Is It Worth It?

Pride over Relationship, or Relationship over Pride?

It's a problem that we all have. None of us like of admit it, because our pride keeps us from admitting that we have a problem with pride. Pride is like an addiction. Once we get a taste of it, we want more and more, even if it means that we cut off the people that love us and it kills us. It's hard for most people to choose between their pride and their relationships, because their pride makes them feel like they have something, but really they are holding on to something that they don't have. Now you're thinking, "Wait a minute! I need to have my pride." No, the word you're looking for here is dignity  There is a difference to the two. You can have dignity without being prideful. Because, really all dignity is, is identity. We find our identity in what makes us important. And when we are labeled as dignified, we put our identity in that. But pride, pride cuts us off from people. it makes us think that we are better than everyone else, and so we put our identity in that and that it what makes people start hating us. Do you really think that people like it when you won't ask for help when you have a problem, or when someone else needs help and you refuse to help them because it is 'beneath you?' Really, pride makes you the lowest of the low. No one wants to be around you, because you cover yourself up with this shroud of pride, too thick for anyone to get under, too heavy for anyone to remove. So the most lonely people are usually the people to hold onto that shroud as if it is a lifeline. They sacrifice relationship, so that they can feel comforted by the lies that they have surrounded themselves by.

So, the question to think about is: Do you cover yourself in the shroud of pride, or do you value relationship?

Stay Faithful, Even When They Don't--Following God When No One Else Does

Yes, it's hard. It has always been hard. No one talks about how fun it is to be different from all their friends and family. But it's always worth it in the end. Whe people see how different you are, they notice that it's a good different, not a bad different. You aren't angry all the time, you aren't going out and getting high, or drunk. If you are, then you desperately need God. God saves people from the pit that they've dug for themselves. But he can't do it without their consent. I've noticed that some people, who have been Christians their entire lives, who grew up in a good home with Christian parents, and went to church all their lives tend to stop following God, because it's all fake to them. But those who have had a harder life, who were on a never-ending downward spiral to nowhere, when they hit rock bottom and have a serious God encounter, tend to still follow, even when things get hard. This is not everyone. This is just people that I've experienced and met, so don't get upset.

So, if you've been a Christian your whole life, but you're tired of it, I suggest you pray and you pray hard, because life without God is dark. It's so dark, it's depressing. If no one else around you follows God, they I suggest you pray. Because they are in that darkness. They need someone to be the tiny spark that gives them hope, that will lead them to the greatest hope of all.

I guess what I'm trying to say is: when you follow God when no one else does, you are being used by God to bring people into his light.