President Monson has been released from the hospital and is heading home. He will, of course, continue to be in my prayers. Every hospitalization-especially for someone his age-is unsettling and worrisome.
Moving on.
The hardest part about being a Christian isn't the chastity or forgiving people you may not like. It's the realization that people have stupidly high expectations for your behavior. Someone who isn't a believer and isn't trying to live a Christian lifestyle is a happy person-they can curse, drink, smoke, and do whatever they want without worrying about people calling them a hypocrite.
A Christian is still a human, and no, it doesn't make them a bad Christian if they smoke a cigarette, drink a glass of beer/ shot of Jack Daniels, or :: gasp :: get angry at the driver who cut them off. Am I advocating doing those things? Nope. Am I saying that Christians have it difficult because of the stupidly high expectations? Yup.
So true. In a way, I think it has to do with projections. It is easier to pick apart someone who makes your own weaknesses stand out than addressing those things that make you insecure. Like, just another way to make it seem like the Christian thing isn't worth it because none of them are technically good/perfect people after all, you know? That kind of mentality. It can get on my nerves sometimes, especially when you bring up repentance and they think you're flippantly cataloguing "sins" like cheating on a diet and planning exercise to make up for it later. Like, "Um, no, that's not what I'm saying at all!" It's one of those motivating factors though, the social pressure can be a good reminder. Not to BE perfect but that they are watching, they're looking for the fruits of happiness to be true. You know if they have bets riding on you being just an ugly sinner after all, there's the slim hope that you might prove them wrong and be just incredibly happy. And that could make them curious. Not always. But I like to think of it like cursing in front of children. You try not to do it because it sets a bad example of what you want them to do/what is acceptable.
ReplyDeleteOutstanding points.
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