Day 313: Don't Pressure Yourself

1 John 3:20

for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.

Romans 8:1

There is no condemnation now for those who live in union with Christ Jesus.

Some of us are way too hard on ourselves. Many of us can say that we are perfectionist. How many times have we looked down upon ourselves for something we did, or felt crappy because we felt like we could have done better? How many times have a put ourselves down because in our eyes we did something wrong. This even goes into self-harm, how many of us have harmed ourselves because we feel like we need to be better or do better or we are not satisfied with who we are. I know I have, done all of these things.

The thing about being a perfectionist and being too hard on ourselves is that we force ourselves to grow. However we do it in a harmful way. As an artist I am a very passionate person, and in general I am very hard on myself, and that allowed me to push to constantly being better, but talking down on myself and hurting myself when I was less than I thought I should be was not a healthy way to get there. I had to realize that discipline and being hard on myself are two completely different things. There is nothing wrong with self-discipline however there is a lot wrong with self-harm. God does not condemn us so why do we do it to ourselves? Why do we think of ourselves as unworthy when to Jesus we are worth everything. No we are not perfect and that is why we need Jesus. He completes us. That perfection we are seeking is only found in Christ, nowhere else. No matter how much we beat ourselves up, or talk down to ourselves, the only one that can make us whole and perfect is Jesus Christ.

Many of us have gone through very tragic things and blamed ourselves from them. Many of us have been abused and mistreated and that has caused us to think we are not enough. Well let me tell you right here and now; YOU ARE ENOUGH! God knew you were enough the moment He made the decision to create you. Don’t spend time coming down on yourself because of what others think or how people have treated you. God’s will for our life is not for us to be mistreated by others or ourselves. He wants us to live with Him and allow our lives to lead others to Him. God does not want us to be out here harming ourselves, it is not HIs desire that we hurt ourselves in any way. God is a healer, and He loves us through the pain. He loves us beyond our sin, and He sees us in our darkest hour. We a meant to live in unity with Him, not trying so hard to be perfect that we separate ourselves from Him.

We sometimes put so much pressure on ourselves to be perfect Christians. When we decide to give our lives to Christ and are dedicated to serving Him ever day of our lives, we find ourselves under our own microscope. What I mean is we want so bad to please God and to live right that we pressure ourselves out of living. Meaning we are often so caught up in getting it right that we can get it wrong. We cannot constantly condemn ourselves for the things we have done or the things we do, no one changes overnight. We all want to be people of God, living right by the word and living a life free of sin, but we must find the line that goes beyond self-discipline and into self-condemnation, or pressuring ourselves to be perfect. The thing about us trying to be perfect on our own is, as I’ve mentioned before we can never get there. The thing about pressure is, too much of it can cause great damage. Think about how much damage we cause ourselves by feeling pressured by the need to be perfect, and the need to always get it right. We are human, and part of our humanity is that sometimes we will get it wrong, sometimes things won’t go the way we planned. But God is so good in the sense that even when we do get it wrong He is there to forgive us and teach us what is right. If we never get something wrongs we’ll never know what was right. Life isn’t about being perfect it is about the willingness to admit our need of a savior. It is about being willing to learn and grow.

All this to say, do not pressure yourself. Do not condemn us and HE created us and knows everything about us. If God, who created us and knows everything there is to know about us and knows what we are going to do before we do it, if He finds no reason to condemn us, let’s not do it to ourselves.  Living in unity with Christ means that there is no condemnation, none.

Reflection

1. Have you ever been too hard on yourself?
2. Has your need to be perfect caused you to harm yourself, whether physically, emotionally or mentally.
3. How has God helped you with that?  

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer today. Have a conversation with God about what we discussed today. If you are that person surrender your worries to God. If you know someone who struggles with this pray for them and reach out to them and let them know they are loved by God and by you.

I love you, I really do. If you are struggling with self harm, please do not suffer in silence, reach out to someone, Anyone. Find someone who will pray with you. I love you and I hope you have an amazing day. Please share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 313!

Day 303: Stick to the Status Quo

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Now when many of us hear the word “status quo” we will automatically break into song, “no no no, stick to stuff you know!”. For those of you who do not get it that was a reference to High School Musical, which will tie into what we discuss today. But first let’s define this word or these words.

Status quo- the existing state or condition.  

Now in High School Musical, the original one, the school went up in flames when everyone found out Troy Bolton wanted to sing and not only sing but sing in musicals, with the theatre department. This is what inspired the song, ‘Stick to the Status Quo’ The song is a protest of Troy changing, they don’t want him to change, they want him to stick to pattern and the dynamic that was already created. Some people (Chad, Sharpay, Ryan) were upset about this revelation while others found it inspiring and started revealing themselves more. Troy was the jock, basketball star, everyone loved him, and he had a bigger influence on his peers than he thought. Something he did as one person changed the dynamic for the rest of the student body.

There’s a few things to point out within that explanation. The first being, what was our current condition or existing state? As the scripture above points out so vividly, we were all once sinners. At one point in our lives we led a life that led us away from God not towards Him. That’s what some of us were, but the scripture goes on to say that we were sanctified. We were washed clean when we accepting Christ into our lives and that changed the status quo. Our condition at the time was sin, but Jesus came along and changed that for us, and He changed us.

Sometimes change is hard, and hard to accept. We get so used to living a certain way that we freak out when things start to change. Like the students in High School Musical, they were so used to things being a certain way that when it started to change they had to push back. Sometimes we push back when it comes to allowing God to change our hearts and our lives because we’ve held on to these things for so long that letting them go is almost like letting a piece of ourselves go. Then we have the people in our lives who cannot seem to accept the fact that we are changing. You ever met someone that wants you to stay in sin because you were “more fun as a sinner”? We all have a past and for many of us that past looked like a life full of fun, or at least what we thought was fun. But honestly we didn’t really know what it mean to live. We have all had moments where people have referenced the person we used to be trying to bring them back. That’s not the person that God wants us to be, and if there are people around us pushing us to go back into that lifestyle then they should not be around us. Troy didn’t really have good friends or at least they were not being good friends to him.  Sometimes we can be so held down by what people think of us, or how our friends will react when they find out that we have given our life to Christ, and that means there will be things that we will no longer participate in. We deal with peer pressure on a different level, whether you smoked, drank, and partied every night and decided to stop because you’ve found fulfillment in Christ. Or maybe you’ve decided to be celibate or abstinent until marriage. There is always that fear of how people will react or what will they say. This is a real thing, but when we have Christ is our lives there is no reason to fear the opinions of others because at the end of the day our relationship with God is more important than what people think and the only opinion that matters is God’s opinion.

Troy changed the dynamic of the school, he did something that brought people together and it changed how they began to view one another. Same for us, Jesus changed the dynamic of this world when He gave His life for us on the cross and was resurrected three days later. When Jesus came and lived a life true to God, it caused people to take that example and begin to walk like Him. He raised people up to carry the torch when He was gone from the earth and to take His place at the right hand of God. Basically what Jesus did was He came and changed the status quo, and many people pushed back. Many people did not believe, but for those who did, He changed our hearts and taught us to walk like Him.

All this to say, don’t stick to the status quo and do not be afraid of change. If our existing condition is sin, I’m here to let you know that there is a way out and His name is Jesus.

Reflection

1. Do you find yourself sticking to the status quo fearing change?
2. Can you recall a time when you felt pressured by your peers to return to your sinful past?
3. Do you want a way out?

Prayer Time

Allow you answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Talk to God about what we discussed today, whatever is on your heart pour it out to Him. If you want a way out of this sinful lifestyle and you want to make that decision whether it be the first time or you want to rededicate, now is the time.

If that’s you if you want to make that decision, pray this prayer with me,

“Jesus I declare that you are my Lord and Saviour who died for my sins and was raised three days later. I repent of my sins and I give my life to you. I believe in my heart that you are the true living God. I pray that you shine your  light on me and bring me out of the darkness and into your light. I love you Lord. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus name, Amen.”

If you made the choice to follow Christ, rededicate, or to submit your life to Him fully, Go to Romans 10:9-10

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

I love you so much and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! If you made the decision to follow Christ today, do not hesitate to reach out and get plugged into a church. I love you and make sure you come back tomorrow for day 304!

Day 255: The Life You Are Called to Love

1 Corinthians 7:17-19

Each of you should continue to live in whatever situation the Lord has placed you, and remain as you were when God first called you. This is my rule for all the churches. For instance, a man who was circumcised before he became a believer should not try to reverse it. And the man who was uncircumcised when he became a believer should not be circumcised now. For it makes no difference whether or not a man has been circumcised. The important thing is to keep God’s commandments.

Today I want to talk about living the life God has called us to live in a different way than usual. As the body of Christ we are constantly being told that we are one body, one spirit, while that remains true I would like to point out the part of the scripture that says different parts make up one body. We are human, and we all have our earthly heroes, the people we look up to the most or who we aspire to be like. However, God is writing a story for each of us. Each of our stories are uniquely different because that’s how He wrote it. No one story is the same. What I’m getting at here is that we are called to live the life God has chosen for us, not for anyone else. We are called to live our story.

Live the life God has called you to live.  Not the life he has for anyone else or the life that anyone else is trying to make you live. Too often we compare ourselves with one another and try to live to lives we see others live. We see the lifestyle people live, or the career they have and wish we could be just like them. Or we try to mould our lives to look like there’s. There’s a lot of pressure on our generation to have it all together, to have this perfect lifestyle. But the truth is, God is still working on us, and we’re going to get there one day, the time just hasn’t come yet.  However, this idea of luxury and riches, brought strongly through social media is raising a generation of posers, who are not living the life they are called to live. But they are living the life, they are pressured into or expected to live. Whether it be family, friends, or fans. The only person’s expectations you are required to meet, the only person you are to please with your life is God. No one else.

One thing I have come to realize very recently; I am very inspired  by people’s stories or careers their journey that got them where they are, and want my outcome to be the same. However, I have come to the realization that their story is not my story. Even if God wrote theirs similar to mine it's very different. God has something different in store for me than He does for someone else. As an actress the question I get asked a lot is “who do you want to be like?”, while I can name a list of people who I admire, I had to realize that God has something different for me and my career than He did for them. Now I am still very inspired by these people but I will not aspire to be them. We cannot live someone else's life and if we try it's not called it called imitating. More like plagiarizing life. No story is exactly the same. Live the story God is writing for you. I promise it's amazing

.  

There is a common misconception that being a Christian strips is of who we are. For some reason people think that once you give your life to Christ you fall into this lifestyle like the rest. Where we all think alike, act alike, and don't have individuality. That's not the body of Christ, that's a cult. God made us who we are for a reason. He's not going to strip us of that. He will strip away the things that are not like Him to enhance who we are. He will strip away sin, pain, hurt, false identity. We are not giving up who we are; we are giving up who we thought we were. We are giving up our pride. We are giving up our sinful nature, in exchange for a lifestyle that is eternal. We are exchanging temporary for eternity.

All this to say, live your life. Don’t try to live anyone else’s life because God is writing your story and it is unique to who you are and who He made you to be. Don’t try to take over someone else’s story and pass it off as your own. It won’t work. Don’t feel like to are require to give in to the pressure or unreal expectations people put on you. It’s your life, follow Christ.

Reflection

1. Are you living your story or someone else’s
2. Have you tried to strip away who you are because you are a follower of Christ
3. Live your story.

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Talk to God about living the life He has called you to live, ask God to help you with your identity. I pray that you be found in Christ and that you realize and understand just who you are.

I love you, so much and I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for day 256!

Day 96: Let's Talk About It- "Single and Waiting on God"

Today’s devo is dedicated to all the single people out there in their twenties, and waiting on God,

At this age we are going through changes, many changes, and some of those changes means trying a hand at being single or making the choice to wait on God. We are entering the age where family starts to ask us about marriage, and we start seeing our friends married and in happy relationships, and sometimes you wonder when it’s your turn. As someone who is single and has been for a while, I’m enjoying life as a single woman, and choosing to wait on God but if I’m being honest, there are times when I’m just like, God can I have someone? Can I just go on a date or something?

There is beauty in being single and waiting on God, but I also want you to know that it will not last forever. There are a few topics of discussion today.

Being Single is a time to devote ourselves more to God.

While we are waiting on God to send us whoever it is that HE has for us, it is a time to not only find ourselves but find ourselves in Christ.

Paul talks about the advantages of being single in 1 Corinthians 7:32-34,

I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord.  But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife,  and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband.

We are almost always in this state of preparing for marriage. This isn’t the time to do that, we can do that when we’re engaged and going through premarital counseling. Now is the time to get lost in God. Now is the time to enjoy being by ourselves and learning how to be alone without being lonely.

This is the time where we can dedicate our entire beings to the Lord, where we do not have to worry about someone else but we can just worry about our relationship with God. When we are single the best relationship is the one we have with God. I remember someone saying, “I want to be so lost in God, that my husband has to find God to find me.” We all want that happy ending, most of us want to be married one day and have a family, and we will get there. But use the time before it comes to build a solid foundation within the Lord. We have to focus on building a relationship with God before we can build it with anyone else.  We cannot really build a healthy relationship with anyone else until we find ourselves planted in Christ.

Being single is sometimes hard

I am well aware of how hard it is to be single sometimes. Most of the time it’s good, we are enjoying life without the worries of being attached to anyone. We are enjoying building friendships and platonic relationships. We’re enjoying finding ourselves and learning more about ourselves everyday,  but some days it’s just hard not to be lonely. A lot of times this loneliness is brought on by sexual urges, and let me tell you, they will blindside you. We have to make sure that we are covered with the full armor of GOd, because these ditches of temptation are the hardest to jump over.

Matthew 5:27-28

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart”

While we may not be married or in a relationship with anyone we are in a committed and devoted relationship with God. Therefore our eyes must stay on Him, They have to because if they don’t they will start to wonder and who knows where our minds will end up. I know from experience.

Sometimes we think that our eyes are excluded from being sinful, it’s what we see that gets us all hot and bothered. Our eyes will get us into a lot of trouble.  

Now, I’m not telling you to close your eyes whenever you see someone attractive from the opposite sex. There is nothing wrong with being attracted to someone. We have eyes, and we can appreciate the beauty upon this earth, and sometimes that beauty is another person. What I’m saying is stay away from lust. We can acknowledge someone’s beauty and keep it pushing, when we start to look at them sexually that’s when it becomes a problem. It’s so easy to fall into, but we cannot allow these sexual desires and lustful eyes take root within us or we will end up doing things we'll regret.

Please note that Jesus was single, and if He did it so can we.

It will come, don’t worry about it.

My family asks me all the time if I think I’m going to get into a relationship soon, and my answer is always, “I don’t know, right now I’m enjoying being single.”

Ecclesiastes 3:1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens

God’s timing is perfect, perfect. You will meet the right person at the right time. I think we get caught up sometimes in the plans we have for our own lives, and comparing our lives to the people around us that we forget what God is doing within us. We see our friends in relationships and even getting married. Family is starting to put pressure on us, and we want to try to rush God. If we just wait it out we will see God’s plan unfold right before our eyes. We are not single for no reason, Go wanted us to be alone at this point in time, and the reason might be different for all of us. But one thing is for sure is that when the time is right God will send that perfect person our way. God knows exactly who we will spend our life with, He knows the person, the moment we will meet, all the details. The best part about waiting on God is that, He is the best match maker ever. Every pairing he makes will be perfect. We just have to trust His timing and in the meantime enjoy our time with Him alone.

Reflection/ Prayer Time

Talk to God about whatever stood out to you today. If you are single and waiting on God, talk to God about diving deeper into a relationship with Him. Whatever is on your heart today, lay it your to Him and be honest.

I love you! I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Make sure you share this with someone and talk about it. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for Day 97!

Day 71: Thriving Under Pressure

I remember being told by someone much older than me, “What are you worried about? You have nothing to be worried about,” They were so wrong, there were a million things for me to be worried about. We as young people get told all the time that we don’t know what it’s like to really worry or stress about something. Almost as if we don’t have the right to because we haven’t experienced enough.  But there is so much pressure on us sometimes, coming from every which way, we default to stress and worry, induced by pressure.  

James 1:12

“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”

Mark 15:15

Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.

Luke 23:23-24

But they were insistent, with loud voices asking that He be crucified. And their voices began to prevail. And Pilate pronounced sentence that their demand be granted.

Pressure is interesting, it takes us out of ourselves. We start to do thing we wouldn’t normally do. When we are under pressure sin looks good to us, because we want relief from whatever it is we’re going through. The question here  is, can we stay faithful even when we are under pressure, can we find strength in our  savior, can we continue to move and push forward.

One of the best examples of cracking under pressure in the bible is when Pontius Pilate sentenced Jesus to satisfy the request of the people, against His better judgement. Pontius Pilate knew that Jesus was innocent He knew that the people were speaking lies against an innocent man. Yet the people pressured him into releasing a murderer, they pressured Him into sentencing an innocent man to death. Pontius Pilate was under so much pressure that He cracked. He ended up doing something that he did not want to do because the stress upon him was so great, He needed relief. Sadly, sometimes relief means cracking under pressure.  

We go through the same things, with our friends pulling on us, our parents expectations of us, the pressures and temptations of the world. Sometimes the pressure is too great that we just need some release. We can get temporarily relief, or we can thrive. We can stress drink, have sex, get high, give in to what the world is telling us to do. We can get temporary relief we need at the moment, or we can find the strength in Christ to stand on His word and not let our lives be altered by the pressures coming from the outside.

The biggest questions we ask ourselves in this situation is, How do I remain the person I want to be when I am under pressure? The answer is only a true relationship with God can assure us that even in the worst of times, if we remain faithful to God, our souls will not be corrupted. Our Spirits cannot be tainted. As scripture tells us, If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small (Proverbs 24:10). When we find our strength in the Lord we will not faint, we will not crack, or we will not give in to pressure. We will stand firm, we will soar. It’s hard, I know it is but God’s voice is louder than the rest, His presence is bigger, we are meant to please Him and no one else. God won’t pressure us into to doing something we don’t want to do, that’s why we must make the choice to follow Him. So we must make to the choice to thrive or give in.

Isaiah 40: 31

But those who trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed. They will rise on wings like eagles; they will run and not get weary; they will walk and not grow weak.

Reflection

1. What pressures do you feel coming from those around you, of any?
2. Do you feel the need to please people and meet their expectations of you?
3. Are you going to thrive or crack under pressure?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer today. Talk to God about the pressures you feel, if any, the stress you are under or whatever is causing you to do things you would not normally do. Ask Him for spiritual strength so that you will not give in, ask Him to help you thrive under the pressure and stay close to Him.

I love you!, I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Make sure you come back tomorrow for Day 72!.