Equality - Your choices don't define who you are!

Well at least that is My opinion anyway! And of course I believe that it is true... Your choices do no define you! Here is a great example, if I lie to someone it doesn't make me a liar! I know that you are probably thinking 'WhAt!? Yes it does'. But the problem I see with labeling ourselves in this way is that it sort of gives us an excuse. If I am a liar because I lied to -Oh I don't know... lets just say my Mom -it gives me an excuse to continue to lie because that is just 'who I am'. But I know, because God says so himself, that he made us in his image, and I know that He is not a liar! If we define ourselves by our choices there are a lot of things that we could be, so many of which I know that I am not, and don't want to be! Does that make sense?

A girlfriend came over to my place last night and we discussed the issue of equality. It was great because she gave me her perspective on equality, which differs from mine, so I was challenged to think about my beliefs. So, here I am, writing it down. As I am growing as a person I am really learning more about who I am and what I believe. I think that, speaking as a person who chooses to 'people please' a lot of the time, that when we fall into unhealthy patterns of trying to please people, we lose ourselves and don't know who we are because we are living trying to please everyone else.

So back to the subject matter, sorry I tend to go off on tangents, I believe that we are all equal as humans in Gods eyes. God loves us as his children and defines us as being created in his image. It says in Genesis 9:6b, NLT, For God made human beings in his own image.

Consider this, If you had two children;

• Child A was a child who made great decisions with his/her life, going to school - getting straight A's, graduating from College at the ideal age, getting married to a wonderful healthy person, becoming very successful in life, and so forth.
• Child B, was a 'Wild Child' who chose to start doing illegal drugs as a teenager, became very promiscuous, who ended up in jail for bad choices they he/she made, and not going to college, who ended up facing many bad consequences in adulthood due to the lack of healthy decisions they he/she made in life.

Would you Love Child A better than Child B?? I wouldn't, but even if you did say yes, God does not feel that way about his children. He loves us all the same, with an unconditional Love! I understand his love more now than I have ever before, because he has given me a miracle, a love for a child that grew inside of me. Regardless of whether Madi chooses to make healthy or unhealthy decisions in her life, my love for her will always be the same! I will continue to be a steward of her, as God has called me to be.

Sometimes I think that it is hard for us as humans to comprehend how God views us, and it is hard to see our worth through his eyes. I personally believe that regardless of who we are or the choices that we make God will love us all the same. Whether we Murder someone or just steal a piece of candy from the store, a sin is a sin. God does not define us by the choices we make, he looks at our heart.

Pete, my pastor, gave me a great description of sin, it is like in archery when you have the board and you are aiming to hit the bulls eye and you miss, which is most of the time... That is like sin. The bulls eye would be the picture of the ideal non-sin, but everywhere else on the board is Sin. That, I think, is a great description of sin! We are not perfect, we are humans, who fall short of perfection and God loves us anyway! Even an archer does not always hit the bulls eye. I am so reassured, because I know that I will never be perfect, although I will always try to hit the bulls eye, I know that I Will fall short.

In Matthew when Jesus criticizes the religious leaders he says this: (Matt 23:8, NLT)“Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters." Not one of us is better than another. In our culture, or even in this world, it is hard to understand this because our society does not believe it to be truth! But I believe that it is. We are all equal, at least in Gods eyes, and to me his view is the only one that matters!

ps Speaking of tangents, I am sooo happy that gas continues to decline in price. Today at Holiday it was $1.73 per gallon! Yay!