I Know What It's Like

When I was a very small child, my parents decided that they were tired of being pew-sitters in church. Moreover, they felt there had to be more to this Christian faith besides going through the motions and being just average church goers. It was then that my mom and dad decided to go to a different church whose beliefs took Christianity to a more proactive level and was truly aiming for something that would benefit their lives and allow growth in their faith. What followed could be described as inconceivable. Grandparents accused my mom and dad of taking me to a cult church. This was and still is a lie. People within the church saw my mom and dad as weird, too picky, and small-minded when they insisted they didn't want worldly content going into my eyes in children's church. People and family who would have thought would become close confidants suddenly became arch-enemies. Why? Because of the desire to seek after God and his righteousness.

When I started homeschooling, another host of accusations ensued especially when my mom chose to invest in my well-being as her daughter and put me first instead of giving in to family members' wants who insisted that she and my dad were brainwashing me and not letting me experience what the real world is like. And mean comments were made that surely edge the territory of slander. You know, it's funny. It seems that they began to be the very kind of person that they falsely accused my parents of becoming. Anyways....

Fast forward a decade as I began to reach an age of deciding for myself in certain areas. Yes, I have a mind and a will. And my parents have always let me have a say while leading me to one and only way through Christ Jesus. That aside, I began to realize the principle that faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26). Therefore, although Jesus died and cleansed us from all unrighteousness, we have to do things on our part as Christians to crucify the flesh daily as he leads us by his Spirit day by day. Among these things include taking responsibility for our day to day actions by realizing in what ways we compromise God's ordinances. Perhaps one should choose better entertainment options that are cleaner and more wholesome, raise modesty standards, or commit to purity as single individual. Now, if God's Spirit doesn't dwell on the inside of you, none of this will make any sense whatsoever. All in all, it is about doing your part with God's grace (God-given ability) on the inside of you to see that Jesus' name is glorified by your actions and choices in life and not degraded by your compromise with worldly standards. 

In saying all this...my mom and dad wanted this to be my foundation in life. Yet numerous people from family to friends insisted that they "took that God thing too seriously." Really? Choosing to honor the one who died to give me eternal life by raising my standards in life is taking my Christianity too seriously?? 

This brings me to my main point...I know a little bit about what it feels like to be in the Duggar family's shoes right now. No, I've not met the family yet, and I don't know every little detail about their lives. But I do know what it feels like to make a decision to take your relationship with Christ and your standards seriously only to receive hate in return because you are just trying to do the right thing in accordance with God's precious word. Has anyone stopped to think that the reason the Duggars have such wonderful standards of purity is because after 2002 they realized that we as Christians have to step up to the plate and be proactive in the decisions we make so that mistakes aren't made again? God's grace is abundant and came at a price. And I admire the Duggars for taking that sacrifice seriously and not just with words but with actions.

Think before you speak. Because you have no idea what sort of negative impact your words might make upon the people that hear them. Words can hurt. Don't be the one that initiates that hurt.