Before I move on to discussing my journey, I want to say that I’ve had a few women contact me about the last post, about growing up in purity culture and with church being centered on rules and laws, rather than love and forgiveness. Today, we know the damage it caused to tell young people they were ruined if they had pre-marital sex, or that God was watching every single thing they did and would punish them for every wrong- consistently instilling fear rather than showing love. But young me, and maybe young you, and maybe even your younger parents and leaders, didn’t really know better. I’ve talked to my dad about the legalistic beliefs I learned growing up and he no longer believes that way. I just keep saying, “You know what you know, until you know better.” We know better now, so we do better now. Churches know better now, they need to be doing better now.
Now onto my post. My first stop in my journey was my hometown of Fort Worth. Since I got there on a Sunday, I made my very first stop at my old church home. I not only got to spend time with old friends, but I also got to hear my favorite pastor! And it was exactly what I needed to hear as I began my search for who God is to me now. He was speaking on having a seat at the table with God. He said that we all have a chance to sit at the table with God and it’s not about legalism and doing things, it’s about letting God transform us. We can’t sit at the table without a heart like God. It’s not what we do, it’s about who we are, it’s about our heart. We can use God’s name in all our good works or words, but without heart, it’s worthless.
I hear a lot of words and see a lot of action in the world today, but I don’t feel much heart. I don’t see love, compassion, or kindness. And I wholeheartedly believe that God’s heart is filled with love, compassion, and kindness. I wish younger me would have asked more questions rather than just thinking that God seemed very cruel and controlling. I wish married me had realized how much God loved me and didn’t want me to live with a controlling, abusive man. I hope future me continues to seek God’s heart, so I can remember to be loving, compassionate, and kind to others. This world is filled with enough hate, and if we question what to do, we should always err on the side of love.
Below is the link to the sermon if you would like to watch! https://rushcreekchurch.subspla.sh/f7mzc7j
Finding The Good 