How I Overcame My Anxiety

Everyone has some amount of anxiety. Everyone. Whether it's just the occasional butterflies in your tummy, or if you have full blown panic attacks regularly, or anything in between, we all know what it feels like to be anxious. I'm no exception...I know a thing or two about anxiety...hooooo boy!
Aside from some of the traumas I mentioned in my testimony, I struggled with anxiety in my day to day life. I was medicated for quite some time and was one of those individuals that needed Xanax in my purse for those panic attacks that struck whilst driving, at the grocery store, in the middle of church, etc.
Anxiety is scary. It is all-consuming. It is debilitating for some. Some people live in fear of leaving their homes lest they a panic attack sneak up on them in public. They are unpredictable and seemingly without cause.
For me, personally, a panic attack usually started with a tightening in my chest. My heart rate would accelerate and my breathing would soon follow. My mind would begin to race and if I didn't recognize this as the onset of an attack, I would spiral out of control. Without a pill and some positive self-talk, I'd begin struggling to breathe and crying uncontrollably and become so completely terrified that I became totally incapable of any kind of functioning. Forget being a mother when one of these suckers hit! If I did manage to talk myself down, the best I got was a mild state of panic, or as many like to refer to it, a fight-or-flight state. In this case, I was on edge, often seeming angry, until the panic wore off on it's own.

I tell you what, people, that is no way to live.

So, what changed? My perspective did. It was not easy by any means, the process or the decision to embark on the journey. You see, it's more comfortable to say "I have no control over this" than to take responsibility because if you don't have control, then it's not your fault. I thought for a long time that a shrink and a pill were going to be a part of my life forever...something happened to me as an infant and it scarred me with life-long anxiety and there was nothing I could do about it.
God spoke to me through Miss Priscilla Shirer one Monday night at Bible study. She was speaking about the strongholds in our minds that hold us back and how the only way to destroy these mental, emotional, and spiritual strongholds was with spiritual weapons. This wisdom comes from 2 Corinthians 4:10.

 "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds"

That got me thinking...instead of repeating "I am a good mom. I am a good person. I am safe. There is no reason to be afraid. God loves me, etc" when panic struck, maybe I should be repeating Scripture. Maybe, each morning, instead of writing down something positive I think about myself, I should write down something positive about God, or something positive that God says about me.

Sounds great in theory, but oh my word was it difficult!

You see...Satan does not like when we fight back. He wants us weakened by our own insecurities and our insecurities are a result of our pride. Yes, you read that right. It is prideful to think that we know better than God. That is exactly what we do when we say "I'm not good enough" and He says we are a masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10). We are prideful when we say "I can't do this" and He has said that we are conquerors (Romans 8:37). We are prideful when we say "I am alone" when He will do it for us (Galatians 2:20).

Satan wants us to be prideful. He wants us to allow these thoughts. Then, when his demons come after us, we are weak, we feel defenseless, and we fall. Yes, I said anxiety is a demonic attack. That sounds like I'm some crazy Pentecostal, I know, but you know how you can tell? An ailment is a demonic attack if it attacks the spiritual life of the sick. A cold is probably not an attack, but depression is. A broken foot is likely not some spiritual destruction, but anxiety is. Etc...etc...etc.

Call me crazy if you'd like, but as soon as I wrapped my head around this, I began to get better. The Bible is full of references to battling demons, so look there first. See how many times we are told of warfare against demons (you can start with James 4:7, 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, Mark 16:17, 1 Peter 5:8, and Ephesians 6:12).

So...how do we use this to fight off anxiety? You learn His word. You study and memorize and repeat His promises in moments of darkness. Scripture is your divine weapon mentioned in 2 Corinthians.You remind yourself that you can do all things through He who strengthens you (Philippians 4:13). You pray unceasingly (Philippians 4:6-7). You recognize that He is always with you (Psalm 23:4). Finally, you need to not be afraid of looking or sounding foolish and you tell Satan to go away! You tell him that you are a child of God and you rebuke him in Jesus' name, and then you be still, and let God do His thing (Psalm 46:10).

Just yesterday, I was driving home and I was trying my best to hear the song on the radio rather than the thoughts in my head and my chest began to tighten. You see, my family is in the middle of a move that isn't going very smoothly. I am 31 weeks pregnant. My husband is working 14 hours a day. My kids are a handful, because they can sense all of my stress. I have baby shower today where I'll be the center of attention (something I have anxiety about). And I am dealing with a dozen different doctors right now and travel arrangements for our unborn son who will need heart surgery just after birth. I am an absolute stress-case! It's no wonder my heart rate accelerated; anyone would understand me having a panic attack...life is rough right now! However, as soon as I felt that, I did not accept it. I prayed for deliverance and began reciting Psalm 46:10. The radio began to play Move by MercyMe followed by The One I'm Running To and King of My Heart. As soon as I asked, I was given relief. No pill. No shrink.
Now, it wasn't that easy from the start. When I stopped my therapy and medications over a year ago, I stumbled and I fell a lot, but I kept at it. Changing your thinking is hard, but the Bible tells us to hold every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5), and practice makes perfect. It takes time, but if you are willing to put in your effort, and you can trust Him to do His part and change you by the Holy Spirit...you will experience freedom.

And I tell you what, after 22 years of being held down by anxiety...freedom is so, so beautiful!

God is good!

Hell is NOT a fiery inferno!

Most people don’t like to talk about Hell.

It’s uncomfortable. It’s unclear. More often than not, when people do talk about Hell, it’s to manipulate and scare someone to Christ.

Hmmmm yeah...not a good idea.

So, Hell is typically a subject that people avoid and there is no need to feel uneasy about it or to use it as a weapon. Let’s take a look at Scripture to see what it says.

Who will go to Hell?

No one wants to hear that their dearly departed is in Hell, so most people just stick with “they’re in a better place” and with good cause…that would be just plain rude to imply the opposite, but some people do, in fact go to Hell.

Who?

Matthew 25:31-46 implies that all who love toward those less fortunate will gain eternal life and those who reject them will receive eternal punishment. Revelation 21:8 says that the “cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur.” However, the lake of burning sulfur is NOT the Hell (or Hades) that people go to at the first death. That is the second death. Hades is thrown in the lake as well.

So, wait…

...being a good person gets you into heaven?!

No, not exactly.

Acts 16:31 tells us that simply believing in Jesus Christ as your Lord will save you.

So, who goes to Hell?

Everyone who does not believe that Christ saved them will. If you simply accept your salvation, you’re golden. Literally.

Now that sparks the question of “well what if they had lived a few more years? What if they would have eventually accepted Christ, but they died too soon?”

That will not happen.

If a person has not yet reached an age of accountability, or was simply taken before they were ready, then He will send them wherever they would have chosen to go. He is GOD after all; He is all-knowing.
He knows where you would have placed your faith had you been given the chance.

As unimaginable as it is that someone could have a true God experience and still turn away from Him…well I do not have an answer for that.
I can’t imagine someone coming face to face with Him and not falling to their knees in awe, but the Bible says that it will happen.

What is Hell like?

Well the Bible says that there will be flames and moaning and weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Do I take this literally? Heck to the no!

Flames are used several times in the Bible to represent judgment.
God is a fiery God.
Jesus returns to Earth engulfed in flames.

These are symbols of judgment and because Hell is the result of your judgment…it makes sense for it to be referred to as fiery.

I do not think people will actually burn for eternity.

God puts people in Hell because they don’t want to be around Him.

It would be quite childish to say “well, since you don’t want to be around me, you can just burn! Ha!”

What about weeping and moaning and gnashing of teeth? Well…I can imagine that if you spend your life condemning He who gave you life and ultimately land yourself in Hell…once you have realized that you really messed up…you’re going to be pretty upset!
People weep and moan and gnash their teeth when they mourn the loss of a fellow human, a loved one, so can you imagine the mourning that would occur after realizing that they lost God, lost all love?

God is love, so it’s safe to say that there is no love in Hell.

Pretty depressing, really.

People don’t need to be whipped and burned and tortured for eternity to make Hell scary. Just being away from God is scary enough all on it’s own.

Why does God use an infinite solution for a finite offense?

Well…there is actually a really simple explanation for that. The length of time it took to commit a crime has no bearing on how severe the crime was.

For example…if you were to rob a bank, it would probably take days, maybe even weeks or months to plan and perfect your escape and then, eventually, to pull off the heist. In the state of California, that would earn you three to nine years of prison.

However, let’s say you kill someone. No planning at all. You just pull out a gun and shoot a man and it takes you all of ten seconds. In most every state that would be a minimum of 25 years, but you’re really looking at life in prison.

So, the crime that took months gets you 9 years and the crime that took ten seconds gets life.

Because the time it took is not relevant to how heinous the crime was. 

What is the worst thing a person can do? How about to mock and dishonor the One being they owe absolutely everything to? Not to mention the influence they may have had on taking others from God. Not a finite crime when you look at it that way, is it?

Why doesn’t God just force people to go to Heaven?

Well honestly, that’s just dehumanizing.

God had given us the power of free choice and nothing speaks of His love and respect for us more than his willingness to send us to Hell.

He respects our decision to be apart from Him, no matter how much it grieves Him.

What a gentleman!
To think…if you want nothing to do with Him, He will respect that and stay away from you! Wow!

Why doesn’t God just destroy people who don’t choose Him?

Well come on now…that’s worse than forcing them to go to Heaven! That’s totally immoral!

He respects your choice.

Period.

End of story.

Why doesn’t God give people a second chance?

Well now, here’s where things get tricky. Many people think that once you go to Hell, well then that is that.
Others, however, think that Judgment Day is the final say. I happen to fall into that second group. Let’s look at the Scripture now and make sure I’m not just spouting fantasies…

Revelation 20:11-15 talks of the judgment of the dead. It says that all dead come forth to be judged based on what is written in the book of life.
Now, there is much disagreement on the book of life and the Lamb’s book of life. I, myself, believe that they are different.

The book of life contains the names of every single person who has ever lived.
The Lamb’s book of life contains the name of every individual who is born again, and only those who are born again.

That can be argued seven ways to Sunday, and we will never really know the true answer until we die, but for now, this is what makes sense to me.

Now, every person will be judged based on what is written in the book of life. The name implies that what is written is from your life, but let’s not assume, we all know what that does. I believe that what you did in death is also recorded. The amends you made and the forgiveness people may have asked for whilst in Hell. At this point of judgment all of that will come into play and every soul will have the choice to accept or reject God and His son. Those who reject will be thrown into the lake.
Will anyone reject Him? Seems highly unlikely, but the Bible says it will happen.

Also, anyone who’s name is not written in the book of life will be thrown in. Who is this? These are the “people” Satan has created in his pathetic attempt to imitate all that God does. I could go on into much more detail and pull on all sorts of Scripture, but I already put my husband through that, and quite frankly, if you want the verses, leave a comment and we can chat.

The bottom line:

Everything that anyone will ever tell you about Hell is just speculation. This entire post is just my speculation. You can study Hell until kingdom come and you will never truly know any answers.

God is blatant about many things in His word and Hell is not one of them.

Some things He gives you a taste of, but nothing more. Why? Because He knows we are imperfect and we will misuse information and become arrogant.
Maybe.
I don’t know...

That’s the point.

No one knows.

So then what do you tell people when it comes up?
You tell them just that. “I have an idea. I have something I believe in, but I don’t know.”

We know that God is perfect and holy and ultimately good, and so with that knowledge we trust that Hell is necessary and that it is not a cruel or evil way of dealing with a sad situation and we accept that we just don’t know all there is to know.

You know Hell is only mentioned in the NIV translation 14 times.
Grace is said 123 times, Faith 254 times, and Love 232 times.

So you tell me…what should we be talking about more?

What is the message God is sending?

Should kids watch Avengers: Infinity War?

The new Avengers movie has had comic book nerds and normies alike on the edge of their seats for months. With such dramatic trailers, and 10 years of build, it's not hard to understand why!

The question is...as intense as the trailers were, is the new Avengers movie too much for kids? Our kids have loved watching the movies that Marvel has churned out over the last decade (save for a couple that were just a bit too inappropriate).
Our 5yo girl is totally in love with Captain America.

No really.

In love.

She nabbed a kiss from the Cap at Disneyland when she was three. Yep...THREE.

Our 7yo son loves Iron Man and they both are fans of Spiderman. Just to name a few.

Bottom line is that we are a Marvel family! So, we wanted to take the kids to see the new movie but were a bit anxious about the possible deaths that were implied in the trailers.

So, I looked up who died, just to be sure it wasn't any of their favorites and we took a chance and saw it today, opening day, and I'm gonna break it down for you other concerned parents!

Bottom line: I would NOT recommend this movie for children under 13. It was very hard for our kids to see and this is why...

WARNING: SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT

Avengers: Infinity War starts off with a bang with two deaths within the first ten minutes.

Heimdall and Loki die at the hand of Thanos almost back to back and the loss of those characters (Thor's best friend and brother) was not the problem. The camera does not leave their face as they die and you get a front row seat to the life leaving their eyes.

....in the first ten minutes.

Powerful opening to a dramatic movie, highlighting the horror of war, but something that was haunting for our 7yo. I looked to both of them at the moment that "Lougie the bad guy" (Loki) died and while my 5yo seemed totally zoned out, the 7yo had wide eyes and an unreadable expression.

After the movie he informed me that it made him feel terrible and like his heart was being smashed.

Which makes my heart feel pretty smashed, too, of course.

We then see several scenes of violence and heroism as per what you would expect in a superhero movie. Nothing super bothersome.

Then, we see some blood when Gamora slices Thanos' neck and stabs him in the chest.

It turns out to be an illusion and we are soon seeing Gamora held by Thanos, begging her love, Peter Quill to kill her rather than let Thanos take her. We see a very emotional interaction between them.

Thanos tortures Nebula and we can hear her screams as he gets Gamora to reveal the location of the Soul Stone. Karen Gilman did an amazing job there because the screams were quite haunting.

Thanos discovers that he must lose the soul he loves most in order to get the Soul Stone. We see him break down in tears before he wrestles with a frantic and terrified Gamora and throws her from a cliff. Pan to her broken body on the ground.

Our 5yo seems incredibly disturbed by this. She keeps talking about how sad it was that her daddy killed her.

Wanda Maximoff has to destroy the Mind Stone from Vision's forehead. She has a very hard time as she, sobbing, attacks the stone, killing the man she loves, with one hand while she fights Thanos off with the other.

And finally, at the end, we see several characters turn to dust when Thanos wins. Yes, he wins. Evil winning is a hard thing for small children to wrap their head around. And the mass death that follows really shook up our son.

Some are quick and some we see slowly blow away with heavy emotional farewells.

It was very sad. Quite dramatic. Lots of intense emotions.

Throw in the snarky one liners, a tad bit of questionable language and the usual superhero violence plus what I mentioned above....yeah, not for small children.

I highly recommend this movie to anyone who follows MCU, but I cannot in good conscience recommend letting children see it. My husband and I are already doing a fair amount of repairing with our littles in trying to redirect their focus to the good morals and noble sacrifices made. The heroics.

Have you seen the movie, yet? What was your opinion on it?

Why Moms Take Bubble Baths

I feel like a freaking mermaid, dude.

I'm sitting in blue water, and no it didn't come from my toilet. I just used a bath bomb and it turned my water blue and now I feel like a mermaid.

Except mermaid probably don't drink and swim and I got me some wine.

And I'm totally at peace with said wine and tub, so I am blogging. Cause the whole world needs to know...

Or "Why Moms Take Bubble Baths."

Well, moms take bubble baths because we have in laws that stress us out. And by "stress us out" I mean "drive us to drink."

Moms take baths because we heard the word "mom" 752 times today.

We take baths because our daughters tell our elderly neighbors that their penis is hanging out of their pants....when it's not....Just because they want an excuse to say "penis" because they are a little jelly that they don't have one.

We take baths because we gave 4 hair ruffles, 26 hugs, 12 high fives, and 6,287 kisses today and we are All. Touched. Out.

We take baths because our babies are teething molars and nursing around the clock and this is the first time they have slept for more than 10 minutes in the last two days

We take baths because we didn't get dinner on the table until 7.30 and we need a place to hide from the guilt.

We take baths because we stress-drank a Mountain Dew at 3'o'clock this afternoon and are sorely regretting it.

We take baths because our husbands are stressed out about the same in laws we are stressed out about and we hate seeing them so upset.

We take baths because our muscles hurt from all of the cleaning and the lifting of tiny humans.

We take baths because our children ran away from home and were brought back by police at 5am. And then again at 3am, two months later, after we installed very high up locks and alarms, so now we have to go buy even MORE locks and now our house feels like a prison and said cops threatened to call CPS. Yeah. That really happened.

They found the key, climbed a stool, unlocked it and disabled the alarm, little sneaks.

We take baths because our sons have smart mouths and have somehow managed to perfect a teenage attitude at just six years of age.

We take baths because we need a quiet place to think (and blog 😉).

We take baths because our husbands work graveyard, so we are sleeping alone. Again. Because the baby that spits up all over you all night long every night doesn't count.

We take baths because the bubbles cover up our mommy apron and make us feel like we did when we were sixteen.

We take baths because no one questions a glass of wine in the tub. Whereas a glass of wine when you're watching Netflix. In bed. By yourself. On a Monday night may raise some eyebrows.

We take baths because they make us feel like mermaids.

We take baths because behind a shower curtain is a great place to hide. Seriously, they never look there.

We take baths because candles rock and candles that are just for you are even better.

But most of all, we take baths just because we can, dammit.

So the next time your life is freaking crazy as all get out and you just wanna shoot something. Pour a glass of vino, light a couple candles, grab a book or Netflix, and take a bath, mama. You totally deserve it.

My parents did it, and I turned out fine...

Can we all just agree that that is the worst line ever?

I mean really...my grandparents rode in the front seat of the car with no seatbelts or carseats...And they turned out fine. So why can't I do it?

I mean, really, that's what it sounds like to me when people use that line!

And it is used often! For anything from spankings and fast food to unrestricted screen time and starting solid foods.

It. Drives. Me. Nuts.

If you truly did turn out "fine" then you are lucky because the rest of us are getting worse.

Overall mental wellbeing has been steadily declining in America's youth for over 80 years.

Yes. Since the 1930s, our teens and young adults have been growing more depressed and more anxious.

In fact, from 2005 to 2014, the percentage of teens who claimed to have suffered major depression rose from 8.7% to 11.3% according to a study.
One in ELEVEN teens has a depressive episode each year.

Mentally ill teens become mentally ill adults and I am sitting here wondering what part of this is "fine."

Someone once told me they were spa ked as a child and they, and their siblings, all turned out fine. All of the children in this family grew into very anxious and/or depressed adults, to the point of needing medication and one wound up in jail.

That is NOT "fine."

We are not fine. Society as a whole is sick. Very sick. And we are getting sicker.

Between 2001 and 2009, instances of Type 1 diabetes increased by 23%. Celiac disease is on the rise and is now affe ting 1 in 133 people in the good ol' USA. Autoimmune disease are taking us over and the CDC has said they have no idea why!


So please, stop saying you are fine. Chances are, you are not "fine."


Heart disease, mental illness, autoimmune disorders, obesity, etc. It's everywhere and It's getting worse.

I'm not content to sit back and watch my kids suffer the same challenges I have. What we are doing, as a society, is not working.

So, I'm trying something different.

I buy my dirty dozen organic. I get my meat without hormones. I drink my milk raw and I avoid sugar like the plague.

I explain my reasons to my children. I try my damnedest to use a gentle voice and listen to their side of things. I struggle, but I wake up every morning with a plan to not spank them.

I limit their screen time to a max of 30 minutes a day and I preview every single thing they see.

I once handmade all of our soaps and cleaners...I still do some, but I must admit, I've gotten lazy.

I baby wear, cosleep, and breastfeed.

I don't care how many people turned out "fine."
More and more of us aren't. And that's reason enough for me to do something different.

Misfit mommies, unite! 👊

Apologizing is Overrated

So, I have kids. Obviously. And these kids fight. A lot.
Well, today, we had one of those fights. Aedyn was on Zachary's bed and he wanted her off. So, he shoved her off.
Don't worry, she caught herself...

...with her face.

I hear screaming and rush into their room to see her there with a bloody nose and him sitting in the corner looking simultaneous smug and guilty...an expression he has perfected.

So, after the bleeding stopped, he comes out and sits next to her and says, "I am going to draw you a picture so you know I am sorry and it will be all better."

I turned to him with an expression of pure bewilderment. Apparently I had some parenting to do.

Apologizing does not make things all better. Saying that you are sorry does not heal wounds, physical or emotional. It just doesn't, and to think that it does is just foolish and immature.

Now, Zachary is only six, so he is allowed to have moments of foolishness and immaturity....and those are the moments we parents need to step up and teach.

I find that kids, mine at least, respond well to visual aids. So, let me introduce you to my method.

I take a perfectly smooth and white piece of printer paper and show it to them.

This paper is a brand new baby. Flawless. Perfect. Undamaged.

Now, this baby grows into a child and then an adult and over the years they get told some mean words. They get called stupid and lazy and selfish.

So now those words have damaged this flawless human being. Look at those ugly words.
Now, let's say those people who said those things apologize for saying them. They try to erase them, if you will.

Did erasing work? No, of course not. It may have lessened the sting a little bit, but those words are forever engrained on this person's heart, faded, but definitely there and those words will sneak up on them in their moments of weakness.


Not. Cool.


Now, over the years, they were also pushed and kicked and hit by others. Let's say there was a bully in school and they got into a few tussle with their brother as well.

Ouch. That looks like it hurts.

Well, the bully finds them on Facebook and sends them an apology to assuage their guilt and they are now the best of friends with their brother. So, let's smooth that paper back out.

Oh no...it isn't as smooth as it was before. Let's try even harder to flatten it back out.

Nope...not happening. This paper is never going to be the same as it was before. Just look at the difference here.

Saying sorry doesn't make it all better.

It. Just. Doesn't.

Forgiveness can heal a lot of things, but that hasn't worked it's way into the paper model, yet. I'm working on it.

So, please...stop teaching your kids that apologies fix everything. It's unrealistic. They are a necessary part of healing that relationship, but they definitely do not make everything all better.

How about instead, we take the time to teach our kiddos that being mean is never okay and that we ought to love our neighbors?
That sounds much better to me.

What do you think of the paper model? How would you work forgiveness into it?

Christians have too many rules...

The Bible has a lot of rules. I mean…a lot. I honestly have no idea just how many are there, and I felt no urge from the Spirit to Google it because it is enough to say that there are a whole stinkin’ lot of them! Leviticus is probably the most well-known book of the Bible for spouting off rules that seem unnecessary, questionable, or just plain ludicrous (do not wear clothing made of two different materials…huh?)# If you’d like to look at other befuddling laws in other books of the Bible just hit up Google and type in “laws of the old covenant” and browse away! The Ten Commandments are also well-known, and rightly so as they are relevant today. When God gave the nation of Israel the laws to live by way back in the day, He was providing them with a means for hygiene, health, and a healthy society. Many of those laws have science to back them up nowadays. However, The Ten Commandments were something He decreed for all nations and generations. They are relevant to every culture, even today, and will be until the second coming of Christ. So why do we have these rules to follow, if God knew they would no longer be relevant at some point? Well, we don’t. They are documented in the Bible, but that is what we call the old covenant. We are under the new covenant. Jesus came to Earth as God in human form and sacrificed himself to save us from our sins, therefore creating a new covenant with mankind to save us from Hell. That means a lot less headaches trying to follow along with all the rules. We no longer have rules, per say, but a standard that we are held to. I already mentioned The Ten Commandments, and while they are set up as rules, they outline the standard God holds us to. Being a Christian is so much more, though. Jesus came to Earth to live a life that we should emulate as best we can everyday. You see, when Jesus came to Earth, He left man (and woman) with a rational, simple, and necessary standard to live up to. The standard we are required by God to live by is rational; it just makes plain, good ol’ sense. For example, the first of the commandments says that you shall have no other gods before the One True God. Well, duh! If you come to realize that God exists and that He created you and loves you unconditionally…why on Earth would you follow another “god?” That makes no sense! The second commandment of not creating false idols, pretty much goes along with that first one. Then there’s the fourth one. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Um, God expects us to work and earn our living…but He gave us a day to rest. Who would forget to rest?! I don’t know about you, but I like to take a break every once in a while. Look at any of The Ten Commandments and you will find that they are each rational. For more information on those commandments, and what they mean, click here. Now, we are also commended by Christ himself to love. When he was asked which of the laws of the old covenant (which wasn’t the old one, yet) was the greatest, he replied “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”# So, we’re supposed to love people, okay, fair enough, but how is that rational?  Now, God is love. He does not just love us, He actually is love. God is also good. So, if God is love and God is good, then we can use the transitive property of mathematics to derive that love is good. We want to be good, right? So then it would be rational to love. With me so far? Not only is God’s standard rational, but it is also oh so simple. Every single of the commandments is short, sweet and straight to the point. They are all black and white with absolutely no gray area. I feel no urge to even go into any specifically, because it is that simple. Visit the page I referenced earlier if you need proof. Love, however, can be a bit complex if you don’t have the right definition of love. Many people today are misguided in thinking that love is an emotion. If something makes you feel good, gives you butterflies, or makes you happy in general, you claim to love it. However, that is called infatuation. It would be very hard to love everyone and everything as God does, if we were trying to be infatuated with everything. So then, if that’s not love, what is? Well, the Bible defines that for us, too! It makes it very simple! Take a look at 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. Go ahead. I’ll wait… Now, how simple is that? Love is patient. There’s no wiggle room or gray area there. It’s patient…end of story. It’s kind and humble and steadfast and all these things. Now, it’s not easy to be all of those things all of the time, regardless of who you are dealing with, but now the goal of loving is a lot more reachable than when you think of infatuation. See? All of God’s “rules” are simple. They are, in fact, much more simple than modern law. The Bible says “do not kill,” but the State of California says “(clickhereforlaw)” People go to school for years to get a grasp of modern law, and still spend their lifetime learning about it and how it works, but people can spend just a few hours and get a firm understanding of what God commands of us. Last, but certainly not least, God’s standard is absolutely necessary to a healthy, happy, functioning society. Commandment number five says to obey your parents. If children did not obey their parents, we would be in big trouble. Children who do not obey their parents grow into adults who do not obey the law. Commandment number five is necessary to producing law-abiding citizens. Commandments six through nine state that you should not kill, cheat on your spouse, steal, or lie. All of these acts encourage distrust and chaos. These rules are necessary to maintain harmony among people. Commandment number ten says to not covet, or to not want what someone else has. This is necessary for our own state of mind. When you want something that someone else has, you become dissatisfied with your own possessions. This is also applicable to family members and environments. Wishing that your son was potty-trained as early as your neighbors, only leads you to be unhappy with your son’s current abilities on the toilet. Dissatisfaction makes loving much more difficult and can lead to bad moods and harsh words or thoughts. Therefore, this rule is also necessary to maintaining harmony. Regardless of what the rule may be, rules are necessary by principle. We cannot function adequately without boundaries. Look at children who are raised by permissive parents who have little or no rules and fail to enforce them. These children grow up lacking self-control and respect for authority. In a study once done in an elementary school, children were offered to pick and choose whatever they wanted for lunch, rather than having set healthy portions and food groups available. In this study, children did pig out on junk food for the first week or so, but they certainly went back to a healthy, balanced lunch shortly thereafter. Why? Because we need structure. Humans thrive off of structure. Rules are necessary. We want rules! People are happier with rules, plain and simple. We set personal rules for ourselves all the time. We know our tendency to do wrong and to make poor choices, and we use the precedence of our past to create boundaries for ourselves. “Okay, in bed by ten before a test!” “No more dating musicians!” “I am not going to buy potato chips anymore!” We know we’re flawed. We just know and we make rules accordingly. So, we know now that when Jesus came to Earth, He left us with a rational, simple, and necessary standard to live by. We’ve discussed why it’s rational, simple, and necessary…but just what is that standard? We can examine the Bible and pick it apart and try to interpret every little verse, or we can do it the easy way. Sin is what separates us from God, right? Well, what is sin? Sin comes from the Greek and was a term used in archery and it literally means “to miss the mark.” Sin does not necessarily mean breaking a “rule” that God has laid out for us. It means to miss the mark that God has set. It means not hitting the bull’s-eye. The bull’s-eye is Jesus Christ. We are to emulate Him in everything we do. The Holy Spirit will convict us of our wrong, there is no need to study rules and regulations in the Bible. For example, you can say that well, “I just cannot conclude that homosexuality is wrong. The Bible tiptoes around it, but doesn’t come right out and say it.” However, we know that God created sex for reproduction. We know he created woman to be man’s helper. Just on these two facts alone, we know that it is a sin. Simply because it misses the mark. Woman is supposed to be man’s helper, not woman’s helper. Sex is supposed to result in children and between the same gender, it does not. We can also look at the controversy of premarital sex….or any heavy premarital contact. We know that we are supposed to emulate Jesus. Do you think Jesus was walking around having sex with anyone he pleased? I think not. I have WWJD tattooed on my inner wrist to always remind me. I am not called to obey God’s rules, I am called to follow Jesus’ example. So, just because you can’t find a verse strictly forbidding it, does not mean that it’s okay. The Holy Spirit will convict you. You’ll know you’re in the wrong. Follow the example He set and evade sin. It’s not hard. It’s not oppressive. There is more than enough room for fun and laughter and love in the Christian life. When confronted with someone trying to denounce or question the Christian faith and they throw “there are just too many rules” at you…just tell them that God’s rules are no harder to live by than society’s rules!The Bible has a lot of rules. I mean…a lot. I honestly have no idea just how many are there, and I felt no urge from the Spirit to Google it because it is enough to say that there are a whole stinkin’ lot of them! Leviticus is probably the most well-known book of the Bible for spouting off rules that seem unnecessary, questionable, or just plain ludicrous (do not wear clothing made of two different materials…huh?)# If you’d like to look at other befuddling laws in other books of the Bible just hit up Google and type in “laws of the old covenant” and browse away! The Ten Commandments are also well-known, and rightly so as they are relevant today. When God gave the nation of Israel the laws to live by way back in the day, He was providing them with a means for hygiene, health, and a healthy society. Many of those laws have science to back them up nowadays. However, The Ten Commandments were something He decreed for all nations and generations. They are relevant to every culture, even today, and will be until the second coming of Christ. So why do we have these rules to follow, if God knew they would no longer be relevant at some point? Well, we don’t. They are documented in the Bible, but that is what we call the old covenant. We are under the new covenant. Jesus came to Earth as God in human form and sacrificed himself to save us from our sins, therefore creating a new covenant with mankind to save us from Hell. That means a lot less headaches trying to follow along with all the rules. We no longer have rules, per say, but a standard that we are held to. I already mentioned The Ten Commandments, and while they are set up as rules, they outline the standard God holds us to. Being a Christian is so much more, though. Jesus came to Earth to live a life that we should emulate as best we can everyday. You see, when Jesus came to Earth, He left man (and woman) with a rational, simple, and necessary standard to live up to. The standard we are required by God to live by is rational; it just makes plain, good ol’ sense. For example, the first of the commandments says that you shall have no other gods before the One True God. Well, duh! If you come to realize that God exists and that He created you and loves you unconditionally…why on Earth would you follow another “god?” That makes no sense! The second commandment of not creating false idols, pretty much goes along with that first one. Then there’s the fourth one. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Um, God expects us to work and earn our living…but He gave us a day to rest. Who would forget to rest?! I don’t know about you, but I like to take a break every once in a while. Look at any of The Ten Commandments and you will find that they are each rational. For more information on those commandments, and what they mean, click here. Now, we are also commended by Christ himself to love. When he was asked which of the laws of the old covenant (which wasn’t the old one, yet) was the greatest, he replied “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”# So, we’re supposed to love people, okay, fair enough, but how is that rational?  Now, God is love. He does not just love us, He actually is love. God is also good. So, if God is love and God is good, then we can use the transitive property of mathematics to derive that love is good. We want to be good, right? So then it would be rational to love. With me so far? Not only is God’s standard rational, but it is also oh so simple. Every single of the commandments is short, sweet and straight to the point. They are all black and white with absolutely no gray area. I feel no urge to even go into any specifically, because it is that simple. Visit the page I referenced earlier if you need proof. Love, however, can be a bit complex if you don’t have the right definition of love. Many people today are misguided in thinking that love is an emotion. If something makes you feel good, gives you butterflies, or makes you happy in general, you claim to love it. However, that is called infatuation. It would be very hard to love everyone and everything as God does, if we were trying to be infatuated with everything. So then, if that’s not love, what is? Well, the Bible defines that for us, too! It makes it very simple! Take a look at 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. Go ahead. I’ll wait… Now, how simple is that? Love is patient. There’s no wiggle room or gray area there. It’s patient…end of story. It’s kind and humble and steadfast and all these things. Now, it’s not easy to be all of those things all of the time, regardless of who you are dealing with, but now the goal of loving is a lot more reachable than when you think of infatuation. See? All of God’s “rules” are simple. They are, in fact, much more simple than modern law. The Bible says “do not kill,” but the State of California says “(clickhereforlaw)” People go to school for years to get a grasp of modern law, and still spend their lifetime learning about it and how it works, but people can spend just a few hours and get a firm understanding of what God commands of us. Last, but certainly not least, God’s standard is absolutely necessary to a healthy, happy, functioning society. Commandment number five says to obey your parents. If children did not obey their parents, we would be in big trouble. Children who do not obey their parents grow into adults who do not obey the law. Commandment number five is necessary to producing law-abiding citizens. Commandments six through nine state that you should not kill, cheat on your spouse, steal, or lie. All of these acts encourage distrust and chaos. These rules are necessary to maintain harmony among people. Commandment number ten says to not covet, or to not want what someone else has. This is necessary for our own state of mind. When you want something that someone else has, you become dissatisfied with your own possessions. This is also applicable to family members and environments. Wishing that your son was potty-trained as early as your neighbors, only leads you to be unhappy with your son’s current abilities on the toilet. Dissatisfaction makes loving much more difficult and can lead to bad moods and harsh words or thoughts. Therefore, this rule is also necessary to maintaining harmony. Regardless of what the rule may be, rules are necessary by principle. We cannot function adequately without boundaries. Look at children who are raised by permissive parents who have little or no rules and fail to enforce them. These children grow up lacking self-control and respect for authority. In a study once done in an elementary school, children were offered to pick and choose whatever they wanted for lunch, rather than having set healthy portions and food groups available. In this study, children did pig out on junk food for the first week or so, but they certainly went back to a healthy, balanced lunch shortly thereafter. Why? Because we need structure. Humans thrive off of structure. Rules are necessary. We want rules! People are happier with rules, plain and simple. We set personal rules for ourselves all the time. We know our tendency to do wrong and to make poor choices, and we use the precedence of our past to create boundaries for ourselves. “Okay, in bed by ten before a test!” “No more dating musicians!” “I am not going to buy potato chips anymore!” We know we’re flawed. We just know and we make rules accordingly. So, we know now that when Jesus came to Earth, He left us with a rational, simple, and necessary standard to live by. We’ve discussed why it’s rational, simple, and necessary…but just what is that standard? We can examine the Bible and pick it apart and try to interpret every little verse, or we can do it the easy way. Sin is what separates us from God, right? Well, what is sin? Sin comes from the Greek and was a term used in archery and it literally means “to miss the mark.” Sin does not necessarily mean breaking a “rule” that God has laid out for us. It means to miss the mark that God has set. It means not hitting the bull’s-eye. The bull’s-eye is Jesus Christ. We are to emulate Him in everything we do. The Holy Spirit will convict us of our wrong, there is no need to study rules and regulations in the Bible. For example, you can say that well, “I just cannot conclude that homosexuality is wrong. The Bible tiptoes around it, but doesn’t come right out and say it.” However, we know that God created sex for reproduction. We know he created woman to be man’s helper. Just on these two facts alone, we know that it is a sin. Simply because it misses the mark. Woman is supposed to be man’s helper, not woman’s helper. Sex is supposed to result in children and between the same gender, it does not. We can also look at the controversy of premarital sex….or any heavy premarital contact. We know that we are supposed to emulate Jesus. Do you think Jesus was walking around having sex with anyone he pleased? I think not. I have WWJD tattooed on my inner wrist to always remind me. I am not called to obey God’s rules, I am called to follow Jesus’ example. So, just because you can’t find a verse strictly forbidding it, does not mean that it’s okay. The Holy Spirit will convict you. You’ll know you’re in the wrong. Follow the example He set and evade sin. It’s not hard. It’s not oppressive. There is more than enough room for fun and laughter and love in the Christian life. When confronted with someone trying to denounce or question the Christian faith and they throw “there are just too many rules” at you…just tell them that God’s rules are no harder to live by than society’s rules!