Monday, May 14, 2012

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God!"


I have wrote on this subject but wanted to touch base on it again, and more so this time, possibly more in depth that before even, and that is saying a lot. Last time for those stay updated with my blog know I wrote a long post somewhat regarding courtship, but there’s more to it than that in this post. I am going at it in trying to help others understand why I am so passionate about me, what God has done, is doing, and will continue to do in my life, and those around me.

This post is not only a shout out to all my fellow girls who might can use encouragement but also to all you guys out there, too, who can use some encouragement as well. We can all use some advice, encouragement, and inspiration from fellow believers from time to time. That is the reason I blog here.

Jeremiah 29:11 says: “For I know the plans I have for you, ‘declares the Lord,’ plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” NIV This has been one of my strongest life verses since I graduated high school back in 2007, and it seems that everyday it gets stronger for me. God truly does know the plans he has for me. I know that for me personally, in this stage in my life, there is a lot of why, and when questions I have for the Lord. When Lord will you send my future husband to me, and reveal that to me? Why haven’t I met him yet? Questions like that come and go all the time in my mind. But, I am so often reminded by my Mom, Dad, or family members that the Lord is in control, which I fully know, and knows what He’s doing here. No matter how hard it is to admit it to other people, I know one thing is for certain in my life; God is the head of my life, will be in all my relationships in life, and will be the head of my future family after marriage someday. So girls and guys never fear because the Lord knows the plans that he has for your lives, and he will lead the right person to you in his time. When at times I feel down because I feel I am too strict in my ways, or my standards are way to high for a guy to even want to consider being in a relationship with someone like me, I am reminded of this verse and many others. God himself reminds me to wait on Him; I am totally worth it, and that he has in mind the perfect person for me to marry someday. My standards may be high, but man they wonderful in God’s eyes.

Courtship as I have said before I have read is definitely old fashioned, but it works for strong born again believers in Christ such as myself. I might not have said it in my last post about courtship but I wear a special ring to me, a courtship ring, and on the ring says: “true love waits* 1 Timothy 4:12.” 1 Timothy 4:12 says: “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.” I want to say several things about this verse. It is also one of my favorite verses now because it says so much. I want and will remain pure until my wedding day. I wear the ring to show other people on a daily basis that I am very serious about my commitment to my future husband. That commitment being that he gets all of me, no holding back anything, but all of me. My prayer for him, and for any guy who might be reading this post is that you too, may keep yourself strong and pure for your future wives. They deserve all of you, not half, or a little bit of you, but all of you! I personally love the idea of showing the world how strong my faith is in the Lord by how I act, dress, and respect guys in that regard, and not just my future husband alone. Pure, one-way I show I am pure is my strong sense of modesty. I cannot stand to see how some girls; even those who claim to be strong Christians dress these days. Yes I know that seems judgmental but God said it not me. I am just one of the lucky ones that God has impressed upon to go forth boldly in the way I carry myself daily out in the world for others to see and hear. That means for me, that I do not wear revealing shirts or pant articles that show off parts of my body that should only been seen by my husband one day, and I act like a lady should act when I wear dresses and skirts. I can’t stand short skirts, low tops, and the works. We strongly need Godly men to step up and take a stand on this topic in teaching our young girls about modesty and why it is so important today. I have even heard from some men that it turns them off, rather than on when girls dress with low tops and short skirts and dresses. Ladies, we need to respect our men and not tempt them that way ever! Men, encourage your daughters, girlfriends, or friends even to not dress with those kind of clothing of you know it’s wrong. Take a stand, and be bold today!

Another thing about being pure for me is not becoming really intimate with a guy or a guy with a girl they are in a relationship with. That is one area I have failed in before, never crossing the line at giving in to having sex or anything like that, but kissing wise. You have to be really cautious and strong in your convictions and at times it is really hard when you really like and feel like you love someone. Your emotions get clouded and your judgment is not as strong then. That is why it is so important to refrain from that and be friends first, get to know each other and see where your true passion lies. If you marry someone, it should be for life, as their best friend, help mate, and lover as well. I feel that is why so many marriages end in divorce today, is because they don’t take the time to really get to know the person they are marrying, and the passion dies after they get married and find their sex life isn’t what they thought it would be like.

Courtship meaning all that also means that I will refrain from spending a lot of time a lone with someone when in a relationship with them, even after engaged if I can hope to someday. What does that mean exactly though? Well, for me it means not spending night after night, or day after day alone all the time together in each other’s apartments, family’s homes, etc. I love the idea of spending as much time with our families as possible getting to know them, our friends, church family, etc. I am fine with have “alone” time, just not finding a habit to constantly being alone tons during the relationship before marriage. Sure that may seem really “old fashioned”, as many people might say, but it works for me. I really had planned to save my first kiss until my wedding day, but that dream didn’t pan out, so now my dream is to wait at least until I get engaged, but I am not sure if that will happen. I also have been raised and taught to live this way, and am so thankful for it. Words cannot come close to thanking my two wonderful parents for all the guidance they have given, and continue to give me.

I also as I have said before LOVE Joshua Harris books, especially his book “I Kissed Dating Goodbye.” That’s where a lot of my ideas come from, the Lord, and other sources help as well. Basically as firm believers in Christ, you do not want to be like the world, but apart from it. Christians believe that this is not their home, but a place for a short time before we go to our home in Heaven to live with Jesus forever. I know for a fact that he lives in my heart and I pray he does in yours. I do and say what I do because Jesus has brought me so far. Sure I have failed him many times and fallen flat on my face and felt I had totally disappointed him, but he is always there to pick me up and brush me off. Jesus constantly reminds me why I am the way I am, it’s because he is faithful to compete his good work in me. But, that is only if I allow him to, and boy am I trying hard daily to complete what he wants me to complete, and not what I want to complete.

True there is so much more that I can or could say about my strong views on courtship, me, and all that goes with it, but that could take days and a lot of posts to do. I know already that there is a world out there that totally does not agree me and what I have to say here. But…that is not to say they don’t need to hear this. Jesus wants to the world to hear these words. We need to take a stand on what we are passionate about and what HE makes us passionate about. If you have walked through this post with me, thank you! 

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hillary I loved your Message. I wish all young people felt the same way that you do.I am proud of you for being bold with your old fashioned ways.God will bless you with just the right person. Thank your Mom and Dad for me they have truly rasied a girl that I dream for my boys.They are not as strong in faith as you so please pray for sam white Miranda White

photographer2012 said...

Thank you Mrs. Miranda, that truly means a lot to me. I am praying for Sam too, I have seen what he's feeling these days on Facebook. God has someone special for him too.