I’ve enjoyed a lot of great summers, but the summer of ’79 wasn’t one of them. Not by a long shot. All I wanted to do was hang out at the pool with my friends, but Mom on the other hand, decided it was a great time to upgrade the yard. And so, with a paint brush in hand I spent a good chunk of the summer sanding and painting the fence.
I don’t blame her. We were expected to pitch in and help out. They didn’t ask much of us, really, but even so, getting me to do chores was a bit like pulling out teeth some days.
As I got to thinking about that today, I realized that things changed a lot once I had my own home. Suddenly I didn’t dread the idea of painting–I loved it! I didn’t mind picking weeds, cooking dinner, or cleaning my house. I wanted to.
Why? It’s a little thing called pride of ownership. Although I’m not sure I love the word, “pride,” so much as I love the idea of caring about and caring for the things that you own.
As I got to thinking about that today, I was reminded of faith, and how important it is to own your own faith. To have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ because of the choices that you’ve made. You. Not your parents, not your pastor, not your church.
I’m not saying that pastors and teachers and mentors aren’t of value to us. They serve to sharpen our faith and to lead us. But they can only take us so far.
There’s a lot of people out there who grew up in the church. They had parents who passed down their faith, and as such have never questioned their faith. They believe what their parents believed. They’ve learned all of the verses, and they’ve heard all of the stories, but they’ve never owned their faith to the point where they have questioned that faith for themselves.
Why do I believe what I believe? And, who is Jesus Christ to me?
Ownership changes your outlook on life. It leaves filtered religion behind and opens the door to a personal relationship with Christ.
And how do we do that? We start by deciding to serve God, turning away from our sin, opening our Bibles, kneeling in prayer, and asking His Holy Spirit to lead us.
But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15, NIV)
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Tilling the Soil
Ask yourself these two important questions today:
Why do I believe what I believe? And, who is Jesus Christ to me?
If you don’t feel that you have the answers, ask the Holy Spirit to lead you as you dig into your Bible to find them.
Planting Hope
But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15, NIV)
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Darlene Schacht and her husband Michael live in Manitoba Canada where the summers are beautiful and the winters are cold. Together they’ve come to learn that relationships aren’t always easy, but that marriage, the way God intended it to be, is a treasure worth fighting for.
She began her publishing journey about twelve years ago when she pioneered one of the first online magazines for Christian women, known at the time as “Christian Women Online Magazine.” After three years, Darlene left CWO to blog as a solo author at Time-Warp Wife Ministries.
It was also during this transition that she worked alongside actress Candace Cameron Bure to write the NYT Best-Selling book, Reshaping it All: Motivation for Spiritual and Physical Fitness. Reshaping it All was the winner of both the 2011 USA Best Book Awards and the 2012 Christian Reading Retailers Choice Awards.
Author of more than 15 books, Darlene continues to write and to minister to her readers through her blog at TimeWarpWife.com.
Connect with Darlene:
Facebook: @timewarpwife
Instagram: @timewarpwife
Pinterest: @timewarpwife
Twitter: @timewarpwife
You are loved by an almighty God,
Darlene Schacht
The Time-Warp Wife