4 Ways To Ruin Your Life

Last summer I listened to a CD of the XXXChurch guys when they were speaking at Mars Hill. I have to say I have never listened to a message as many times as I have this one. Everytime I listen to it I always think "I have to blog about this!" And, surprise, surprise, I never have...well, I have decided today's post will be the day I am going to blog about The Four Ways to Ruin Your Life (As seen from the XXXchurch guys Mike and Craig)...

The first way to ruin your life is to believe the grass is greener on the other side. That life without God is somehow better than life with God - and making deals with God. I have to admit, I have done this and sometimes still try to make deals with God - such as - well, once this happens God, then I will be faithful in all aspects of my life...I can definitely see though how this could ruin your life.

The second way to ruin your life is to believe you are strong enough to fight temptation with just willpower. The number one way to combat against temptation is community. We need people to hold us accountable, encourage us and help us get back up when we fall down. God made us to live in community and the enemy would like nothing better than to keep us apart. I have been blessed with some of the most amazing friends - I know many people think this, but I truly do...I have always had lots of friends, but there was a period of my life where I thought I could deal with things on my own or just with God's help. I was wrong and now there are things I wish I could go back and erase. I wish I would have had friendships like I have now - friendships that love me for me, support me in the things I have to deal with, call me out when I need to be called out. I hope everyone is able to have friendships like this, they are definitely worth the time!

The third way to ruin your life is to "just wing it" when it comes to integrity. We have to be real. We have to live what we believe it. We have to live our lives with integrity. And in order to do so, we have to identify what they called SUDS (seemingly unimportant decisions) - the small compromises that build upon each other that will eventually lead to a larger compromise. Man I think this happens to all of us - a few little things don't seem like much, and then all of a sudden, WHAM, you have gotten yourself in a place you never would have ever imagined being. I think this is another place where community comes in - people to help catch you in the little compromises you may be making...while I sometimes hate being called out on things, I sure do need it sometimes, and always appreciate it later! To live our lives with integrity we have to do things that help maintain our integrity, not hinder it. A good piece of advice they gave was to also have a plan for your own integrity. To write out things you need to do on a daily basis in order to continue living a life of integrity. I know I need to write down how I want to live my life. I tell people how I want to live my life, I talk to God about it, but I know I need to physically write it down to cement it for me.

And the fourth way to ruin your life is if you screw up, then just give up. If you're going through hell right now, don't stop. Keep going. God will redeem all the things from our pasts. The memories may not go away, but through the cross we get to leave the baggage, the fear, the guilt, the shame. Don't give up even though it may seem easier. It still blows me away sometimes that God wants to give us fresh starts. And will. Just two days ago some of the memories of my past came back - and the enemy tried to bring the shame back too - but thankful I called on God, and He reminded me that I gave all that up. I don't have to live with it hanging on my back. He took it from me and He will see me through, like He always has...


Man, that was a long blog, but it serves as a good reminder to me of how I want to live my life.

** And to all my loving, wonderful, friends...thank you...life would be harder without the relationships we all have with each other - even those we don't get to see often :)