Let's Chat

One of the great things about writing a blog is that you have an opportunity to chat with people from all over the world. I LOVE all the comments and emails I receive, please feel free to leave one at anytime! I read them all and often cherish the sentiments. Recently I received a comment that I thought we all could chat about. Here is the comment:

I think this needs some clarification. Are you saying it's wrong to think someone else besides your spouse is attractive? Sometimes that's just a fact!! If God had intended us to only see beauty in our spouse, we'd all be blind. I find nothing wrong in seeing the beauty in another person. That doesn't mean I want to get in bed with them or that I have an impure thought. I also find it hard to believe that I am SINNING if I eat an entire pizza rather than just a few slices. If such thought is the case, then nearly every single thing we do every moment of our lives is a sin. Am I sinning now because I am questioning you? Not trying to be controversial, but I do want to challenge this thinking. Am I sinning because I didn't take a shower today? Am I sinning because I don't force my children to drink a glass of milk every day? I do not believe there is a line drawn in the sand. Yes, there is sin. But I haven't seen where God is going to damn me to hell because I ate a whole bag of Doritos or I think Channing Tatum is a good looking man. Opinions? 

I am happy to clarify my thoughts from the post "How Far Can We Go?" First, I am not the one who decides what is sin. I am simply sharing what I have found while studying God's Word and how His love and guidance help my family through our days. It certainly is not a sin to disagree with me, question me or challenge me.....I am simply a follower of Christ sharing my experiences. I would encourage us all to read the scriptures for ourselves and pray to God for guidance whenever we read a Christian blog, hear a sermon or watch an evangelist. All leaders, including myself, can make mistakes and could possibly be teaching falsely without even knowing it. I actually like being challenged, because it makes me certain of what I really believe.

When it comes to bringing honor to my marriage, I don't feel it is healthy for me to be staring at or commenting on the attractiveness of others. Now I find beauty in lots of places, especially nature and my children. I have learned and consciously teach my children that people are beautiful/ attractive/ handsome because of their character, values and relationship with Christ. Scripture is clear when it comes to lust. If you look lustfully at someone, you have already committed adultery with them in your heart. (Matthew 5:28) There is most certainly a difference between noticing a person and lusting after them. I don't look the same as the day I married my husband, he does not look the same either. However, he is more attractive to me today with his thinning hair, gray streaks and few extra pounds, than he has ever been. I love who he is, and no matter what he looks like, that doesn't change.

Pizza and Doritos are not foods that we find in scripture, so it is true that no where in the Bible does it say you can't eat an entire pizza or a whole bag of Doritos, however, scripture does talk about gluttony. Gluttony is eating in excess. In my opinion, eating an entire pizza or a whole bag of Doritos would be excessive. Depending on what translation of scripture you use you can find several verses talking about the harms of gluttony. I will simply share two:
         -Ezekiel 16:49 (NLT)   Sodom's sins were pride, gluttony, and laziness......
         -Proverbs 23:2 (NIV) and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony.
It is pretty clear that gluttony is not something that brings God glory and is something that should be avoided. (That said, I have been tempted in the past to eat an entire bag of Oreos....but that doesn't make it right.)

The idea behind my post was to encourage us to strive to live holy lives and help our children live holy also. It was not meant to list every sin or offense that might pass through our day. Things like showering and drinking milk are American ideals and may be offensive to someone trying to do things the "right way" according to our society, but they are not sins. They have nothing to do with our relationship with God and the high calling He has for us. My deepest desires are for us all to draw closer to Christ, to raise children that glorify the Lord and to have families that bring His love to those we encounter. My ideas may be strange to some, but they are convictions God has laid on my heart. I do not wish to live as others that don't know Christ choose to live, I strive to become more like Him in all I do. I pray that you will continue to join me on this adventure!