I've asked some young women who are learning amazing lessons in their walk with God if they would be guest bloggers sometimes for Silver Trumpets. As is the case today, every once and awhile you'll read thoughts from someone besides me. Prayerfully this will create an even richer experience! Below is a story from a very inspiring and faithful sister in Christ who shared at a recent "Women's Day" celebration.
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The butterfly was chosen as the visual representation of our theme “A New Creation” because it undergoes a very famous transformation from caterpillar to butterfly. I believe we can learn a few things from its life as we explore the question, “How do we take steps towards becoming a new creation?”
Examine Your Foundation:
A Caterpillar's Background
The butterfly’s first stage of life is an egg implanted on a leaf by its mother. The mother takes great care in choosing where to lay her eggs because once they’ve hatched the caterpillars begin to eat the leaf. Certain species can only eat specific leaves, so if the mother puts the eggs on the wrong foundation this could result in malnourishment and even death. I believe it’s the same for us spiritually so our first step in becoming a new creation is examining our foundation.
My own story - I never went to church growing up and only occasionally read the bible. My image of God was based on here-say and insecurities. I viewed him like a judge; pleased with me when I was good, disappointed and angry when I was bad. I needed to have people think well of me so I could think well of myself. This attitude lead me into a lot of lying and manipulation. Even when people did love me, it rarely felt real, because I believed I MADE them love me by creating someone they would love instead of being myself. I didn't know if they loved the real me. One day I was met by a young woman named Savanah. We studied the bible and with God’s word, plus her example making it real, I realized my life was built on:
A Caterpillar's Background
The butterfly’s first stage of life is an egg implanted on a leaf by its mother. The mother takes great care in choosing where to lay her eggs because once they’ve hatched the caterpillars begin to eat the leaf. Certain species can only eat specific leaves, so if the mother puts the eggs on the wrong foundation this could result in malnourishment and even death. I believe it’s the same for us spiritually so our first step in becoming a new creation is examining our foundation.
My own story - I never went to church growing up and only occasionally read the bible. My image of God was based on here-say and insecurities. I viewed him like a judge; pleased with me when I was good, disappointed and angry when I was bad. I needed to have people think well of me so I could think well of myself. This attitude lead me into a lot of lying and manipulation. Even when people did love me, it rarely felt real, because I believed I MADE them love me by creating someone they would love instead of being myself. I didn't know if they loved the real me. One day I was met by a young woman named Savanah. We studied the bible and with God’s word, plus her example making it real, I realized my life was built on:
- A god I created that could be manipulated into loving me through my good works
- Upholding my image
- Maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain
The two individuals in these verses chose different foundations and it made ALL the difference in their lives. They had more in common than not. Both heard Jesus’ words, both were building houses, and both encounter storms. I used to think this scripture was about a person who believed in Jesus and one who did not. Not so. What made one wise and one foolish is that one “put his [Jesus] words into practice” while the other did not.
We are building something whether we realize it or not. "Sand" can come in many forms not just disbelief. Other examples are laziness, fear of change, fear of being exposed, ignorance of the truth, holding onto comfort, “too busy” to get to know God, self reliance etc...
Two great questions to ask yourself is, “Does God’s word guide my life? Am I lead by my relationship with him?”
God’s desire is to give you a full, meaningful, and inspiring life which is free from sin. Becoming a new creation begins when YOU acknowledge that you have been building on the wrong foundation; which is any other foundation besides Jesus and his teachings.
to be continued...tomorrow's post will be part 2!