"Broke away the chains..."

.
James 3: 3-12

When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

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The girl's ministry at Glenview had its kick-off event last night. It was mostly fellowship and games, but Haven and Sommer did talk to us a little bit about what's written in James about the tongue(written above).
I was originally going to post this blog to talk more about it, but honestly the verses say it all. There really isn't much more I can say.
Once you've said something to hurt someone, you can never take those words back. You can apologize all you want, but those words will always be planted inside that person's head. Sadly enough, most people always remember the negative comments that people say, and rarely take notice of the positive things, which means we really have to be careful with what we say, even if it's behind their back.
One of the girls made a comment last night about that, using one of her friends as an example. Her friend was one of those people who was tremendously brought down by what people had been saying to her at school. People were calling her names, and saying fowl things behind her back. She had gotten to the point where she tried to take her life one night.
Isn't that crazy? All of that, just because of what people said. Do you understand what God's saying?? That small tongue of yours can set someone's life on fire. You might as well be wishing death on them!

Anyways, after talking about that for awhile, Sommer asked us all to write down our insecurities on notecards. Insecurities about sharing their faith, asking for help in time of need, or whatever it is what keeps you from growing closer to God or someone else. Just write it all. After that, she told us to lay down all our cards in a pile. We didn't read them.. they were all kept to ourselves. Instead she asked all of us to come back to the pile and take a few, and rip them to shreds, because that's how God sees those insecurities. They mean nothing. They should not be there at all. That wall that lies between God and I(or other people and I) has to be broken down, brick by brick.
Upon leaving the event, I was talking to Tammy and Holly in the car about what I wrote on my cards(or vice versa). I just wanted to be real open and honest with them, and let them know what my insecurities are, and why those insecurities are there. Right now, I'm going to be open and honest to you. I've learned a lot about building walls in the past couple weeks, and frankly, building walls sucks! It totally makes me depressed, and I shouldn't have kept those walls up for the past few years!
So anyways...
1. I don't like to talk about my "issues" with other people because I'm always afraid that I will just be another burden to them. I'll be annoying… they honestly won't want to help me, so what's the point? That may sound silly to some people(which, it really is), but Hey! I still struggle with it! My goal right now is to not let those doubts take over again, because honestly guys, it does no good. It's just a bunch of trash that Satan put there.
2. I'm insecure about my looks(as most girls probably are). This is where the damaged tongue really comes in to my life. I'm going to be honest with you; people haven't always been kind to me about that. In 6th grade, a girl from my church made a joke about my hair color. Sure, I'm not mad at her now, and I don't hate my hair color now, but until I was 13 I hated everything about it. Also, I've been told told by a guy that I was the ugliest thing he had ever seen. I was told that I was fat by several people. I was even told by someone that certain parts of my body should be bigger or smaller, because I wasn't "hot" enough. I can certainly blame myself for talking to people like that in the first place, but what those people said still effects what I think of myself now.
3. I'm insecure about my personality. I don't really talk about this very much, but it might be what upsets me the most. This is all mainly because of family issues that have been going on for the past three or four years. There were a few instances where someone outside of the family said something to me, but overall I was being let down by what my family said to me(parents and siblings). I've never considered myself to be smart, I've never considered myself pleasant to be around, and I've never seen myself as being helpful to anyone. This is because I'm been told I'm stupid, I've been told I'm annoying, I've been told I'm no help at all, I've been told I'm not "cool" enough, I've been told I'm untrustworthy, and I'm been told I was the worst kid, blatant and honest.


Those are my insecurities.
Obviously, there's a lot more, but I guess you could say those are the more general ones.

But anyways, even though these are my insecurities, I can still rest in the fact that Jesus Christ loves me for who I am. He has made me His own, and I am His child. I cannot hang my head.
Just like I said in my d-now post, the Lord has set me free from my burdens and I WILL be free forever, because I will NOT let these things get me down anymore!
I'm got it set in my mind! GOD'S NOT LETTIN' ME GOOO!


Ok, well that's it. Just being open and honest, for once.
Sorry for going off on so many tangents. :-P
But, hopefully you've got a better idea of who I am, and if not.. than I sure hope you've got a better idea of who God is, because He's the one that made me who I am now. He's the one that kept me from self abuse, suicide, running away, or whatever else I could have done to "feel better".

God's forever faithful.
He's my Strong Deliverer, once again.
:-D


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Leeland - Yes You Have


Every tree and every stone
Every rushing wind that moans
They sing Your praise
My God, they sing Your praise

Every star and open sky
Tell of Your glory divine
They shout Your praise
They shout Your praise, yeah

Chorus:
You've stolen my heart
Yes, You have!
You've stolen my heart
Yes, You have!
You've wiped away the stains
And broke away the chains
Yes, You have!!

With Your love You set me free
Three nails gave me liberty
So I'll sing Your praise
My God, I'll sing Your praise
Oh, with Your love You forgave my sin
Forgot my past And brought me back again
So I'll sing Your praise
I'll sing Your praise, yeah

Chorus:

If I ascend into the sky
Or hide behind the night
I can not run Your love is chasing me
If I fall into the sea
Your hand will rescue me
No one will take Your place
Because

This is all for You
Yes, this is all for You
You're the King of the world
You're the King of the world

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Ah, His hand will rescue me.
Let's bask in His Glory, shall we?


Comments open.
;)