Learning: Psychology

It seems to me that the usual process is this: the older you get, the more you learn about the world, the people you know, and hopefully, yourself. Of course, some people differ from that trajectory, as is true of all generalizations. Some people are just really self-aware naturally, and at a young age. Others are in denial, not understanding things about themselves or others, and not wanting to.

As a christian, I spend quite a bit of time reflecting on my personality and the decisions I make. In fact, last year, during a bible study, I realized that some of my close friends were so self-aware that they could understand why they had made a bad or foolish decision, and had even begun to prevent themselves for falling into the 'traps' that they had succumbed to in the past.

I was astonished. I couldn't do that, I couldn't understand why I did a lot of the things that I did, as strange as that sounds. So I decided to embark on a journey of self-discovery! (Ha!) Okay, I didn't phrase it or think of it like that, realistically I thought: "How great to be able to understand your own decisions so clearly! I want to be more like Adriane and Jennifer!"

So I tried it. And this year, I have become much more aware of my own tendencies and feelings and thought processes. You can see that even in how my writing has changed! Part of that is my adventures into self-awareness and reflection with God, but also in the past couple of semesters, I've been taking psychology classes for fun. While there is some questionable content in the world of psychology, overall, it can be really helpful when you are trying to classify and categorize features of your personality. (And in other people, interestingly enough.)

I guess what I'm trying to get at here is the idea that people deserve more credit than we usually give them. The more I interact and get involved with people, the more intrigued, baffled and in love I am with them. We're all so different, and funny enough, so much the same.

As I slowly come to understand why I act the way I do with some people, I also begin to understand why they act the way they do, and its causing me to be a lot more forgiving. I make mistakes. And so do you. And you know what? It's not the end of the world. (Not yet, anyway! Mayans...)

So forgive one more time, but really think about it, and maybe there won't be a next time to worry about.

Do you think that you are "self-aware"? Do you think that it's important?

Produce

Well, I'm back at school and things are getting into full swing. It's going to be quite the year, a year full of changes and miracles and hardships and joy.

Today, I decided to take some time alone to pray and read my bible instead of going to church. It seemed like a good idea to be alone, and just have time to recharge.

I'm studying Philippians right now, and for my first day, I finished with chapter one, verse 11.

(I'm particularly fond of the "God's Word" translation, so that's what I'll share with you.)

¹¹Jesus Christ will fill your lives with everything that God’s approval produces. Your lives will then bring glory and praise to God.

So, now I'm wondering, what is it that God's approval produces? I can come up with some stereotypical answers: blessings, happiness, the usual. But what is it that we receive by earning God's approval.

We already have his love, but by earning his approval, we gain something different, and I'm curious to what you think that is. Fill me in!

Playing Favorites

As you might have gathered, for example in my "Who's Who" post, I'm not a fan of things being ranked or valued over other things.

However, I'm here to admit that I have been playing favorites. I have some favorite bible verses. Ha-cha-cha!

So obviously, having favorite bible verses isn't really a bad thing, right? So I thought I would round up a few of my favorites and share them with you. You never know, they might be just what you needed right now! It always seems that way with me.

Romans 12:12

"Be happy in your confidence, be patient in trouble, and pray continually."

All around just pretty good advice right? A lot of chapter 12 of Romans is simple truths like this.

Proverbs 31:20

"She opens her hands to oppressed people and stretches them out to needy people."

I love this verse, of course, since it's mentioned in my post about the vision God has for me!

Romans 1: 11-12

"I long to see you to share a spiritual blessing with you so that you will be strengthened. What I mean is that we may be encouraged by each other's faith."

My best friend sent me a text that only said "romans1 11-12" on a crazy day a couple of weeks ago, and that night when I got around to reading it, I was blown away. Having that kind of support is great and exactly what God expects from people who love him.

That's all I've got for now. Do you have a favorite, or even goofy verse that always comes to mind for you? Leave a comment! Who knows who might benefit from it!

Conviction: Support

Yesterday I shared the definition for Poverty, (which is of course from Dictionary.com) and today I want to talk a little bit more about that.

Just to refresh your memory:
pov·er·ty  /ˈpɒvərti/ [pov-er-tee]
–noun
1. the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; condition of being poor; indigence.

While all of that is important, the part that is most important today is the end of that first clause: no means of support.
While money is important (unfortunately because I hate it, but don't get me started) a lack of money is not the sole cause of poverty. It's important to realize that in too many cases, families are in poverty because no one will help them. Sure, there are organizations and groups and government programs that are helping the poor.

But if everyone, everyone helped? The results would eliminate poverty. Completely eliminate poverty. You might think that I'm overstating this, but think about it. If everyone in this world took care of just one other person who needed it, we would most certainly be in a better place.

Here's a verse often referenced towards the poor, found in James:
James 1:27 --
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

But there are plenty of other verses that strike a similar note, including this string:
Deuteronomy 24:19-21 --
This is what you must do when you’re harvesting wheat in your field. If you forget to bring in one of the bundles of wheat, don’t go back to get it. Leave it there for foreigners, orphans, and widows. Then the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do. When you harvest olives from your trees, never knock down all of them. Leave some for foreigners, orphans, and widows. When you pick the grapes in your vineyard, don’t pick all of them. Leave some for foreigners, orphans, and widows.

So just help. We know that everything we earn here is useless after we die, so why not make other's lives just a little easier?

Pretty straightforward, eh? Stay tuned for tomorrow's post!

Conviction: Right Under Your Nose

As you might have inferred from the title of this post, I've been skimming over something for a while that I can't believe I missed. Remember this post from way back, about how I really wanted to hear from God about what he had planned for my future? Go back and read it. It's quick.

Just kidding. But in case you hadn't noticed, I never updated with what God had told me! Was that because I forgot? No. Because I wanted to keep it a secret? No. It was because he hadn't told me anything.

Yet.

That was what I didn't realize. To be honest, I was a little put-out. I thought, "God, if you will tell Jordan what you want her to do with her life, what is the difference with me?" It seemed unfair, silly, and I racked my mind for months. What was I not doing right? Did I have some grudge to forgive, some person to reconcile with, some sin I hadn't repented of or confessed?

Then I stopped worrying about it. I don't know how it happened really, since I just let it go, but I did. I wasn't laying awake at night wondering where I would be in five years or whether I needed to change my major or who-knows-what.

Over the past few months, I've been doing a verse-by-verse study of the Proverbs 31 woman. It's my favorite passage in the Bible, but I hadn't ever really studied it. So in the prayer room last night, the memory of my future came back, so I prayed about it, asking for a purpose, a plan. I opened my bible, and after skimming a few verses in Chronicles absentmindedly, I opened to my bookmark. My bookmark that has the picture of my sponsored child.

I had opened to the end of Proverbs, and when I checked which verse I was supposed to study next, it hit me.

"She opens up her hands to oppressed people and stretches them out to needy people."

Proverbs 31:20. I felt it. This -- this verse, right under my nose -- was the one I had been looking for. And where did I find it? In my favorite passage, marked by the little girl who is the needy that I need to stretch my hands out to. I wanted to dance, to jump up and down and sing and squeal. God had showed me what he wanted, and I can't be more excited to do it.

Are you still waiting to hear from God? Don't give up.

Teaching: Bible Study

(As with all of the posts in the RFP Teaching series, it's important to remember that while I'm trying to share my knowledge with you, I by no means consider myself the be-all end-all of anything I know how to do. Just hoping some ideas and tips that I use can help you, too!)

First, let's be honest.

Who thinks that everything in the bible is simple and easy to understand at first glance? You don't? Good, me neither.

Studying your bible doesn't have to be a laborious affair with multiple translations or years of theological knowledge under your belt. But sometimes, verses just don't make sense the first time around. In light of that, I thought I would share a few things that I do to try and understand what God has to say to me a little easier.

Let's start at the very beginning:

Translation: Though you will obviously need a bible to study it, the important thing here is to buy a translation that you can read and understand well enough. I loved my NIV for as long I can remember, but then I recieved a copy of the God's Word translation, and for just plain reading, it's phenomenal. If you aren't sure, ask for recommendations from friends, or just pick one and go with it!

Then, 3 steps:

Reading: Before you get down to the nuts and bolts of the verse or section you are reading, read the entire section from beginning to end once. Sometimes, when you start by breaking a section or verse down, you miss the bigger meaning, and it can leave you confused. Don't worry if you don't get anything big from this: it also serves to give some context, background, to your study.

Rewrite: When there is a sentence or phrase that I get stuck on, I rewrite it in my own handwriting. Just copy it down. This is especially helpful for things like Psalms or Proverbs where there is a lot of content written in verse. A lot of the time, just rewriting it makes the sentence structure suddenly clear to me, and what seemed backwards just clicks.

Define: As much as context and rereading can tell you, sometimes, you have to get down and dirty with the dictionary. Often, the way I define a word will change, because I had one meaning in my head and that differed with the word that I found in the bible (and then double-checked in the dictionary). If that still has you stuck on a word, ask, uh... your local bible scholar?

For the first time, I've prayed for God to lead me through a study, and honestly, I've been getting so much out of each and every verse its unbelievable. That's my last recommendation: pray about it.

So here's a challenge: take your own study methods, take mine or take someone elses and study something. Did you like it, do you understand the verse better? Tell me about it!