Shame On You

The other day, Ryan and I decided our marriage needed a mission statement. This may sound weird and nerdy, but actually, it can been a very good thing. Whenever we have big (or small) decisions to make, we can look at them in light of our mission statement, and it will help us to see the bigger picture and remind us of our goals in this life.

Anyway, as we discussed what our goals in this life were, I recalled something God had taught me after we first moved to Texas...

Our story about how we got to Texas was a great testimony of God's work, but I had two different versions I would tell: one was told to people I knew were believers, the other to those that weren't, or that I wasn't sure about. This way, I figured, I wouldn't "offend" people or make them uncomfortable talking about God's miracles and His provision in impossible situations. Basically, I filtered my speech when I wasn't around people that I knew loved God.

After realizing that I was filtering out the best parts of our story, the parts that would glorify God, I was convicted that I needed to tell just one version of the story: the whole story. So I told God, "Okay, next opportunity, I won't filter it." Soon, I was telling the story to someone I had only known for 5 minutes, and this time I left in the parts about God's work in us. Amazingly, she didn't react negatively, and I developed an awesome friendship that God used to grow both of us spiritually. It still remains as one of my strongest, most cherished friendships.

So as Ryan and I discussed what we wanted our focus and goals to be, I knew that part of our mission statement should be that we make the most of every opportunity to share God's love with anyone we meet, and not let any fear filter God out of our speech. After reading Jesus' mission statement for His followers, I am again reminded of this goal...

"What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels."