If you are seeking God and His approval, you will walk in such a way that you need not fear offending those around you. You will walk in the fruits of the Spirit – love, kindness, self-control – that make us more ‘likeable’ in general. But you will not be bound to people-pleasing because you will have pleased the One whose opinion truly matters.
Before we were engaged, Josh and I asked each other a LOT of questions. Getting engaged is a big decision and we wanted to be as united as possible before making that jump! Recently I shared that Josh and I went on some “special” dates when we were dating – dates a little different than what you see on Pinterest.
Years ago it was Pastor Bob Coy of Fort Lauderdale’s Calvary Chapel; more recently Willow Creek, John Crist. Each time what I feel is not surprise, not shock, but a deep disappointment – not because I expected the failure – but because I’ve seen this same event every few months for years. More than anything, I’m saddened.
And I’m also scared.
God doesn’t want his men confined. He wants them strong, free, and bold, ready to stand up for Him and lead their families in their faith and freedom. So that’s what he gave me: An un-boxed man.
A lilac bush scraped the glass every time the wind danced through its branches, and with each scrape I paused over the list before me. I was leaned against my hope chest in the sunlight, my bible at my elbow, chewing on the end of my pen as I thought carefully over each bullet point. I tried to keep my cursive even so it looked pretty. After all, I planned to have this list a long time: I was only sixteen.
Eight years later I found the List. It was folded neatly in the back of my high school bible…