance for God! If you like to sing, sing for God! Using the talents He's given you to worship Him. Show Him you love Him in the small things like reading your Bible and spending time in His presence. Soak up His love, be filled with it and then spread it with others with your overflowing joy! Think of the things you like to do and find ways to turn it around so the glory goes to your Father in Heaven. 

Meggie: I find when I spend unscheduled time with God just because I feel like it, I grow closer to Him. Kind of like when two lovers just meet up because they want to. They don't necessarily want to do anything, or talk about anything, but just be with each other and enjoy each others company. 

I heard of a girl once, who on Valentines Day, set up two chairs and a table, and set it all up with flowers, wine glasses, and candles. And she had a date with God. As weird as that sounds, I think sometimes just hanging with God brings me so much closer to Him!

What are some ways we can worship God? 

People have different love languages, which means there is no specific way to worship Him. We are able to use our love language to love God. 

- We can love Him in our actions by doing things that honour Him. Like; helping someone when they fall, making something for someone, feeding the homeless and clothing the naked (Matthew 25:35). 

- We can praise him with our words by singing to Him, we can share the Gospel and tell others about Christ and his love (Psalm 9:1). Even prayer is a form of worship! 

- Music is another way we can worship God. Words don't even have to be sung. If you play an instrument, playing songs that uplift the name of God. 

- Reading your Bible and spending time with God shows Him that you want to be with Him! 

- Tithing is a way to give back to God and show Him you're grateful, you can bless Him too. 

- Serving others and putting their needs above your own is another way you can honour God and worship Him. 

- Our lives are a gift and if we dedicate them to God and His will, God can use us in remarkable ways. Living a life of purpose is pleasing to God! 

"God’s unfailing love for us is an objective fact affirmed over and over in the Scriptures. It is true whether we believe it or not. Our doubts do not destroy God’s love, nor does our faith create it. It originates in the very nature of God, who is love, and it flows to us through our union with His beloved Son."  - Jerry Bridges 

Sadly, this concludes our Love Series, but we hope you were able to be touched, spoken to and/or helped through learning about different relationships and the ways we can love ourselves, our families, our friends, unbelievers, fellow Christians, guys and God. 

We pray that God will be with you in all of your relationships. Be blessed and love!! 

~ Taleisha & Meggie 

Loving God - Part One

"God is love ". (1 John 4:8) Where would any of us be without God's love?! If God didn't love us, He wouldn't have sent Jesus to die for us. In the first days of man, there was direct communication between God and humans, but when humans betrayed that privilege and brought sin into the world, we lost that intimacy. God could have destroyed it and created a new and better  place, but He didn't because He loves us. When we brought adultery, murder, thieving, abuse, blasphemy and pain, He could have destroyed it all! But He didn't, because He loves us. Humanity has fallen far from where God intended us to be. We have let Him down generation after generation, but He continues to love us! 

Have you ever heard the song Christ In Me by Casting Crowns? There are two lines that I love! 

"How refreshing to know You don't need me, 

How amazing to find that You want me..."

Have you ever really just sat down and thought about how great God's love actually is? Has it ever occurred to you that He doesn't need us? He chooses to love us. GOD WANTS US!! THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE WANTS YOU!! Not to add to His 'collection of followers', but to have a relationship with the children he created. It's a magnificent love!! An unconditional love!! A love we can't even comprehend!! 

What does the Bible say about loving God? 

Taleisha: Scripture says to, "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." (Deuteronomy 6:5 and again in Luke 10:27) Why doesn't it just say to love God with everything? Because God wants us to love Him with every part of us. Our hearts are secret and only you and God know what is in there. In order to love Him with all our hearts we need to remove all sin from it, cleanse it, fill it with pureness and love so that the Holy Spirit may dwell within us. With our souls means our entire being and existence  We exist for God and His purpose so we need to serve Him with every thing we are made of. Our strength refers to our physical body, with everything we are capable of doing, we need to do it for the purpose of God and serve Him through our actions and everything we put our hands to. There are many Scriptures that talk about loving God, here are some more: Deuteronomy 7:9, Psalm 85:15, Psalm 136:26, John 13:34-35, Romans 5:8, Ephesians 2:4-5. 

Meggie: Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment." - Matthew 22:36-40
This is a similar verse recounting the same situation that Taleisha also said, but I just want to draw your attention to the fact that Jesus said 'this is the first and greatest commandment'. Falling in love with God isn't just a maybe. Jesus said it is the first thing we should be doing. We have talked about loving others, but before we can ever love others, we need to focus on loving God. I think we forget the importance of it! Of all the things your doing in your Christian faith, is loving God your top priority?

So what can we do for God? How can we thank Him for His unfailing love? Find out in Loving God - Part Two  on Monday!! 

Love and Blessings! 

~ Taleisha & Meggie 

Loving Guys - Part Two

Continuing on from Loving Guys - Part One... 

Is it okay to hug a guy? What is appropriate in the physical side of the relationship? 

Meggie: Its important that we protect the guys in our lives as much as we protect our own hearts. For me, the hardest thing that I have had to face with my guy friends is, to keep physical touch to the bare minimum. I found this hard because my love language is physical touch. The way I show people I appreciate them, is I will give them a hug. But even though guys in my life are 'friends' we need to be aware of what touching the opposite sex does to ours and their minds! A lady told us that a hug, or a touch from the opposite sex actually sets off hormones and emotions in our physical bodies. It arouses and awakens physical emotions in our bodies, whether we think we have control over them or not. It is how we were made! So, even though I love my guy friends, I have to be watchful over the physical contact I have with them.

"Promise me, O women of Jerusalem,

     by the gazelles and wild deer,

     not to awaken love until the time is right." 

- Song of Songs 2:7

Don't awaken those feelings or emotions until its the right time!

Taleisha: Yes it's okay to hug a guy, but we need to be aware of what physical contact does to both males and females, and like Meggie said, protect our hearts. In regard to what's appropriate and what's not, personally I think a hug is okay but keep it short and sweet. I hug my guy friends if I haven't seen them in a long time as a greeting or when I leave them knowing it will be a while until I see them again. Keeping physical contact to a bare minimum is wise.  There is no need to put yourselves in the kind of situation where there is a misunderstanding on one part. A simple hug that goes for too long, or hugging for no specific reason, can stimulate all kind of hormones in both sexes. It can become dangerous and lead to impure thoughts and fantasies about what it would be like to be with the other person, lead to temptations and can even seriously damage a relationship. Be wise in your actions! We need to respect them as much as we would anyone else.

"But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, 

or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper 

for God’s holy people.” 

- Ephesians 5:3 

If you haven't already, have a read of this article by Gabrielle Pickle called 'We're Not A Couple, We're not Family, We're Friends':   http://unlockingfemininity.com/2011/11/16/were-not-a-couple-were-not-family-were-friends/ . It covers the topic of having guy friends very clearly and thoroughly from a Biblical point of view. It's a great read! 

We hope this was helpful! If you find yourself in a situation where you're not sure what to do, seek God's wisdom and guidance, pray and trust :) 

On Thursday we will be posting Loving God, the last topic in the Love Series. 

God bless! 

~ Taleisha and Meggie 

Loving Guys - Part One

Have you every struggled with keeping your relationships with guys healthy? How about being friends with a guy and nothing more? Today Meggie and I give our advice on some common struggles we can face when it comes to having male friends. 

It can be hard having close guy friends because others see your friendship as being flirty! How do I make sure I'm being friendly, not flirty?

Taleisha: There is definitely a fine line between friendly and flirty. It can be really tough. Unfortunately there is no correct answer as to what the line between the two is. Some people see certain things as flirting while others don't. It would come down to your personal conviction and what you see as an appropriate way to act with a guy. Relationships can look very different to different people. Pray about your relationships and that God will give you the wisdom and discernment that you need to have a healthy  friendship with your male friends. Act how you would if your mother, or Jesus, were standing in the room. Treat them as a Brother in Christ and respect them.

Meggie: In my guy friendships, I find that I have to look at my motives. Was I really just having fun with him, or do my comments mean something more? Why are you saying the things you are to your guy friends? Prayerfully have a look at your motives. Flirting is going to  make you feel different than if you are just joking around.

Is it okay for your best friend to be a guy?

Taleisha: This is tricky. I am leaning towards a no, simply because it can cause problems and temptations. It can work for some people but I personally believe that if you want to eliminate temptations and be God honouring then it is wisest not to have a guy as your closest friend that you tell everything to and do everything with. Gabrielle Pickle explains this very well in her article about relationships with the opposite sex:

"... Applying the “like a brother” label (while it may be true that we currently have brotherly affection for him now) often tempts us to operate outside the boundaries of accountability. I mean, why would a person need accountability for a relationship with someone who is like a brother? Well, because he isn’t your brother and you want to honor God with your life. I have seen many girls fall into sinful relationships with guys who are like their brother, because they viewed those relationships as “safe” and “above temptation” for emotional, physical and spiritual affairs (Ephesians 5:3, Hebrews 13:4 ).

Baring your heart and soul to a guy friend is not honoring and respecting our future husband or marriage. Having an emotional affair with a best guy friend to meet the needs that only God should meet during singleness does not make room for God to bring along your future husband. Even friendships with a guy who is ‘like a brother’ should be checked regularly within accountability."

To access the full article go to: http://unlockingfemininity.com/2011/11/16/were-not-a-couple-were-not-family-were-friends/. It's a fantastic article, it covers all the areas and comes from a very Biblical point of view. I highly recommend it! 

Meggie: I agree with Taleisha. Having friends of the same sex matters a lot! It's fine to have girl and guy friends but I don't know where I would be without my best girlfriends. Guys are great fun but the relationship is different. Guys aren't necessarily going to understand you like a girlfriend would. Relationships with our Sisters In Christ are special. 

If there are questions you have about friendships with guys then send us an email at: unfadingelegance(at)gmail(dot)com or comment below. On Monday we will be continuing Loving Guys and we would love to help and give any advice, Bible verses and articles where we can :) 

Stay tuned for Loving Guys - Part Two on Monday!! 

God bless you all! 

~ Taleisha and Meggie 

Love your Enemies

But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. - Luke 6:27-28 NLT

In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. - Matthew 5:45-48 NLT

We are seriously called to love our enemies. Now I'll admit, I don't know anyone who I would label 'enemy'. There are some people I get along with, some people I don't. There are some people I like, and some people I don't. But even if your enemies look different to mine, we need to love them. One of the most important ways to love our enemies, is to forgive them. Forgive them for what they do to you. And we all have people in our lives who are unkind and hurtful.

I want to share a story from Corrie Ten Boom, a lady who was put into a German concentration camp with her sister Betsie during the Nazi occupation of Germany. She shows us that sometimes forgiving our enemies is a choice. A choice to forgive them; and asking God to supply the love.

Corrie had just given a talk about forgiveness, when a guard from a concentration camp she had been in came up to her. He had become a Christian, and had come to Corrie to ask forgiveness for what he had done to her and her sister, Betsie.

“Now he was in front of me, hand thrust out: ‘A fine message, Fräulein! How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!’
“And I, who had spoken so glibly of forgiveness, fumbled in my pocketbook rather than take that hand. He would not remember me, of course—how could he remember one prisoner among those thousands of women?
“But I remembered him and the leather crop swinging from his belt. I was face-to-face with one of my captors and my blood seemed to freeze.
“ ‘You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk,’ he was saying, ‘I was a guard there.’ No, he did not remember me.
“ ‘But since that time,’ he went on, ‘I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well. Fräulein,’ again the hand came out—’will you forgive me?’
“And I stood there—I whose sins had again and again to be forgiven—and could not forgive. Betsie had died in that place—could he erase her slow terrible death simply for the asking?
“It could not have been many seconds that he stood there—hand held out—but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do.
“For I had to do it—I knew that. The message that God forgives has a prior condition: that we forgive those who have injured us. ‘If you do not forgive men their trespasses,’ Jesus says, ‘neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.’
“I knew it not only as a commandment of God, but as a daily experience. Since the end of the war I had had a home in Holland for victims of Nazi brutality. Those who were able to forgive their former enemies were able also to return to the outside world and rebuild their lives, no matter what the physical scars. Those who nursed their bitterness remained invalids. It was as simple and as horrible as that.
“And still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion—I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. ‘… Help!’ I prayed silently. ‘I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling.’
“And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes.
“ ‘I forgive you, brother!’ I cried. ‘With all my heart!’
“For a long moment we grasped each other’s hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I had never known God’s love so intensely, as I did then”

- excerpt from the book 'I am still Learning to Forgive', by Corrie Ten Boom

Sometimes choosing our enemies is a choice. A choice; and something we have to do with God, because how can we learn to forgive without Christ helping us? How can we do it if we try to do it by ourselves?

Is there anyone you feel you need to forgive today?

"When He tells us to love our enemies He gives, along with the command, the love itself." - Corrie ten Boom, the Hiding Place.

 

~  Meggie

Loving Fellow Believers

I was struggling to clearly state why it's important to love Christians in particular when we are instructed to love everyone. Then I came across this blog post by Paul Steele. He explains this very clearly. 

'"For God is not unfair. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other Christians, as you still do. Our great desire is that you will keep right on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and patience." - Hebrews 6:10-12 

     In this passage we notice the writer of Hebrews encourages his readers to love their fellow Christians. It is through this love, he says, that we demonstrate our love for God. I find it very interesting that he states that we are to “care for other Christians”. After all shouldn't we love everyone equally?

This is a valid question because we have been told that God loves everyone. I have no doubt that God loves everyone and He desires them all to be saved. The Bible tells us this much. The Bible is also very clear that we are to love other Christians first and foremost. Is this a contradiction?

... A teacher can love all the kids in her classroom, but the love she has for them pales in comparison to the love she has for her own children. A guy can love all his friends and buddies, but that love is nothing compared to the love he has for his wife. The fact that God loves the Church differently, and expects us to love other Christians differently, doesn't mean that God doesn't love the rest of the world, but simply points out the special relationship that the Church has with God.

This might seem unfair, but in reality when Christ Followers love other Christians first it makes the Church a very attractive group to be a part of. The world is a hard place... Many people are searching for a place to belong and be loved, regardless of who they are or what they have done. By loving each other the Church becomes a place of hope in a land of hopelessness.

It also appears from this passage that by loving each other we grow spiritually. The best way to grow in our faith is through experiencing life with other Christians. When we are able to do things with other Christians because we enjoy their company and have their best interest at heart we begin to develop the heart of God. We desire the things God desires and we become spiritually sharp and full of passion.

It is by having this heart of God beating in our chests which moves us down the road of becoming the people God created us to be. When we care about the things He cares about we become a little more like Him. The people of faith of old were set apart because they had this heart. They were willing to sacrifice in order to do what God wanted them to do, because they wanted the same thing God wanted.

In our quest to become more like the people God wants us to be we have to start loving other people. First, we need to love the Christians who make up our Church family. This is helps us develop a heart like God’s which allows us to love the hurt and lonely people of the world." 

God has a special relationship with us. Believers, Christians, people that want to follow God. Loving and spending time with other Christians helps us draw nearer to God. When we are with each other we fellowship, we uplift one another, we pray for one another, we encourage one another. It's a very spiritually fueling place to be when you are surrounded by other Christians. 

It is also our duty as Christians, that if we see brother or sister in Christ sinning, that we help them walk in the ways of God and get back on the path of Life. 

"And now abide faith, hope and love, these three; the greatest of these is love." 

- 1 Corinthians 13:13 

God bless you, ladies!
~ Taleisha 

PS. So sorry for the highlighted text. I couldn't find the option to take it off! I hope you still get the message :) 

Loving Unbelievers

I love my friends. I love hanging with them, spending time, chatting, just having fun. But something always comes up at some point- whether they believe in God or not.  Faith in God can either drive your unbelieving friends away, or bring them even closer to you. I don't know about you, but I have found it a little difficult in being friends with someone who doesn't believe in God. I want them to become Christians, but I don't want to drive them away either.

Here are three things that God has taught me about loving our friends who don't know God.

1. Pray for them.

Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should. - Colossians 4:2-4

The best way you can love your unchristian friends is to pray for them. Pray that God will reveal Himself to them, pray that you might have opportunities to talk about God with them, and pray for all their needs. Maybe they need help in a test, maybe there having family problems... pray for them, and believe God will work wonders.

2. Live wisely.

Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity.  . - Colossians 5:6

Whenever I do or say something wrong around some of my friends, they are quick to jump on my faith. 'Oh, the Christian said that' they will say. Whenever it happens I realize how much they pay attention to how we live. Our actions speak volumes. But sometimes we talk like a Christian, I believe this, I believe that, but our actions do the complete opposite! We say, but we don't do. Our actions and speech don't line up.
People are watching, whether we know it or not. We need to make sure we are living out what we say we believe. We need to watch what we say and do around unbelievers, because how can they trust what we say, if we don't also do the things we say?


3.  Love- don't judge!
 

It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning.  God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you." - 1 Corinthians 4:12-13

This one of the most important things, and one thing that we have to remember. Love them, dont judge them! God is the Judge of heaven and earth, its not our place to tell them if they are doing something wrong, that's Gods place.

We are told in the Bible that if we see another believer sinning that after praying about it, we should humbly bring it to their attention so that they can turn from their ways.

Its easy to say, 'you shouldn't do that', 'you know that's wrong' and other things like that. We need to respect other peoples viewpoints. God convicts. God shows people when they mess up, not us. We are there to love them, to pray for them and to help them!

So...
Make a point of praying for your unsaved friends, live out your beliefs, and respect your friends beliefs. Be a real friend, and love- don't judge.

~  Meggie

Loving Friends

Friends. I'll admit that loving your friends can be a whole lot easier than loving your family. Why? Friends are chosen people who we know, love, get along with, like and share a bond with, this is commonly known as a 'friendship'. It is up to us who we make our friends. This is a good thing but can also be a negative thing when the wrong friends are allowed into your life. Often enough the people you surround yourself with rub off on you and help shape who you are. Friends and family usually play the biggest role in that. Our friends are people we want to invest our time into, people we like to hang out with and can also be our role models. Friends learn from one another and have a great influence on how we act, who we are and who we will become. It's EXTREMELY important  to surround yourself with friends that will speak into your life, encourage you to make wise decisions and help you in times of trouble.

Here's what the Bible says about friendship:
Proverbs 12:26
"The righteous chose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray."

This adds to what I mentioned earlier about surrounding yourself with friends that are good for you, not friends that will lead you astray. This could be people who blaspheme, smoke, fornicate, do drugs. The Bible and I aren't saying you shouldn't be friends with people that do these things. As Christians we shouldn't judge them (Matthew 7:1), simply encourage them to do the right thing and not allow their actions to turn into our own.

Proverbs 17:17
"A friend loves at all times."

We make mistakes and our friends do as well. We should love people, even with their imperfections. We have been instructed to love as Christ has loved us (John 13:34). This can even go beyond friends! Love is a language that doesn't need to be spoken. We should never stop being friends with someone because they made a mistake, this is where we can practice forgiveness Colossians 3:13).

Proverbs 27:6
"Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but the enemy multiplies kisses."

This has happened to me many times, but when it does, it's when I value the friend even more. Telling the truth to a friend can be very difficult, especially when you know they don't want to hear it! I had a really close friend on a school camp and she was always causing a scene and making it difficult for others to enjoy it. She was always very bold and good at voicing her opinion, but she wasn't a Christian so I knew I could pull out the 'What would Jesus do?' card. As much as I didn't want to, I ended up telling her that she was ruining peoples camps. School camps were a time when the class would get to know each other better and form closer friendships. She was mad at me for a day or two but she soon came around and realised she was ruining the camp for others. She even thanked me. Meggie has often given me advice, and it hasn't always been what I wanted to hear, but later I could always see the wisdom in it. A true friend will give you advice when you don't want to hear it, but you can always trust that they're looking out for you.

John 15:12-13
"This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends."
This verse pretty much wraps it up and is pretty self explanatory. The love between friends is a special love and shouldn't be taken for granted. Friends are a gift from God and the bonds between them are something they will always cherish and never forget!

"A friend should be one in whose understanding and virtue we can equally confide, and whose opinion we can value at once for its justness and its sincerity." - Robert Hall

Thank you Jesus for our friends and for putting them in our lives at just the right times :)

~ Taleisha

 

Loving Your Family

Loving the people that God has given us in our families is super difficult. We spend the most time with them, and because of that, we usually see the worst in them. They're blood, they're family; but they are sometimes the hardest to love.

But, if you call yourself a Christian, its very clear in the Bible that we are called to love- in every area of our lives.

Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.  And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. - 1 John 4:20-21 NIV

Why put in the work to love your family? Because, God has called us to do it!

Then the question is- how? How and what do I do to love my family?
I wish it was as easy as sitting back and going, yep, I love you. I love you a lot. But real love, like we looked at in the first Love Series post, real love does things. Love gets up off the couch and serves the people it loves!

So here are some things I have found really helpful when I have tried to better my relationships with my family.

1. Talk to your parents
Ouch. I remember a couple of years a go, I had something going on that I knew I had to talk about with Mum. I knew it was the right thing to tell her, and that I had to. But it took me a few weeks of plucking up the courage before I could even say one sentence. But I know the more I tell Mum about my troubles, my walk with God, friends and other things, the more I grow closer to her and show her I love her. Share life with your parents. Let them know how your feeling, what your doing, where your going, and everything that goes with it all!

2. Be quick to say sorry
All the fights I have had with my sisters has always boiled down to one thing, who was first to say sorry. As soon as one of us decided that the argument just wasn't worth it, and said sorry, we would all feel bad and immediately forgive and forget. My youngest sister and I are extremely alike. We have the same ideas and the same sort of attitude, so we have a lot of arguments about very little things. When I say sorry, I am not saying I agree with her, but I am saying sorry for not listening to her point of view, and being stupid with how I talk to her. You can forgive and still disagree.
Forgiveness shuts down every fight and argument.

and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. - Matthew 6:12 NLT

3. Spend time and have fun with them.
When my family starts getting on my nerves, I noticed that when I spend time with them, doing some fun, just to have fun, it helps a real lot. I am not sure why, or how this exactly works. But if I decided to make some time to play a board game with my sister, and have fun with it, its so much easier to get along after it. When I joke around with my Dad and we just have fun, I find it easier to talk to him about stuff.
Make some time to unselfishly spend some time with your family 'just because'. And don't do things that maybe you want to do, but bless them and do the things they want to do. Go and give your dad a hand with some yard work. Go hang the washing with your Mum. Play a game or watch a movie with your brothers and sister.

So, those are three things that have really helped me get closer to my family and truly love them with my actions. At the end of the day, loving your family is really difficult. At the end of the day its your choice. You have to make it happen. You can either be best friends or arch enemies with your brothers and sisters. But if you work each day at it, you will have friends who will love and support you for life.

What sort of daughter and sister will you be?

~ Meggie

 

This was the third post in the Love Series, stay tuned our next post by Taleisha comes out on Thursday!

Loving Yourself

It's easy to fall into the trap of not loving yourself. For some reason it's easier to love others. Well do I have news for you! Loving yourself is equally important as loving others. I'm not talking about an obsessive love. Yeah when you first hear it it sounds like a proud person that values themselves more than others. I simply mean a respectful love. Here are some reasons why we should love ourselves:

1. God made us in His image! 
Genesis 1:26 says "Then let us make man in our image, according to our likeness..." This is the best reason there is. Loving ourselves is a good thing as long as you keep it a healthy love. We are made in God's image. If we don't love ourselves, then we're not loving God.

2. Loving ourselves allows us to love others better. 
Romans 13:9 - "... and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbour as yourself." If you are lacking love for yourself, then how can you truthfully tell someone they're special? Loving yourselves helps you to better love others. Personally, I believe that if you love yourself (are happy with who you are) you have more love to share around. You can honestly tell others about their worth without falling into self-pity. Take some of your own medicine when it comes to telling others how beautiful and important they are. If you believe it you can show it, and people will see it :)

3. We are fearfully and wonderfully made! 
Psalm 139:14 - "I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well." God made you who you are for a reason. David wasn't boasting who he was, he was simply being thankful and rejoicing over the beautiful creation that God made in him. Be thankful for who you are and rejoice in it!

4. We are children of God!!
1 John 3:1 says, "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!" I think anyone would agree with me when I say this is pretty cool! God is our Father and we are His children! It's true and it's a truth we should hold on to. Each one of us royalty, we're princesses. WE. ARE. SPECIAL. This doesn't make us any better than other people and the last thing I want is for my point to get taken the wrong way. We are all equal, and we should rejoice in the fact because we are ALL daughters of the King of Kings!! (Ephesians 2:10)

Yes it can be super difficult sometimes, But let me encourage you with one more thing. God doesn't make mistakes. He made you the way you are for a reason, strengths, weaknesses, talents, likes and dislikes. Don't second guess yourself, embrace it!! He has plans for you and He needs you the way He made you.

"Loving yourself doesn't mean being stuck-up or boastful, it's the concept of being thankful and appreciating the person who God has made in you" - Great Bible Study  

And I'll leave you with this fantastic quote by the very wise Dr Suess :)

Be proud of who you are. May God bless and be with all of you princesses!

~ Taleisha

The Love Series!

We have something wonderful to announce! We are going to be doing a series on Love for then next month or so! We will be covering different topics such as loving friends, guys, family, God, our enemies and much more. :)

I want to start this series off by ripping apart some myths about real, healthy love. Three things that the world tells us is love, but things that are only fake substitutes to makes us feel good, but in the end, only leave us feeling worse off than before. I am basing this off 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter of the Bible.

...If I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn't love others, I would be nothing... Love is not jealous... or rude... [Love] does not demand its own way. It is not irritable...Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. - 1 Corinthians 13:2b;4-5a;7 Paraphrased

Myth 1
Love is a feeling, an emotion. Something you feel when someone special walks into the room.

Love isn't just a feeling. Love is also an action, and a choice. Feelings come out of our hearts when we love others, but the feeling themselves aren't just what love is. In 1 Corinthians 13, we see that love is also an action. Love is faithful, gentle, kind, unselfish and faithful. Love is... mostly actions. Yes you feel love, but you also do love. When you love someone, it shows by how you treat them and what you do for them.

Myth 2
Love fades away after a time. It doesn't last forever. 

Around 50,000 people in Australia have a divorce every year (according to the Australian Institute of Family Studies). More and more people are having first marriages that last for some years, then when differences come up, feelings fade away, people decide that they dont love each other anymore. And that is it, they divorce.



Fading love doesn't just happen in marriage. When we move away from friends, when we graduate from school and find ourselves moving in different circles, all of a sudden we have to work hard to remain friends, and we find out who cares about us (who tries to keep in contact) and who doesn't.
But 1 Corinthians 13 clearly says that real, genuine love lasts forever. Not just your life span. Forever. How is that possible when we see that it doesn't seem to? One of the reasons is that we think love is a feeling, and so when the feelings are gone, we think we do not love that person anymore.
I have had many good, tearful fights with my dad, I will admit it. But even when we disagree on something, even if I say I hate him, I love him. Just because we are going through a tough season where we disagree with each other, I still love him. I still love him a lot. I might feel angry and hateful towards him, but at the end of the day, I wouldn't want him to drop off the face of the earth.
Real love sticks around and works out differences. It doesn't give up.

Myth 3
I want someone to love me for who I am. I want someone who loves me even though I make mistakes. I want...

In different relationships we easily get tied up in what we want. The things we want, aren't bad at all! Its the fact that we want this, we want that- when love is actually about serving others. Love is not selfish. Love is the fact that we give up what we want, so the other person will be happy.
I think of school friendships, when best friends get into quarrels because they don't like how the other person is treating them. They want the other person to do what they want, to talk to them they way they want, to spend time with them the way they want.
Love isn't like this! Love says, I don't want to do this, but I know you do, so we will do it. Love sacrifices herself for others.
She doesn't get caught up in asking the other person to be a better friend, but instead she works so that she will be a better friend for others.

So, love isn't just something we feel, but something that we do. Love works through differences, so that it will last forever; and love doesn't demand its own way, but instead loving is not about you, but about others.

Stay tuned, Taleisha will be posting next about...loving yourself! :D

~ Meggie