This blog is a linkage to Nick's blog, "Kissing is Like Smoking Pot."
I want to address a little weasel called LEGALISM. You hate that word, don't you! The thing is, at the end of the day, many Christians confuse legalism with discipline. I'm sure people have said it many more eloquent ways than that, but it's true.
If you read Nick's blog, you may have thought "Drawing boundaries? That's so legalistic! There's no grace, it's all black and white." That is something that I struggled with a lot. I didn't want to be so wrapped up in not breaking our rules that I was missing the point: staying physically pure. But when we set our boundaries and stuck to them through our entire engagement, it was such a precious gift- not to give us spiritual bragging rights, because we know it was only because God sustained us that we were able to do such a thing. In the words of the great Don Whitney, "Disciplined people are holy people" (ok, that's a paraphrase.) If only I were disciplined in EVERY area of my life!
Another thing to add is that at Sojourn several weeks ago, we talked about Bible reading. Daniel was talking about how so often we fear legalism so much, we don't even try to do ANYTHING consistently, like read our Bibles. He encouraged the congregation to start a Bible reading plan and stick to it for a whole year, not switching plans or Bible studies 50 times a year.
I fear that we've become a Christian culture so afraid of legalism we won't be a disciplined, and thus holy, people.
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3 comments:
A lot of young girls could learn alot from you and your husband. I would like to know the true stats on how many christain couples do wait till marriage. I bet it is scary!
Very good point. Thanks for bringing it up -- isn't it funny how subtle sin can be in its destructiveness? In walking with Christ, we either go to one extreme in legalism, trying to make ourselves holier by our own strength, or we err on the other extreme of neglecting the commands of Christ to believe AND to obey Him- a volitional act only by the grace of God. God didn't call us to be spiritual couch potatoes...
Okay, skip that last statement. :)
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