you are what you eat... something like that

so i read a quote today by writer/theologian N.T. Wright. It wasn't exactly an earth shattering revelation, but it was something i needed to hear and be reminded of. It was on the topic of worship, and what that means, and why we worship to begin with.

"You become like what you worship. When you gaze in awe, admiration, and wonder at something or someone, you begin to take on something of the character of the object of your worship."

i think that's especially true when we aren't worshiping God. because God is love, if we aren't loving our neighbors and caring more about ourselves than others, maybe we're worshiping something other than God. God is love, He calls us to love Him, and love others. I think i haven't been doing that. I can go through all the motions of 'christian living' but if it's not rooted in love, i'm worshiping a system or a religion rather than worshiping God.

N.T. Wright says later about what worship does for you

"Because you were made in God's image, worship makes you more truly human. When you gaze in love and gratitude at the God in whose image you were made, you do indeed grow. You discover more of what it means to be fully alive."

i think that's something i need to do more, is really look to God in love and gratitude, not to just know God is there, but to really acknowledge all that He has done in me and is doing in me.

righteousness for all

so i've been reading a bit of romans lately, and today i came across romans 3:21-31, and it got me thinking.

we've all been given righteousness through faith in Christ... and sometimes i think that's the problem for me.

we've all been given righteousness.

i don't want to be on a level playing field with liars, cheats, gluttons, etc. i like to think of myself as better than they are, that God thinks better of me than He does of them.

my pride gets between me and God.

i hate it, but it's true, so often, i judge other people and think of myself as better than other people.

but grace calls us to be humble. to accept that we need help, that we aren't as good as we'd like to think we are. that we need help just as much as the people we look down on, the drug dealers, the sleazy executives, everyone.


"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."

-romans 3:23-24

good ol greensboro + kathryn's wedding

so this weekend i got to go back [ever so briefly] to greensboro, nc, on the way to see my good friend kathryn get married.
and it's funny how even in doing that, God was still trying to teach me something in g-boro.
i spent some time friday night talking with allen and dan and we came to the issue of guarding your heart. I feel like that's something i don't do well, i tend to dive headlong into things and not think about the consequences that it has on me. It's pretty easy for me to get attached to people too quickly and make things more serious than they are. so that's something i'm going to try to work on. being more conscious of where my heart really is.

and speaking of matters of the heart...
i gotta say, kathryn and chris' wedding on saturday was the best wedding i've ever been to. it was truly a celebration of marriage. and that was something so refreshing. it wasn't all the typical pomp and circumstance of weddings, it was a celebration between the bride and groom before God and before all their friends and family. i mean, how many weddings have you been to where the bridesmaids dance down the aisle to 'this is the day?' it was just something i really was blown away by. but really, i think that's how weddings should be. and i was glad to see it.

but i'm tired. and i'm supposed to go into for a pseudo job interview tomorrow, so i'm going to bed.

grace and peace