"We're gonna be good...."

Thank you all for commenting on my blog....I so appreciate it!
This picture is of me and the boys...taking a hike...
So we had them this past weekend....I like them a lot. They are creative and imaginative, always looking for something to build or invent. I love that.

We're able to take these guys to church with us on Sundays and when we go, we have to remind them of the appropriate behavior at church. Ya know...don't set things on fire or unplug the sound system (we DID have one kid do that one time!) and generally say 'please' and 'thank you', 'nice to meet you' is always a plus, too!

What gave me a great, hardy laugh was that one of the boys said, "We'll be REALLY good so we can make all the other parents there jealous that you have such good kids!" Have you ever heard of a kid say something like that!? I said, "Okay". I wasn't about to turn down that offer! But it got me thinking.....what if we (as Christians) all behaved so well to each other that we were able to make others jealous of the self-control, love and peace we had...not to mention our Father's pleasure? For example, sometimes when I work-out at the gym, I get into conversations about my job as a group home operator. Many people say, "WOW, you must have a lot of patience to do a job like that!?" And I reply, "NOT! Ask my mother about that! Patience is not MY natural virtue.....but I have to daily ask Jesus to give me patience and He does. When I try on my own, I always get frustrated!" Perhaps this is an open door to them getting jealous that I don't have to fight myself all the time to be patient, Jesus gives it to me! It has lead to some good conversations. But this is an area I really need help in.

But.....
So often we display the Christian culture as being one that dictates morals and fights against organizations, political parties and social clubs that do not hold those morals. But that's not what Jesus did. His love, compassion and peace is what drew even the "worst sinner" (even thought there isn't such a thing) to Himself. What if we started to focus on that instead of trying to "make a statement" or boycot a certain worldly product? The world doesn't hold our moral code or our Christian ideals....we shouldn't EXPECT them too, we should be teaching them to, but in love, compassion, grace, and in our own lives SELF- CONTROL! (I made that in CAPS because that's my toughest fruit of the Spirit....what's yours?)

Our behaviour should be a magnet to a world that has lost its purpose....people are hungry to see something different and something fully "good"...they are hungry for Jesus in us. Our love for Jesus causes us to desire to be righteous or good and to desire to see others come to a knowledge of Him, too. Those are the reasons for our "goodness" not because we want to look better and superior by having a better moral code. It's all filthy rags anyways (see Isaiah 64:6).

Proverbs 21:21 says, "He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity, and honor." That sounds good. That's enough to make the world look at us differently and ask us where we get our "life, prosperity, and honor"....from Jesus who, out of love, we pursue, to imitate Him and His righteousness. I gotta work on that. Lord Jesus, make me a pure and holy imitator of You, to bring others to You and to give You pleasure today, Amen.

Keep the comments coming! I love to read what you think! Thanks!