Re-Define!

Where do your beliefs come from?

The importance of our childhood is often overlooked.  The saturation of pop psychology in our society has made us incurious and negligent regarding the events or situations that assembled who we are and what we believe. Nonetheless, our childhood is what gave us our infrastructure in which we shaped our lives.

The presence of both parents or the absence of one consigned to us our philosophy of love and marriage. Their attendance, or lack thereof, and quality of participation dictated our theory regarding faith, self,  relationships, commitment, responsibility, and work to only select a few.

Our home environment, family relationships, culture, traditions, entertainment and more during our formative years have remarkably influenced how we live our lives as adults. These experiences guide us in making from the least and trivial to the most significant decisions in our lives.

For example, if we experienced the divorce of parents at the age of 9, we form ideas regarding men, women, commitment and marriage.  As adults, even though we have greater aptitude and competence, we typically do not change these ideas. Instead of challenging these conclusions, we continue to make adult decisions in these areas with a 9 year old's understanding and feelings.

Many of us are continuing to live our days through our limited views as children.

Wait...

I'm not saying that every aspect of our childhood has to be viewed differently. Many of us had great experiences in our homes and with our families. The commitment and love of my family have shaped the structure of my home today. However, I'm emphasizing that some of our most difficult issues currently are a result of earlier mishandled experiences and decisions.

But God!

Re-Defining these experiences through God's Word is essential in healing and living out an abundant life in Jesus Christ!

"I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works and that my soul knoweth right well." Psalm 139:14 

Whatever situation or circumstance we were born in, left in, or given, we are purposed in being here.

"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them". Ephesians 2:10

And BLESS the Lord for this!

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." 2 Corinthians 5:17

Thank God that our value is not evidenced in how we were treated. Nor is it placed in our circumstances or descriptions given by others.

"But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Romans 8:1 

At some point we need to challenge our beliefs about faith, love, life, relationships, marriage, self-worth, success, etc. We need to question those ideas that were formed on the frailty of human behavior and the restricted comprehension of a child. Unfortunately, some of our current arduous situations are dictated by these ill formed axioms.

We need to abandon any theory or definition that is not from God and embrace our identity and purpose in Him!

What do you believe?


Blessings!


copyright 2015 www.shundriariddick.com  All Rights Reserved

Under Construction!

Finally pregnant and building a house, the Lord had answered our prayers.  We were so excited!  Throughout the construction process, my husband and I would stop by and check on the progress of our home.  With hope filled eyes we watched as they lay our foundation and build our home from frame to finish. We didn't exactly know how things were created. We didn't understand foundations, codes, or any technicalities of the process. We handed the responsibility to the builder and trusted the experts. They gave us advice about what kind of wood to choose for our frame and brick to finish. We had many meetings about design, fixtures, floors and finances. We discussed everything. We hung on every word and looked forward to their guidance. With hope filled eyes we trusted what we saw. We were so amazed at the final product, we didn't ask many questions. Our dream was finished and we eagerly moved into our new home.

We have lived in our home for 13 years.  It has weathered storms, three children and many play dates. Even though we are still very grateful for our home, we have noticed over the years that materials used and methods of construction were not always the best.  We have invested in repairing, replacing and rebuilding things that were not given much attention.  It has been realized that our dream home was not given great care by the builder that we once trusted.  We've had to pay a costly price for their shortcuts, inattentiveness and lack of regard for it being our dwelling place.

These experiences have tugged at my heart over the years. They have reminded me of our responsibility as parents.  We are responsible for giving our children their foundation, building their frames and installing their fixtures.  They trust us. Our children are watching intently as we are constructing them emotionally, giving them materials of living, and installing fixtures of God’s word.

Will they benefit from us as parents or will they pay the cost? Will they be able to have a firm foundation in Christ or will they spend years trying to repair, rebuild and replace our work? Will they benefit from our Godly guidance? Or will they pay the price for our shortcuts in parenting, inattentiveness to their spiritual life and lack of regard for the impact we have on them? Will they completely abandon what we have prepared? Will they spend their lives taking shelter in the world's temporary places that were not built to nurture, protect or weather storms?

God’s word instructs us in Proverbs 22:6 (NIV) "Start children off on the way they should go, and even whey they are old they will not turn from it."

Our confusing and misguided society is making accommodations for our children. It’s working overtime building dwelling places for them.. 

Are we?

Blessings!

Matthew 7:24-27 (NIV) “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” 

copyright 2013 www.shundriariddick.com. All rights reserved.