katiecrna
New member
When I got saved I joined a great community that was open and honest about our own struggles. It's a fact we all sin. Talking about our struggles makes us stronger, makes us vulnerable, makes people trust us, and the awareness of our own sins helps us combat it. Denying and pride is the devils work.
After church it became normal to talk about the message with my friends in a personal way. "That really spoke to me because I'm struggling with..." . "Jenny that made me think of you because last week you told us you were working on...". It was hands on. Not just, that was beautiful, ok what's for lunch.
Then I meet my future husband and his family is the opposite. So closed off, won't admit any personal struggles. No talk about self improvement. It felt like a very guarded unsafe place to be.
For me, I was also taught that we are all sinners. So why pretend to be perfect? I was taught that the goal is to be as Christ-like as possible. So I am a very type A person and I attack problem strategically. Identify the problem, identify the goal, and steps to take to get to that goal. That's how my brain works. So to become Christ like, I need to not only be aware of my sins, but make actual steps to work on them.
So I keep a journal. I pick one sin that I struggle with. I write it down, find scripture to help me, pray about it. And think of ways to work on it. That's how my mind works. Whereas my husband is like... well I just try to be the best I can. It's so general and I'm like ok well what do you need to work on? What are areas of weakness... he can't answer these questions. It's like he has been trained not to think like this, where it's so natural for me.
So here's an example... patience. We all know God calls us to be patient. My husband and I are stuck in traffic. I immediately think this is a perfect test, my patience is being tested, how will I act. That's how I think about bumps in the road. I'm more aware of it than my husband. Like when there is trouble... I always think it's the devil ringing his hands down there and thinking haha how are you going to handle this?? And there are 2 ways to handle any trouble... get angry, why me! This sucks. That stupid guy doesn't know how to drive etc. or use it to grow our faith and our character. You know what, I'm going to be late for work but that's ok things happen. I hope no one is hurt in the accident etc.
I don't know for sure what it is, maybe pride that keeps some Christians from letting their guard down a little and admitting they need some work. Sometimes it seems some Christians are super focused on others and not themselves.
After church it became normal to talk about the message with my friends in a personal way. "That really spoke to me because I'm struggling with..." . "Jenny that made me think of you because last week you told us you were working on...". It was hands on. Not just, that was beautiful, ok what's for lunch.
Then I meet my future husband and his family is the opposite. So closed off, won't admit any personal struggles. No talk about self improvement. It felt like a very guarded unsafe place to be.
For me, I was also taught that we are all sinners. So why pretend to be perfect? I was taught that the goal is to be as Christ-like as possible. So I am a very type A person and I attack problem strategically. Identify the problem, identify the goal, and steps to take to get to that goal. That's how my brain works. So to become Christ like, I need to not only be aware of my sins, but make actual steps to work on them.
So I keep a journal. I pick one sin that I struggle with. I write it down, find scripture to help me, pray about it. And think of ways to work on it. That's how my mind works. Whereas my husband is like... well I just try to be the best I can. It's so general and I'm like ok well what do you need to work on? What are areas of weakness... he can't answer these questions. It's like he has been trained not to think like this, where it's so natural for me.
So here's an example... patience. We all know God calls us to be patient. My husband and I are stuck in traffic. I immediately think this is a perfect test, my patience is being tested, how will I act. That's how I think about bumps in the road. I'm more aware of it than my husband. Like when there is trouble... I always think it's the devil ringing his hands down there and thinking haha how are you going to handle this?? And there are 2 ways to handle any trouble... get angry, why me! This sucks. That stupid guy doesn't know how to drive etc. or use it to grow our faith and our character. You know what, I'm going to be late for work but that's ok things happen. I hope no one is hurt in the accident etc.
I don't know for sure what it is, maybe pride that keeps some Christians from letting their guard down a little and admitting they need some work. Sometimes it seems some Christians are super focused on others and not themselves.
