Age Doesn't Matter

    In the Bible, we are called to serve God, and to keep His commandments. But sometimes it can be easy to say, "I'm really too young.." or sometimes even, "I'm just too old for that." But we still have responsibilities. Now, clearly, a new born can't really go out and evangelize, or even really understand anything that's going on. But we're not talking about them right now. A lot of times, we can start to think that we are too young to start obeying God. Now, clearly, we do have some limits. We can't exactly become missionaries on our own, and we do have women's rolls, as we can see in 1 Timothy 2:12 which says, "I do not permit a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet." But, we can always find things to do. We can teach Bible class, which sounds very difficult, but as long as you have someone in there with you, it's actually really easy once you get the hang of it. You can set up Bible studies with friends, or when a friend asks you for advice, tell them about what the Bible says about it, and plant that idea into their head.

     Talking about the Bible to other people isn't the only thing that people seem to have a hard time with, and tend to excuse with age. Also, dressing modestly seems to be one of those things. Some people tend to have it in their heads that, "Oh, I'm too young for it to really matter." It does very much matter. Now, I'm not saying that everyone does this. Not at all. But I do see a problem with it, and sometimes this is the thinking. For some strange reason, you can buy bikinis for your three-year-old little girls. And some people think, "Aaw! That's so cute!" But that is just teaching girls of all ages, that modesty doesn't matter. And that is very much false. It doesn't matter what age you are, as long as you are conscious and able, you need to follow God's Word.

     A lot of people use this excuse, as well as several others. But God didn't give us rules only for certain age groups. Once you are baptized, that is accepting all of the rules in the Bible, and no one can do that for you. Once you are baptized, you are saying that you are old enough to understand, and follow God's Word. So please, before you start thinking that you're too young for something, remember Luke 2:41-52, which is the story of Jesus in the temple. Jesus knew who He was, and was learning as much as he could when He was only 12. So next time you think, "I can't do it." or, "I;m too young." Remember that God will never give you anything you can't handle.

The Wonders of a Tank Top

     Today, I will be talking about the wonders of a tank top. Now, I'm sure you're wondering, "Didn't Sarah already do an article on showing shoulders?" Yes. She did. And if you want to read it, it was really good just click here. But I'm not talking about wearing just a tank top.

     For those of you who don't know me, I'm pretty short. I reached five feet, four inches a couple years ago, and then I just kinda stopped. BUT! I have a really long torso, so I have the HARDEST time finding shirts that fit. Although lately, I've learned that graphic t's aren't just super comfortable, but also usually long. But other than that, I can't seem to find shirts that I can lift up my arms and not show my entire stomach. So, what I do when that happens is I go to a random store and buy a cheap tank top form the women's section, wear it under whatever shirt I'm wearing at the time, and TA-DA! I can now raise my arms as high as they'll go and it doesn't matter! It's a really cheap way to stay modest, and if you get thin ones, then you hardly notice them at all. Also, a trend (which I haven't seen as much of this year thankfully) is crop tops. Now I will admit, some of them do look kinda cute. So if you really like one, just wear a tank top underneath, and as long as it's not super tight, then it's fine. Just because you want to dress modestly, that doesn't mean that you have to throw out your entire wardrobe. Just layer. It's cute, cheap, and can be fun. :)

Temptations

     "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.", Romans 6:23. Every day, we are tempted. Some of the things that we are tempted with seem just so right, and sometimes we can convince ourselves that they are. That is very easy to do. But in Matthew 5:29-30 it says, "If your right eye causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you loose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you loose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell." This passage here is telling us how important it is not to sin. Earlier I said that it is very easy to convince ourselves that sins are okay, but in 2 Corinthians 10:5 it reads, "We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ." This verse is saying that not only do we need to get rid of anything physical causing us to sin, but also mentally. It's very difficult to say no to sin when you're trying to convince yourself that it's okay. If the Bible says that it's wrong, then it's wrong. Now there's nothing wrong with genuinely  not knowing that something is wrong and asking yourself, "IS that wrong?" But that's why we need to study the Bible, and read it often so that we can know what's right or wrong. Because whether we read the Bible or not, we will still be judged by our actions. Romans 2:11, "For God shows no partiality." That doesn't mean that everyone will go to heaven, or everyone will go to hell, but that we will all be judged equally. God won't have pity on you because you  didn't know what was right or wrong. That's why He gave us the Bible. And I do admit, there are some who have never heard about God. But that is why we are told in Matthew 28:19 to go and make disciples of all nations. But a lot of people get Romans 2:11 confused because it can be made to sound like everyone will go to heaven no matter what, or everyone will go to hell no matter what, but that's not what this is saying. It's like, say you have four siblings, and all five of you have to follow the same rules. If three of you break one of those rules, and the other two don't, who gets in trouble? The three who broke the rule! If the other two siblings had broken it too, they would've gotten in trouble. That's not showing partiality, that's giving justice. Make sense? So as long as we follow God's word, and do right, we'll get what was promised to us. Not because we did anything special, but because God loves us all and He always keeps His promises. So when we wonder if something is wrong or not, don't just assume it's not. Go to the Bible, or your parents, or someone with lots of Biblical knowledge who can help you by going through the Bible, and showing you if it is or not. And if you find out that it is wrong, don't talk to yourself into doing it anyway. We are told to destroy those thoughts, because they go against God's teaching.