Archive for April, 2009
Words of Wisdom for Young Ladies on Conduct, Conversation and Courting
Conduct
There are many different ways in which people believe we should conduct ourselves. Many Christians believe that one should conduct themselves as Christ would conduct Himself and others disagree. Different households have different rules in how one’s conduct should be. Since Christians are of the body of Christ and the Bible gives us guidelines of how we are to act, shouldn’t we all have the same standard according to the Bible? The answer should be yes. We should all conduct ourselves the way the Bible commands. Three key areas that are sensitive in the world’s and even Christians’ viewpoints are how we should communicate with one another, how we should dress and dating.
The first important area is our conversation. Romans 15:2 says “Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification.” According to this Scripture we are to edify each other and one way that we can do that is by how we talk to one another. The trend today is to tear down each other with satirical comments. Christians have adopted this trend and are bringing each other lower with comments that go deep to the heart and hurt people. Ephesians 4:29 states “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.” We as Christians are supposed to uplift and edify one another in our speech. Lastly, James 4:11 says “Do not speak evil of one another, brethren…” Again, we are not to speak evil, hateful words about one another but we are to exhort and uplift. Many people feel that if they are “just joking” about what they are saying, it doesn’t really matter and that it doesn’t count as coming from their heart. They excuse it and completely disobey what the Bible says. That is when different views of how we should conduct our speech come in.
The second area is a more sensitive subject with Christians. We are specifically told in the Bible how to dress ourselves. Women are to adorn themselves in modest apparel (1st Timothy 2:9). By covering ourselves we help in keep our brothers in Christ from stumbling. Many people do not want to be told how to dress and therefore come up with their own standards of what they think is acceptable. 1 Peter 3:3-4 says “Do not let you adornment be merely outward—arranging of the hair, wearing fold or putting on fine apparel—rather let it be the hidden person of the heart with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.” We are not to worry about what we look like, but rather what our spirit looks like. We should keep ourselves presentable, but when one is obsessed with the way they look they being to worry about their outward appearance instead of their inward appearance. When we are living according to the Word of God, not only will our spirit reflect the beauty of Christ, our outward appearance will as well.
The last area of how we should conduct ourselves concerns dating. Christians have adopted many worldly customs and coated them with watered down Christianity. Dating is one of these customs. So many young people in today’s generation have been corrupted by this “fun” and “harmless” system. Dating is a system of searching for a “mate”. It is the complete opposite of patience. People feel that they need to search around for the right person instead of waiting for God to bring the right one into their life. The Bible tells us to be patient and when we are we will be perfect and lacking nothing (James 1:4). Without patience we lack. Concerning dating, many have a lack of self confidence and look for acceptance in others instead of God. In order to gain that acceptance girls will flaunt their bodies, which are the temples of the Holy Spirit (1st Corinthians 6:19). Christians, sadly, have also adopted this and call it acceptable.
Another area that dating affects a person’s life is their mind and heart. Dating at a young age awakens love too early when are told not to awaken it (Song of Solomon 3:5). There is a right time to awaken love; God’s timing. God designed intimacy to be between one man and one woman in the contents of marriage. He did not design it to be between multiple men and multiple women. With each relationship and each person, a piece of your heart is given away never to be returned. After you have dated multiple people, either your whole heart has been given away or there is only a little piece left for the man or woman that deserves all of it. Not only do you give but you take when dating. You take the heart of someone and you take what should be saved for their future spouse and that goes against Romans 15:1-2. We are not being considerate of the other person’s heart or future. We would rather have temporary pleasure than lasting patience. Everything concerning dating falls back to a matter of patience; you either have patience and wait for God or you have a lack of patience and search on your own. As Christians, our conduct should be one of holiness and should reflect righteousness. Christianity has let the world creep in, only to throw a veil over it and act like it isn’t there. All Christians should have the same view concerning conduct since God has spoken so clearly about it. For myself, I choose to live according to the Word of God without distorting the truth or adding worldly customs to it. Yes, I will fail miserably but Christ came and died for the remission of my sins. Our goal, though humanly unobtainable, should be to conduct ourselves with righteousness and holiness at all times.
Victoria Grace-age 17
1 comment April 30, 2009
Female Sunday School Teacher arrested in death of 8 year old girl
A Sunday school teacher was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and killing her daughter’s 8-year-old playmate, Sandra Cantu of Tracy, Calif., after admitting to police that she owned the suitcase in which Sandra’s body was found, authorities said Saturday.
Add comment April 13, 2009
