See For Yourself - Swearing.

Okay, so. We've all heard someone swear before. Unless you're like, two. A lot of people do it.
Even "church people" sometimes.

Here's the argument:

There's nothing about swearing in the Bible.

I'm sure you've heard that before.
And you might even believe it.
But that is a lie.

Here's some scripture.

Those who consider themselves religious yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues decieve themselves and their religion is worthless.
James 1:26

Did you READ that!? Decieve themselves and their religion is worthless. WOW.
You legit cannot be right with God if you don't watch your mouth.
So be careful.


Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
Ephesians 4:29


Let's talk about that. Do not let ANY unwholesome talk come out of your mouth. That means none.
That doesnt mean sometimes its okay when you're really mad.
It means never.
Only what is helpful for building others up. Next time you find a way to build someone up by swearing, let me know.


But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
Colossians 4:8


Now this one. Rid yourselves. Filthy language.
That means get rid of it for good. That means DONT DO IT.


Reject every kind of evil.
1 Thessalonians 5:2


Swearing is not something good. Reject it.


Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.
1 Peter 2:1


Same thing here. Get rid of it. "slander of every kind". That doesnt excuse swearing from the list.

I can't even end this like, "So those are my thoughts."
That's straight up Biblical truth.
Do what you want with it.
I'm gonna follow it.



Have a great day everyone :)

See for Yourself.

At incline (my church's youth group) we recently finished a small groups session where we focused on media.
We talked about some things that we shouldn't accept in what we watch/listen to/read.

It made me think, there are all these things I've known are wrong my whole life.
You know what I'm talking about.
Those things your parents and teachers and pastors always tell you are wrong and you just accept the fact that they are wrong.

Well I decided, I want to look for myself.

I wanted to see exactly where in the Bible these things were.
Not because I wanted to rebel and do any of those things, but just because I wanted to see for myself.
So I am going to share with you what I've found.
So you can see for yourself too.

That is what the next couple posts will be about.

I hope these answer some of your questions or help in some way.
Thanks for reading!

-Gianna :)

Beauty

Let's talk about something we all think about from time to time.

Beauty.

What makes someone beautiful?

In a survey of 100 girls from local middle and high schools,

13% had an answer dealing with outer beauty.

87% had an answer dealing with inner beauty.

When you think of the word "beautiful", what comes to your mind?

Automatically, I think a lot of us picture beauty as something physical, something you can see.

But when we think about it, most of us know that beauty is a lot more than that.

Think of it this way. It might seem weird, but just bear with me.

You make a bunch of.. flowers. Out of play doh.
They all look pretty much the same, except they are different colors.
Some are pink, some are purple, some are green, some are blue, some are white, some are yellow, some are orange, some are red.
They are all really pretty and cool-looking and they all are going to be parts of your play doh garden.
Okay, picture that.

Then the flowers decide that
beautiful = green.
What?
What about the pink, purple, red, orange, blue, white, and yellow ones?
Those are beautiful too, aren't they?

That is what we do to God, when we think what makes someone beautiful is an outside matter.

He made all of us, all different "colors", but all special, beautiful, and part of His "garden".
When we say that
beautiful = cool-colored eyes, shiny hair, perfect weight, straight teeth, clear skin, etc.
He thinks that is crazy!
It is exactly the same as flowers saying beautiful = green.

Shiny, smooth hair is just one kind of hair. God likes the frizzy, wavy, curly kind just as much.
It's like green vs pink, purple, blue, orange, etc.

So, beauty really isn't an outside thing.

So, what DOES make someone beautiful?
Well, here's what the Bible has to say.

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment,
such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes.
Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.
1 Peter 3:3-4 NIV (2011)

So there it is. Beauty = inner self, gentle and quiet spirit. That's beautiful.

The king is enthralled by your beauty, honor Him, for He is your Lord.
Psalm 45:11 NIV (1984)

This verse doesnt say, the king is enthralled by your beauty IF...
That's not for only certain girls.
That's not for the skinny girls.
That's not for the girls with long shiny hair.
That's not for the girls with straight teeth and perfect smiles.
That's for EVERYONE.
All God wants is for us to HONOR HIM.
Not to look a certain way.
But to honor Him.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV (2011)

He has made EVERYTHING beautiful.
Not some people. Not some things.
Everything.
We are all works of God, so we are all beautiful.
Compared to eternity, what we look like is nothing. We can't even fathom what God is doing, so our focus shouldnt be on outer beauty, because that will just waste away.

But we should focus on inner beauty, and the things God wants. The things that honor Him.

So, what makes someone beautiful?

I think the answer is God.

(Ps, thanks Lauren Granata, Rachael Huber, Bethany Lewis, Benita Jebackumar, Kylee Buchanich, and Sara Weisz for doing the survey!) :)

God Mirror.

So the other night, I was brushing my teeth.
Fact: I stare myself down in the mirror when I brush my teeth.

And I was thinking. When I wash my face. And the makeup comes off. My face gets all red. And I almost always manage to get soap in my eyes, so they get all red too.
It is not the prettiest sight.
In fact, it's kinda scary sometimes.

But I know that doesn't matter too much.

But there are some people who don't know that.
As crazy as it might seem in the grand scheme of things, there are girls crying themselves to sleep cause they aren't satisfied with what they see in the mirror.

In reality that doesnt matter, because God sees us from the inside.

So it made me think. What if we had a God mirror.

And we looked in and saw what HE sees.
We would see who He created us to be.
We would see that we are masterpieces.
We would see the person He loves so much and sent His son to die for (us).
And we would like that! Because who doesn't like a beautiful masterpiece, completely unique and special with a plan and a purpose? That's what God sees when He looks at us.

So the next time you look in the mirror and don't like what you see, (we all have those days), remember what God sees.

Look in the God mirror.



For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Ephesians 2:10 NLT