Tag: love

Lent

Giving Up Idolatry

Rebekah Freed

Back at the beginning of this blog series, I talked about how at times it would be hard to share that I was giving up something, because it would be admitting that I struggle with it.  All of these have a hint of that struggle, but this one seems especially challenging.  Who wants to say they struggle with idolatry?!?

When I first think of idolatry I think of the Old Testament picture we get of this where people literally would bow down to wooden or metal statues or items.  They would keep certain things in their homes because they thought it appeased all these false gods.  It all seems so foreign to us.  But is it really?

While we may not get on our needs and literally bow down to our television or cell phone, how often, with our time and focus and energy, do we worship these created things?  We may not collect all of our gold together and melt it down to create a giant cow, but like those in the Bible who did this, how easy it is to try to take things in our own hands when we feel like God isn’t coming through in the time frame WE think He should.

The picture of what an idol looks like has changed, but we are just as tempted to have them now as they were thousands of years ago.  One thing that has helped me identify, and try to get rid of idols, came through the song “Clear the Stage” sung in the video below by Jimmy Needham.   The bridge says this:

“Anything I put before my God is an idol.
Anything I want with all my heart is an idol.
Anything I can’t stop thinking of is an idol.
Anything that I give all my love is an idol.”

When you put it that way, suddenly I realize perhaps I have more idols than I’d ever like to admit. Occasionally, while hard, it is helpful to sit down and use these questions to ask God to open my eyes to the idols in my life.

What do we put before God?  The list some days could be great.

What do I want with all my heart?  What I find fascinating with this one is that some of the things I list for this one are also things that God wants with all his heart. Yet, even the pursuit of the things of God can become idols; my ministry can even become an idol, if my heart doesn’t long for Jesus even more that these things or if I try to do things on my own apart from God.

What are the things we can’t stop thinking of?  Worry can be an idol. Perfectionism. Myself.  What other people think of me.  Fear.  These things aren’t just “good things to give up” … they’re idols. I have to remind myself of that.

What do I give all my love?  And this is where it all comes together… it’s about love.  What will get my love and devotion and attention?

Jesus, clear the stage.  Take that #1 place.  I give up these idols and pray that you would give me faith to trust completely in You. Help me give you all my love!
In Jesus’ Name, Amen!

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Bekah's Heart

GOD=LOVE ~ I=LOVED

Rebekah Freed

“Love is not what God does.
Love is who God IS.“

This phrase from Pastor Chuck’s sermon this week had stuck with me. What’s so amazing about this truth is that it takes away all need to perform or “do” something to gain God’s love.  His love can’t change because it’s who He is.  For example, an apple is an apple no matter what.  I may really want an orange, but not matter what I do to that apple, I’ll never make it change into an orange.  Or, another example, I have almost close to 100% German heritage.  No matter what i do, I can’t change that truth about myself.  I am who I am; God is who He is… and God IS love. (1 John 4)

So, no matter what, that remains true.  I can’t do something to make Him love me more and I can’t do anything that would make Him love me any less.  This amazing truth about God leads to an amazing truth about myself.

If God is love,
Then Bekah is loved.

And not only in the sense that “Jesus loves me” (though that is true)… by God’s grace, that’s my identity!  No matter what I do or what’s been done to me, I will forever be: LOVED.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. (1 Corinthians 15:10a)

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The 3: What I'm Learning...

The 3: February Edition – Be Bold

Rebekah Freed

There is great value in occasionally stopping and reflecting on all I’m learning. Whether in my professional life, in my relationship with Jesus, in how I interact with people around me, and more. Here’s February’s Edition of “The 3” … three things I’ve been learning lately.

1. Pray Boldly
Whether I’m praying for my students, or asking God to work in my own life… whether lifting up family and friends from afar or seeking God with a friend on my couch in the living room… whether the prayers are ones I’m asking just for today or if I likely won’t see answer for years… I’ve been learning to pray boldly. As I see God’s answers to very specific and sometimes large prayers, it encourages me even more to seek Him constantly. I have chances in every moment to converse with and seek the help of the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe… He’s got the power, why not tap into it?

2. Love Boldly
I’ve also been learning about what it means to take risks in loving the people around me as well as those I don’t know that well. To be bold in seeking to grow new relationships and be fully present in the midst of them. To set aside fears and situations from the past that perhaps would have kept me from caring about the people God’s placed in front of me and trust HIM to provide protection, wisdom, and courage. He’s let my heart be broken over hurting people in the world, and the next step after brokenness, is action… it’s to love boldly.

3. Live Boldly
I guess this kind of could be the umbrella over the first two, but it is unique and different from them. This is the place where I’ve been re-learning what it means to live in such a way that brings great joy to myself, to others, and most of all to God. That when God asks me to do something, and I trust him, and just do it, the joy is so great I can’t even describe it. It’s choosing joy even when circumstances wouldn’t normally seem to lead to that reaction. It’s setting aside what others may think or desire of me in order to please the only One whose opinion matters.

So what are you learning this month? My three all seem pretty “serious” or “deep this month, but it can be anything… have you learned a new skill? Learned something new about yourself? Learned a cool fact? What are three things you’ve learned in the last month or so?

31 Days of Imperfection

(Im)perfect Love {31 Days of Imperfection – Day 14}

Rebekah Freed

This morning I found myself thinking more about yesterday’s post about looking back at times when our past keeps us from action in the present or future.  I think one of the biggest hindrances for almost every single human is remembering times when they were hurt in relationships before.  Maybe someone did something that betrayed you, or a loved one died, or someone had to move away.  Whether the loss was intentional or not, these situations often keep us from wanting to love again.  We’re afraid that if we love again, we’ll just be hurt again and we’re not so sure that’s a risk we want to take.

I’m learning a lot right now in my personal devotion life about the truth that if there is fear involved, then it can’t really be love.  See what I mean in 1 John 4:18…

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.  The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 

As I said, I’m still learning about this and don’t have it CLOSE to being figured out, but I think it actually has something to do with being okay with imperfection in relationships.  If we could figure out exactly how to be in relationship with other people, if we could discover a way to take away all the risk, I don’t know if those relationships would be worth it.  Isn’t that why God gave us free will in the first place?  He loved us so much but if love was forced into this perfect risk-free box, it wouldn’t really be love at all.  Despite the risk of us turning our backs on him again and again and again, He desired perfect love, which is messy love and risky love.  He wanted real love even if it mean he’d have to die for us.

While there is risk involved, we somehow, by God’s grace, must learn to step past that fear because, as the passage says, “one who fears is not made perfect in love.”  Fear and love can’t reside at the same time because if we’re living truly in the love God’s given us, it drives away all fear.

My perfectionistic personality then wants to “figure it out” to “make sure” I’m loving the “right” way.  Yet what I hear God saying in this passage and the ones before it is this: Don’t worry about if you’re loving “right” just let me love you and it will all flow out of that.  Here is the above passage more in context:

“And so you know and rely on the love God has for us.  God is love.  Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in him.  In this way love is made complete among us so that we have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.  The one who fears is not made perfect in love.  We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:16-19)

Love is worth the risk.  Not only do we need other people, other people need to see Jesus’ love through us.  It’s not about figuring out how to love or if it’s okay to love it’s all about KNOWING and RELYING ON the love God has for us.  If we’re drowning in God’s love, we’re going to be okay.  If we’re drenched in it, other people will take note.  If it’s overflowing in our lives, they’ll get covered in it too.

Perfect love drives out fear. 

We love because He first loved us.

We don’t have to figure out how to get rid of that fear on our own, we just have to seek Love Himself and fear will pack its bags and disappear.

Even if we do get hurt again, God’s love… his PERFECT love remains.  We can trust in that truth and let our hearts rest in that when fear wants to creep back in.

“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. … This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us.  For God is greater than our hearts and knows everything.”  (1 John 3:16,19-20)

College Ministry, Crossroads, First Trinity, Youth Ministry

We Bought Jesus a Prom Dress Today! :)

Rebekah Freed

(My afternoon was just so cool that it warrants pausing my 31 Days of Imperfection series.)

So this afternoon I went prom dress shopping with 11 ladies.  Yes, it was as insane as it might sound. But the coolest part about it all was that these ladies weren’t shopping for their own dresses.

Last week, I was talking with a few of the high school girls at First Trinity about a collection taking place in the area of prom dresses for girls who can’t afford to buy one on their own.  They wanted to do something.  While a couple of them had a dress to donate from last year, many of them have never been to prom and therefore had nothing to donate.  This was where Project Prom Dress was born.  The youth began talking with siblings and other young women they knew to gather slightly used dresses.  Then, today, we all wore formals to church to advertize a little more.  After church we pooled our money and hit the stores to buy some new ones to donate as well. They collected $161 dollars and by hunting the sales, they were able to purchase FIVE dresses.

In between having to explain to people why a group of 12 girls in prom dresses were walking around the mall shopping for prom dresses, I found myself thinking about a passage we looked at a couple weeks ago in Sunday School:

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. … And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” (Colossians 3:12, 14)

When these young women got dressed this morning, they didn’t just put on a fancy outfit, the clothed themselves with these attributes.

They gave up a Sunday afternoon and some of their own hard-earned money to make a difference in other girls’ lives.  Compassion. Kindness. Humility.  They didn’t just grab the first dress they could find.  They spent a couple hours looking at all the stores… searching for the best deals to make their money have the most impact… they thought about what they’d want in a prom dress but only so they could make someone ELSE’s day.  Gentleness. Patience.  They paid attention to every little detail: the color, the length, the size, the shape to find the PERFECT dress.  Love.  And as we traipsed around the mall all day, their sense of accomplishment and joy grew as they worked together, talking out decisions, and landing on five beautiful dresses that will bring joy to five beautiful women they may never meet.  Unity.

As I personally put on a formal this morning and thought of these other women doing the same, I was reminded of this passage from Matthew 25:

[Jesus said,] ‘I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

You might even say… we bought Jesus a prom dress today. 🙂

31 Days of Imperfection, Music

What if? {31 Days of Imperfection – Day 7}

Rebekah Freed

I found myself at the kitchen sink last night, finally giving in and doing the dishes that had been staring at me all night long.

Music always makes cleaning more exciting, but in breaking out itunes for a little inspiration, I never expected it might break me. Not in a bad way, but more in the “I think God just punched me in the gut” kind of way. If it hadn’t been for that “revelation” earlier in the day the one about fake imperfection and living in God’s dreams for us rather than the expectations of the world (yea, this one) I probably wouldn’t have given it a second thought.  itunes confirmed that I had heard the song before, but as these words came out of the computer, I think they bypassed my ears and went straight to my heart:

What if you lived like you were loved?

What if you did all the things Your heart’s dreaming of?

What if you sang your song at the top of your lungs?

What if you lived…

Like you were loved?

It struck me…  that’s all I’ve been called to do:

To live loved.

And yet, I complicate each day with so many other things.  The question never was, never is, and never will be, “What if I were loved?”  Because WE ARE LOVED.

Yet, we make it the question as we compare ourselves to others…”What if I were like her? then would I be loved?”
We make it the question when we seek approval, we long to be noticed, “What if I wear this outfit or do my hair that way? Then would I be loved?” 
We make it the question when we long for more, “What if I got that new toy or what if I made a little more money?  Maybe THEN I’d feel loved.”

And we forget that WE ARE LOVED! In forgetting that, we struggle to live out the dreams God has for us, we struggle to sing the unique song he’s created our lives to sing.

Dream for a minute, just what might life look like if we truly lived loved?

What kind of chances would you be taking?

What sort of difference could you make?

Would you let go of the secrets that you’ve been keeping,

If love was your shield and strength?

…

What are you waiting for?

There’ll never be, never be a better time.

No one could love you more than He who gave His life

Join me today in answering these questions.  In the comments below, in conversations with your family and friends, in your journal… wherever… answer the questions and then ask God to give you grace to understand YOU ARE LOVED and strength to live like it!

What if you lived like you were loved?

What if you did all the things Your heart’s dreaming of?

What if you sang your song at the top of your lungs?

What if you lived…

Like you were loved?

(What If? by Scott Krippayne)