If it Causes You to Stumble..

I LOVE me some country music! Last night I went to the Miranda Lambert concert here in town and I had a blast! I love the beat, the words, the people, everything about country music except for one thing...the message. Now I'm not talkin' about every country song, but most of them. Most of them have underlying messages that are not biblical, such as drinkin, cheatin', and sleepin' around.

I say this not to give you my opinion on country music, because that was an older post. lol I say this to bring up something else...self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7 says "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline."

As much as I enjoy country music, I strictly limit the amount of time I spend listening to it. Why in the world would I do that? Because it causes me to stumble. When I hear about drinkin over and over again, I want to go drink. When I hear about romance, I want romance. When I hear about the red dirt roads, I get homesick and forget my purpose here in the city.

2 Timothy 2:22 says "Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart." It says FLEE, not fight it or pray about it, but FLEE the evil desires of youth.

This isn't a bash against country music, I also love rap music, but it causes me to lust. I love romance movies-but they cause me to have impure thoughts. I've heard it said that in your walk with Christ you are either moving towards God or away from God, you are never standing still. What do you love that causes you to fall away from God?

I have several good friends who struggle with contentment in being single...yet they watch romance movies, read the love stories, and listen to music that suggests everyone have someone special. Girls, as long as you surround yourself with that you WILL struggle. Trust me, I tried fighting it for a long time. In order to live a life fully devoted to God, you have to surround yourself as much as possible with things that honor God and cause you to reflect on Him.

I also have friends who struggle with going too far physically with the opposite sex. Can you guess why? If it's not the stuff causing their thoughts to sway, then its the situations they put themselves in. If you hang out alone with a guy repetitively YOU WILL HAVE SEX. I don't care if you promised your family and your preacher that you were going to wait until marriage, if you put yourself in that situation it WILL happen. You are human, and not one of us is strong enough to resist that temptation after a long period of time. Don't be alone with your boyfriend. I don't care if your 16, you don't need to put yourself in that situation. (Which, by the way, I will be blogging about dating boundaries in the near future so keep an eye out for that.)

So is it a movie? A TV show? A boy? A game? A habit? A hobby? What is it that causes you to stumble?

Examine your life and see what causes you to stumble. Pray about it, then FLEE from it. Run towards God with all your energy and will. No one can make the choice for you though, it's up to you.