Are You More Than An Average Girl?

To start off the posts on guys, I would like you girls to listen to this song and really think about what it means. How would the world or romance be changed if we didn't date or chase after boys, and instead chased after God? Think and ponder!
http://youtu.be/wHjLWQPg-vc

I Believe

     It is easy to throw around the word "believe," but it is much more difficult to grasp its true meaning.  Yet since the essence of belief is the true crux of salvation, it is essential that we understand what saving belief is.  We need to have certainty in our own lives that we possess it, and can explain it well enough to lead others to true saving faith in Christ.

     All too often we are confronted with people who say they believe in God, or that they believe in the Bible, but their protestations of belief are accompanied by lifestyles that belie their claims.  James 2:19 basically says, "You say you believe in God, great, but so do the demons, who shudder at the thought."  James' point is:  believing in God isn't enough to save us.  In fact, the evil spirits have a better grasp of who God is that we do, yet although their knowledge and experience of Him makes them tremble, it does not save them in the least.  Believing something is true, even with all certainty, is not saving belief.

     People will often profess to believe the Bible.  They may even hallow it as the Word of God.  But several places in the Scripture we are told to be certain that we don't just hear the Word, but that we do it.  Saying we believe it is God's Word means nothing if we don't live it out.  James says that belief without obedience is worthless.  In fact, not lining ourselves up with what the Word says actually adds to our condemnation, because once we say we have "received" revelation, we are them responsible for what we have received - in other words, we're responsible to adjust our lives to its truth.

     Neil Anderson explains how we can have a disconnect between what we say we believe and how we actually behave.  He states that we can often act contrary to what we profess, but we will never act contrary to what we really believe.  The scary part is, we may not be aware that there is this disconnect in our own lives.  We may believe that we believe, only to be shocked (or shock others) when we end up behaving in ways that are contrary to our professions.  The evidence for what anyone really believes is found in what they do, not merely what they say.

     It is essential that we regularly lay ourselves open before the Lord and allow His searching light to probe the dark corners of our hearts and expose any inconsistencies in what we profess and what we actually live out.  Just ask Him, "Lord, show me where I'm deceiving myself that I truly believe what I profess."  Then hang on, because He loves to answer that kind of prayer, and it can be fairly ghastly when He does expose those things to us.

     For instance, we say we believe in prayer, but how much do we actually pray?  When faced with a decision, with life's challenges, with dire circumstances, is our first response to bring it to God or to wring our hands and fret, or complain, or fall a friend for advice?  Is prayer our first thought or an afterthought?  If we truly believe in prayer, I think most of us would be praying more than we do.

     We say we believe in the power of God, but how much of the time do we struggle on in our own strength instead of relying on His power?  do we even believe He will move in might?

     We say we believe He is our provider but do we believe that enough to truly trust Him and rest in His provision, or are we striving and stressing?

     We say heaven is going to be more wonderful than anything we experience here, and yet, do we long for it?  Is our treasure truly there?  Jesus said where our treasure is our heart will be, too.  What evidence is there in our lives that indicates we believe our treasure is really  in heaven?

     You see, there are many things we say we believe, but the way we live our lives would testify against that being true of us.  Measured against the Word, how do our lives reflect our belief that we should sacrificially love and totally forgive like Jesus did?  do we prove we believe He is faithful, true and trustworthy by our dependence on Him?

     When we spiritually engage with others, do we have the words to challenge them regarding the necessity o a true saving belief?  Who are those people in your life that may need to better understand what real faith is all about?  Put your belief in prayer, and your dependence upon the transforming and enabling promises of God into gear and begin to ask God for opportunities for sacred conversations with these people to explain what "I Believe" really means.

     But begin by being very sure what you profess you truly believe!

What do you want to hear???

Dear Sisters in Christ,
We started this blog to uplift and encourage YOU! We want to know how effective we are. Are we encouraging you? Are we talking about issues that are relevant in your life? Are there certain things that you want to hear more about? Certain verses you don't understand? Let us know! The poll on the side of the blog was created for this reason, but we would like to hear specifics. So, comment on this post or e-mail us and tell us: What do you want to hear?

Are You in Bondage?

You have to admit: We all have issues.  Every single person struggles with sin.  We’re all messed up, we’ve all blown it at times, and we all are in desperate need of someone to free us from the sin we find ourselves enslaved to.  And if you don’t think you have a problem with sin, give me a few moments to share with you some things that might change your mind.

First let's talk about the definition of sin.  What qualifies something as sinful?  If you've read our post "Making God #1 in Your Life" (posted 9/1/11), then you may already know the answer.  Sin is anything that messes up our priorities and takes our focus away from God.  Remember that time you saw a sweater your friend was wearing, and you secretly wanted it?  Or that time when said something mean behind another friend's back?  That's called sin, because it focuses on ourselves rather than on God.

Sin doesn't always come in the form of major addictions.  Yes, there are people who are addicted to drugs, pornography, cutting, and other terrible things.  If you are one of those people struggling with these things, please find someone you trust who can help you overcome them.  There's hope for you if you will seek a relationship with God and help from other godly people.

Even if you haven't struggled with these "major sins", don't think you're past the danger of bondage.  Yes, you too have been held captive to sin.  We all have vices in our lives that threaten to trip us up and take our eyes off the most important thing in life - our relationship with God.

Think of the thing that consumes most of your thoughts.  What do you think about when you go to bed and when you wake up in the morning?  Is it boys, homework, fashion, romance?  Although these things aren't inherently sinful, when we allow them to consume our time and energy, they become idols.

Is there something in your life that consumes the time and energy that you should be devoting to your relationship with God?  Are you in bondage to sin?  In the next few weeks, we'll begin discussing how you can let go of sin in your life and find freedom in the sacrfice of Jesus Christ.

Eight Steps to Recovery

1. Realize I'm not God; I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and my life is unmanageable.  "Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor" (Matt. 5:3).

2. Earnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to Him, and that He has the power to help me recover.  "Happy are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted" (Matt. 5:4).

3. Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ's care and control.  "Happy are the meek" (Matt. 5:5).

4. Openly examine and confess my faults to God, to myself, and to someone I trust.  "Happy are the pure in heart" (Matt. 5:8).

5. Voluntarily submit to every change God wants to make in my life and humbly ask Him to remove my character defects.  "Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires" (Matt. 5:6).

6. Evaluate all my relationships.  Offer forgiveness to those who have hurt me and make amends for harm I've done to others, when possible, except when to do so would harm them or others.  "Happy are the merciful and the peacemakers" (Matt. 5:7,9).

7. Reserve a daily time with God for self-examination, Bible reading, and prayer in order to know God and His will for my life and to gain the power to follow His will.

8. Yield myself to God to be used to bring this Good News to others, both by my example and by my words.  "Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires" (Matt. 5:10).

God Can Change Your Life

Ever felt like you've made too many mistakes for God to love you?  If so, I want to share with you some good news that may change your life.  You are not the only one that has struggled with sin.  Everyone makes mistakes and God, in His perfection, can't have fellowship with anything that's not perfect.  Sinners must pay for their sins; yet rather than making us pay for what we've done wrong, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to take our punishment.  God does not condemn those who accept Jesus' sacrifice, because He sees Jesus' perfection in us.  God created us to love and serve Him, and He likes to take broken people and turn their lives around.  God's power is so great that He can take your life and turn it into something He can use for His glory.

You are not the only one who has sinned.  Whether they seem great or small, everyone has something in their lives that they look back on and wish they had never done.  The reason for this is simple: we're fallen human beings.  At one time we all were "gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts" (Ephesians 2:3).  Sin is an inherent part of all of us.  We were born with the desire to do those things which are contrary to God's law.

Romans 8:1 says: "...there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."  This verse trumpets good news for sinners.  When we go to God for mercy and ask Him for His forgiveness for our mistakes, He not only forgives us, but He doesn't think about our sins anymore.  Rather than hold us responsible for our sin, God sees the sacrifice Jesus made as the payment for all our sins: past, present, and future.  God sent His Son into the midest of broken and depraved humanity that we might experience true life.

God created us to love and serve Him.  Ephesians 2:10 says: "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works..."  God didn't create us to do good works in order to earn our salvation; instead, He wants us to do good works and serve Him out of thanksgiving for the love He has shown us.  When we accept Jesus' sacrifice as payment for our sins, we develop a desire to love others like God has loved us.

God holds in His hand the power to transform your life.  I guarantee that if you accept Christ as your Lord and Savior, your life will never be the same again; He'll change you from the inside out.  God changed my life, and I know He can change yours.

For more information on how you can accept Christ as your Savior, see the "What Do I Do Now?" page, or feel free to e-mail us at sistersinchrist.girlz@gmail.com.

Why Do Bad Things Happen?

I’m sure you’ve seen pictures and news reports of natural disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis and the havoc they cause.  If you’re like me, you probably wonder why these disasters happen and wipe out so many innocent people, including small children.  Did these people do something wrong to deserve these disasters?

The Bible helps explain the answers to questions such as these.  Genesis 1:1 says: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  This is where the problem for many people comes in.  God is good, just, and merciful, and since God created the world, people think it should be perfect.  That is not the case at all.  You see, when God first created the world, He placed two people – Adam and Eve – in it and told them, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:16b-17).   So, God made a perfect world, but He also allowed Adam and Eve the choice of whether or not they would obey Him.  Sadly, Adam and Eve chose to eat the forbidden fruit and thus were banished from the beautiful garden that was their home.  Their bodies began to age, and the earth was cursed.

This is why natural disasters cause the death of so many people.  When Adam and Eve took the fruit, they brought sin into the world, and caused all their descendants – that’s you and me – to live under the effects of sin.  Romans 3:23 tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  Because we all sin, we also deserve death and separation from God.  Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death…”  We all deserve to die and be separated from God.  But God provided a way so we can have a relationship with Him.  He sent His Son Jesus to die in our place on the cross.  Jesus took our punishment so we wouldn’t have to.  This doesn’t mean we will never die – because of sin, we all must experience death – but now, because of Jesus, we can have a relationship with God.  After we die we have the opportunity to spend eternity in heaven with God where there will be no more suffering or pain.  All you have to do to start a relationship with God is to pray and ask Him to enter your life and make you a new person.

Judging Others

Everyone has a first impression of anyone else they meet.  First impressions may sometimes be accurate, but unfortunately they are based solely on what the eye can see.  My first impression of my friend Joy lasted for quite sometime at the start of our friendship.  This led to incorrect assumptions on both our parts, and limited how well we really know each other.  In order to avoid misjudging someone, we must get to know them before developing an opinion of them.  We should seek to do what’s best for our friends.  A person’s outside appearance is not a good gauge as to what is inside their heart.

Holding onto first impressions can lead to dangerous assumptions about the other person.  We have a tendency to look only at what is outside, unlike God who sees straight into our hearts (1 Sam. 16:17).  For a long time, I only saw the outside of Joy.  She was talented, smart, and godly.  She seemed like the “perfect” girl.  This first impression of Joy intimidated me.

Getting to know someone before making assumptions will prevent unfair misjudgments.  After sharing my testimony with Joy, and telling her some of the things I had struggled with and that God had brought me through, she was compelled to share her own story with me.  It was then that I realized that Joy is not a superhuman; she is just a normal girl like me.   This helped eliminate awkwardness and caused our friendship to blossom.

When becoming friends with someone, we should seek to do what is best for them.  Philippians 2:4 says we should look “to the interests of others”.  This means we must be frank and honest with one another, and be willing to point out each other’s faults and hold one another accountable.  Joy and I have had to do this for each other.

It is never a good idea to form an opinion of someone based on their outward appearance, because we may often find their heart to be different than what is outside.  Joy and I became close friends once we broke down those walls of preconceived judgments about each other.  Then I saw Joy for who she really is inside, the way God sees her.

Is there someone you're judging?  My advice is this: get to know the person before you jump to a conclusion about them.  Talk to them.  Spend time with them.  Get to know more about them.  Often you will find people to be different than your first impression of them.

"More Beautiful You"

Here's a link to a music video with the song "More Beautiful You" by Jonny Diaz: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNqQUojBg84&feature=related 

Don't ever think you're not pretty because you don't measure up to the world's standard of beauty.  Perfect body, perfect smile, perfect image, will all fade away one day.  When we stand before God, He won't care about what we looked like back on earth; it won't matter to Him if you ever reached the world's definition of "beautiful".  1 Samuel 16:7 says: "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

God wants you to have a beautiful heart and a close relationship with Him rather than spending all your time worrying about your outward beauty.  The truth is, you don't need to change how you look, because God handcrafted you and made you just the way He wanted you to be!  And He is the One can give you a beautiful heart that desires to seek His face.  Enjoy the video.

It's All About Your Relationship with God

“The Bible is God’s love letter to us…[Christianity] isn’t about rules, it’s about relationship.”

This was a quote my pastor started his sermon with today.  For the last several weeks he has been talking about rest.  Too often we get this idea that our walk with God is about following a list of rules and being able to say we have our quiet time “checked off our list” for the day; but really, following Christ is a relationship.

We’ve talked about beauty, modesty and crushes, and I want to present to you some practical steps to begin purifying your life.  First, you need to get your heart right with God.  If you have never accepted God as your Lord and Savior, now is a great day to do that!  You can click on the page “What Do I Do Now?” or feel free to e-mail us at sistersinchrist.girlz@gmail.com.

Second, evaluate your relationship with God.  Perhaps there's sin your life you need to get rid of.  Maybe your relationship with God isn't where you'd like it to be.  If so, my next question is: Do you have a consistent quiet time?  You may feel like when you spend time with God you do it just to "check it off your list".  But that doesn't mean that your quiet time isn't strengthening your walk with Christ.  It's teaching you discipline and that you need God even when you don't feel like it.  Your quiet time and relationship with God will affect your entire life – the way you think, act and feel.

Life is crazy for those of us living in modern America.  Our schedules are so cram packed we hardly have time to catch our breath.  Yet God calls us as Christians to live our lives quietly before Him; we should not only pray, but also spend time in quiet meditation, waiting to hear God’s voice.  This is where you will be empowered to overcome sin in your life.  It is where you will receive the strength you don’t have, encouragement when you need it, and love when you feel lonely or afraid.

Every Christian needs a regular quiet time.  We need this time, not only for our benefit and because God commands it, but because God loves us and wants a relationship with us.  The Bible describes Him like a husband, jealous for our time as well as our love.  Find a time of the day and a place where you can get away from the noise and pressures of life.  Spend time in silence reading your Bible, journaling, and just being quiet and waiting to hear God's voice.

Even if you don’t feel like God is there, keep meeting with God on a daily basis!  Like my pastor pointed out, God does not shout.  He whispers.  The only way we will hear His voice is by being still before Him and listening for that still small voice.  You also have to be patient and wait for Him – you may even have to wait years, but eventually, you will hear Him speak.  You need only be still.  Take the time to spend with God.  He is worth every minute.

Purity

     We live in a society where “love” and “relationships” are worshipped, where we allow pictures of women on the front of magazines to become our standard of beauty, and where our minds are constantly bombarded by immorality all around us.  Purity has become nearly a lost virtue in today’s world, and even for many Christians it seems to have become a false reality.  Yet just because the society we live in does not honor and uphold purity does not mean that God has forgotten about it as well.  Purity is a mindset that will ultimately be reflected in our actions and decisions, from the choice to remain sexually pure all the way down to how we act and dress and the secret thoughts we have.  God has called every Christian to come out from the world and be different, and it is up to young Christians today to “set an example for the believers in . . . purity.” (1 Timothy 4:12)

     Most people use the word purity interchangeably with virginity, but in reality purity is so much more than that; virginity is only one of its many aspects.  Because teenagers are desperate to be loved and accepted, they often feel that the only way to obtain that sense of security is through a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship – which often leads to sexual activity.  One of my friends – and eighth grader at the time – once said to me, “I’m not desperate yet.  But if I don’t have a girlfriend by sophomore year, then I’ll be desperate.”  Unless a person makes a conscious choice to remain completely sexually pure until they are married, it is easy to waver back and forth in their beliefs and give into temptation when the opportunity arises.  Answers in Genesis has shown that over fifty percent of evangelical high school students believe that premarital sex is okay.  Because most Christian teenagers are hesitant about fully committing themselves to sexual purity, this can lead to a life filled with more hurt and shame than they ever imagined.  We need to realize that God will honor our commitment to sexual purity and the rewards of waiting for marriage will be so much greater than anything this world has to offer.

     The purity of our hearts is also reflected in the way we act and dress.  Our actions represent what is really inside our hearts, which means that in order for our actions to be pure, we need to have our hearts in the right place.  When we choose to act in ways that are contrary to God’s Word, this creates the impression that purity and integrity are not our highest priority in life.  The way we dress also reflects what is inside our hearts.  In The Modesty Survey, one 16-year-old young man wrote, “If a girl dresses modestly, it shows me that she is leaving it to God to choose her husband for her, so therefore there is no need to 'advertise'.  If a girl dresses immodestly, however, then that shows me that she has not given everything to God, and is trying to attract guys to her in order to find a husband that way.”  As 1 Timothy 2:9-10 says, “I . . . want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety . . . appropriate for women who . . . worship God.”

     One aspect of purity which most people overlook is the purity of our thought life, or emotional purity.  As the author of “I Kissed Dating Goodbye”, Joshua Harris said, “Purity starts in the heart and is expressed in a lifestyle that avoids settings of temptation and compromise.”  This kind of purity is only between a person and God, and because it is not as noticeable on the outside, most people feel that it is not as important.  Yet emotional purity is at least as important as virginity, if not more, because a person’s actions are the overflow of their thoughts.  Even if a person is completely sexually pure on the outside, they can be just as guilty as someone who has had premarital sex because they have sinned in their heart by allowing lustful thoughts into their minds.  The key to staying emotionally pure is found in Psalm 119:9; “How can a young man keep his way pure?  By living according to your word.”

     In a world where purity is seen as being old-fashioned and out-of-date, it is up to young Christians to set an example for those around them by living lives of purity.  We have been called by God to be different and to live separate from this world; every person must hold himself accountable to God for their actions and thoughts.  While God does not promise that a life of purity will be easy, He does promise that He is greater than any temptation we may face in this life and that the rewards of waiting for marriage will be so much greater than the temporary pleasures of this world.

Is God There? Does He Hear Me?

Have you ever ask these questions?  Take heart - you're not alone.  Many people have felt like you do, including me.  I grew up in a good, godly, Christian home.  I had a pretty "easy" life.  Then I entered junior high and started having anxiety attacks.  For two years I struggled with this.  They got so bad I was having several anxiety attacks a day, and I remember thinking: "If this is what I'm going to have to deal with for the rest of my life, I'd rather die right now!"  I felt like God wasn't listening to me, and I couldn't see how any good could possibly come from my problems.

Looking back on it, now three years later, I can see how God used that difficult time in my life to bring Him glory.  God showed me that He had not left me; I was the one who had drifted from Him.  Once I stopped trying to overcome the anxiety by myself, admitted I couldn't fix it on my own, and turned to God for help, I was able to overcome it.

Is God there?  Certainly.  Does God hear us?  Yes.  Will He grant our requests?  Not always.  He didn't take my life like I thought I wanted Him to, but He did use difficult situation in my life to teach me some things, and He showed me He hadn't left me alone.

The key to overcoming sin and struggles in our lives is to recognize that God is there and He cares about what's happening in our lives.  All we have to do is reach for Him; if we ask for His help, He will never leave us to fix the problem on our own.  We may not understand at the time why God allows tough situations in our lives, but we can rest in the fact that He knows what He's doing and He's got a plan better than we could ever dream up for ourselves.

Modesty - What It Really Is...

This is an amazing video about how Modesty isn't just about the length of your skirt. It is so much more! Please watch, meditate, and enjoy!
http://youtu.be/K8pQzqIDSfw 

Growing Closer to the Lord Through Your Teen Years

     As your childhood years fall behind you and you begin to merge into adulthood, it is important to stay acquainted with your changing body, your parents, but most importantly of all, your Heavenly Father.  This is the the time in your life when God is changing you on the outside and He wants to change you on the inside too.  Our hearts need to be soft so He can come in and mold us to perfection.
     Some people say that this is the most difficult time in your life.  That may be true, but it is also the most wonderful time.  God is creating in you a whole new person in you - inside and out!  You should be soaking up God's Word, listening to godly men and women, and following Christ's example.  When Jesus was around this age, it says in the Bible that He was teaching the religious leaders in the temple - at only twelve years old!
     So as you go through these wonderful, but sometimes challenging years, remember to always keep your relationship with God strong and seek to know him more.

Letting Go of Sin

When we accept Christ into our lives and become saved, God starts working in us and changing us to be more like Himself.  But often as Christians we forget that God has made us a new creation.  We like our sin so much that we just can't let go of it, and it becomes like an addiction.

Hebrews 12:1-2 says: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Imagine a runner preparing for the Olympics.  Athletes usually wear lightweight clothing that doesn't restrict freedom of movement.  They never carry with them anything heavy.  I mean, if you saw an Olympic athlete with a huge backpack on his back while he's running a race, you would think he's crazy!  Instead, when athletes run a race, they make sure there's nothing weighing them down or holding them back.  They put all their effort into the race and they perform their best in anticipation of the prize that awaits them at the finish line.

Now imagine that athlete portrays a Christian; the race, the Christian journey; and ultimately, the finish line is heaven.  If we as Christians run our race with a backpack (heavy sins), we're only going to be weighed down by guilt, shame and remorse.  Why do we hold onto this heavy weight?  Because we love our sin too much.  If instead we focus our attention on the prize (heaven and Jesus Christ), the heavy weight will fall from our shoulders and we'll feel the incredible freedom God offers.

"Far Above Rubies"

     When we think about how sexual and worldly women are nowadays, it is not surprising to think of a godly woman, "Her worth is far above rubies."
     When God created the world it was a perfect place.  There was no sin to be found anywhere.  But then, the woman, Eve, fell into Satan's temptation and ate the forbidden fruit.  She gave some to her husband,  Adam, and he ate some too.  From the moment Eve took the fruit, sin came into the world.
     Years later, as time went by, you can imagine that the world was not a nice place.  People had rejected God and were living only to please their own desires.  All, that was, except one righteous man named Noah, and his family.  God told Noah to build an ark that would save him and his family from the worldwide flood that He was about to send.  The flood destroyed everyone and everything except Noah and his family.
     Now, the 21st Century, we have again rejected God.  People are living only to please their own desires.  Women are immodest, unfaithful to their husbands, and worldly.  That is not like the perfect world we started out with.
     But God has made an "ark" for us.  When we take Jesus as our savior, He is our refuge in times of trouble.  When the flood of worldliness, sexuality, immodesty, and all the rest come flooding up our doorstep, we have the power in Christ to say "no" to all of it.  It's no wonder that the worth of a godly woman is far above rubies.
     Godly women such as this are needed everywhere - will you be one of them?

Making God #1 in Your Life

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together.  One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"  Jesus replied:  " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.  
- Matthew 22:34-40

The speaker at my youth group last night talked about this passage in Matthew, and I thought it was fitting for what we're talking about on this blog.  He said that we should "love God, love ourselves, love others, and love stuff in that order."  I'm going to change the order slightly to say we should love God first, then love others, then ourselves and stuff, because when we love ourselves more than we love others, we become selfish.  The speaker went on to say that when we change the order of these things at all, it's sin.  So when we put stuff ahead of others, or others ahead of God, we are doing what's wrong in God's sight.  He challenged us to think about what in our lives we put ahead of God.  I know we all do this to some degree.  We all have something that becomes more important to us than God.

For many girls the thing that often trips them up is boys.  Crushes can become an all-consuming passion and an idol in our lives.  Take it from someone who knows!  I had a crush on a guy that became an obsession to the point where everything I thought about was him.  I was constantly analyzing everything he said or did and I became blinded by my emotions.  As a result, my relationship with God suffered and my quiet time dwindled down to almost nothing.  And when the guy finally told me he didn't like me back, I felt as if my world had collapsed around me.  Why?  Because I had put him above God.  You see, nothing in this world is certain.  People, circumstances, feelings - they all change; but there is one Person that will never change.  His name is Jesus Christ and He can bring stability to an upside world.  And unlike boys, Jesus will never leave you.  Isn't that worth so much more than chasing after guys?  Our earthly relationships might not last forever, but Jesus will.

Becoming a Godly Teen

There are many aspects to becoming Godly, so I’ll just cover the basics.  It does not happen overnight (sometimes I wish it did, though!).  It takes time, patience and perseverance.

            QUIET TIME – If you want to become a Godly teen, this is the place to start.  If you don’t have a quiet time, I would suggest picking a time, either right after you wake up or right before you go to bed.  During your quiet time, pick a special place where you can be alone.  Keep a notebook and write your thoughts and prayer requests down.  Then pray.  Tell God what’s on your mind; He’s ready to listen.  Once you’re done praying, open up your Bible and read a chapter.  Let God speak to you through His Word.  Write down any thoughts on the chapter you read in your notebook and date it.

            GET RID OF SIN – Pray to God and confess your sin.  Ask Him for help.  If you have something you need to resolve between someone else, do it.    Don’t let a broken relationship suffer; fix it.  You may want to add your sin areas as a prayer request in your notebook and pray for it every time you feel like you’re struggling with it.  God’s ready to help you when you need it.

            DEVELOP YOUR CHARACTER – Find a woman you know who has a strong walk with God.  This should be a woman you admire and want to be like when you grow up.  Ask her any questions you have.  Find out how she achieved the character she now has – take the advice she gives, and put it into practice!

            I could go on and on – there are so many aspects of becoming Godly – but I’ll stop there.  If you would like some more detailed advice on becoming Godly, read the book “A Young Woman After God’s Own Heart” by Elizabeth George, or “Beautiful Girlhood” by Karen Andreola.  These books have been a very good guide to me in my walk with Christ.

True Beauty

I feel like almost all girls have been confused about beauty at one time or another, and there are some who live all their lives striving after what they think beauty is.  All you have to do to find examples of these kinds of women is to browse through the check-out aisles at the local grocery stores.  Magazines featuring women in bikinis on their front covers with perfect bodies, perfect hair, perfect make-up . . . seemingly perfect everything.  These women work to achieve this "perfect body," expose it in a bikini, smack it on the front of a popular magazine, and call it beauty.  The truth is, there is a difference - a BIG difference - between that and true beauty.

He has my heart.

I believe this is the true essence of beauty.  No one can be truly beautiful unless they have given their lives to Christ, because girls who are unsaved can only see the physical - what is tangible.  We as Christians know that a spiritual realm also exists where evil wages war against good, but good ultimately triumphs.

Girls who give their lives to Christ also give Him their heart.  Then He comes and fills their heart so there's no room for anything else.  When we allow anything else to creep into our hearts, we have to push God out because in our hearts there's only room for one.  Once our hearts are full of Christ, we have no need for anything else; He is all we need.  God holds my heart, and I know He holds yours too if you've trusted in Christ as your savior.  So why do we feel the need to satisfy ourselves with other things?  Because we've pushed God out to make room for worldly things and we feel the emptiness.

The point of everything I've just said is this:  if we're saved, we don't need anything else.  We don't need to worry about how we look because Christ is all that matters.  Let's leave room in our hearts for Him.

What Sisters In Christ is All About

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is the be praised." - Proverbs 31:30

This is the heart of what we'll be posting here on the Sisters In Christ blog.  We'll be discussing various topics and looking at what the Bible has to say about them.  But most importantly we will be talking about Jesus Christ and what He means to us; that He is more important than anything else we could ever work to attain or acheive in this life.  Our hope is that you might be encouraged by things that God has put on our hearts to share.  We pray that this blog might encourage you in your own walk with God and maybe even touch your life in some way.  We're excited that you have decided to join us on this journey.

Welcome to Sisters in Christ!

Thanks for visiting our blog!  We hope to have more articles posted here soon, so check back! :-)

1 Thessalonians 5:11  "Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up just as in fact you are doing."