One thing in particular that stood out to me was in Acts chapter 16 where Paul and Silas were going to pray and- long story somewhat shorter- they cast a demon out of a fortune telling slave girl. A seemingly good thing right?
Not for the owners of the slave girl. They were more concerned with losing the money that they made off of her fortune telling than the well-being of the girl. (This right here reminded me how incredibly depraved man is in his thinking and how wicked I am.) Regardless, the men proceeded to lie about Paul and Silas, give them a severe beating, and throw them in jail. Later that night, these men were not sulking over the days events, but rather praying and singing to God- until midnight. (I personally would've wanted some rest considering the days events.) By the working of the Holy Spirit, they are able to lead one of the jailers to Christ during the night. Evangelism would definitely not be what I would be thinking about past midnight, I should be however. The next day, the officials decided to let Paul and Silas go. And this is the part that stuck out to me:
Acts 16:36-40
"And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore come out now and go in peace.” 37 But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.” 38 The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. 39 So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city. 40 So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed."
God really taught me that while we should "turn the other cheek" and "go the extra mile", we should also stand up for ourselves and for others when injustice is committed.
One of my favorite quotes is by Elie Wiesel-
"The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference."
I generally lack boldness and am in need of it- especially when it pertains to sharing the Gospel and initiating conversations with other.
I suppose a reason I lack boldness is because I associate boldness with arrogance. I will try to explain why. It is due to the fact that I love quiet and solitude. The way I view things is unless you're going to say something important, don't speak. When everything is quiet and peaceful the fastest way to get under my skin is to make abrupt loud noises- I might just snap. I assume that I equate loudness with being bold- and the loud, bold people I've met are generally arrogant and obnoxious.
I also need to learn that talking is not a bad thing, in fact, its rather beneficial.
I also need to learn that talking is not a bad thing, in fact, its rather beneficial.
That's my best guess, but we obviously are called to boldness as followers of Christ so I guess I need to separate the two. Boldness does not equal arrogance.
Also, if you read my favorite foods blog post earlier- I forgot to mention french onion soup and any form of bread, they're in that list somewhere.
Also, if you read my favorite foods blog post earlier- I forgot to mention french onion soup and any form of bread, they're in that list somewhere.
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