Embrace the Within no. 4

“You can’t outsource freedom.”

Embrace the Within.

Folks do not want to have to reconsider their characterization of you. It can be quite unsettling. I am currently going through folks treating me differently because of my faith. And I understand that it can be a lot for folks. We tend to take every change in life as an attack on ourselves. We tend to focus on how this change requires a total rewriting of our lives and how things work for us. Life is change and folks hate change. We want to think about something once and then never consider that again.

That’s not how I am. I am constantly thinking about life and the things I have always thought about since I was a child. Those thoughts are the reason I read, I study, and I form understanding. I synthesize the things I add to my understanding of self and take those thoughts into action and move forward. Sometimes I choose poorly. Sometimes I think poorly. Sometimes I have to go back and reconsider and reexamine and reassess. Sometimes I find something I overlooked or placed in less importance. BUT I never stop thinking and learning and growing as a person.

I cannot change the uncomfortability others feel about my faith. I cannot change the feelings of others or the thoughts of others about anything. Only they can choose to change. What I find surprising is that changing my belief was more acceptable than changing my faith.

I come back to Christ in a strange fashion. I didn’t find God and then change my life. I was changing my life and discovered that journey was bringing me back to my faith in God. It doesn’t even sound normal. When I share that part of my testimony, folks give me a strange look and don’t quite fathom that. BUT that can’t be all that strange. Is it?

I started getting healthy. I started making changes to align my life with my values. And that journey over the past fourteen days that have stretched out to years led me back to reading The Bible and back to reconsidering what I thought I knew.

Sure, I had read before BUT had I really taken the time to think about what The Bible said. Or was I just taking the word of others for it? Or was I taking verses out of context and passing judgment there? Did I really have an understanding of The Bible? Truth is that I knew a lot of stories and the main characters and players BUT I was really rather illiterate in the whole picture. So, I took it upon myself to get all the books I could. And that is where I am today. Still reading through the Old Testament even with books that are typically labeled apocrypha. I am not leaving anything out that I can find. I am going to read and study and understand. And I am not going to take the word of anyone else about what is in there and what it says. I am going to take personal responsibility for my faith. And that is what self ownership is all about. Because you can’t outsource your learning. You can’t outsource your understanding. And you can never outsource your freedom.

Peace to your home. Bless your being. The reign of God is now. Have the day you want. I hope you find whatever you’re looking for.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoGodsNoMasters #MyNepheshMyChoice #MakeYourselfGreatAgain #EmbracetheWithin

Embrace the Within no. 3

“My body. My choice.”

Embrace the Within.

Folks hear those words and have a lot of assumptions and presuppositions about what that phrase is referencing. I just want to look at what the phrase actually says and how folks interpret that phrase to mean so many things and how I look at that phrase. This is my body. That body consists of a physical form, an intellectual form, and a spiritual form. I had nothing to do with the creation of this body and any of its forms. I am just a bystander in the act of creation. And while I may own this form as a physical, intellectual, and spiritual representation of my person, I was not really involved in much of the underlying framework of any part of it.

Over my life, I have neglected or nourished parts of that form at times. I have been a good steward of this body and a bad steward of this body at times. I have been in good physical shape and poor physical shape. I have been in good intellectual shape and poor intellectual shape. I have been in good spiritual shape and poor spiritual shape. And since it is my body, it is my choice what shape I choose for that person.

I get to make all those choices about what I do to each part of this form. BUT that does not mean there are no repercussions or ramifications for my choices. If I eat poorly, each part of my person suffers. If I follow the wrong ideas, each part of my person suffers. Whatever I do to any one part of this body affects all of the other parts.

I can’t nurture one part and neglect the rest. I am my body. All three parts of that body are important. And what I value, what I find worthy of investing my time, will determine the choices I make. And those choices are important. I may not have any control over the creation of this body. I may not have any control over a lot of things in life, however, I always have power over my choices. I get to choose how I spend my days. I get to choose on what I focus. I get to choose what I value and how that manifests in my words and actions.

This is my body. These are my choices. What are my choices saying about the person I am choosing to be?

Peace to your home. Bless your being. The reign of God is now. Have the day you want. I hope you find whatever you’re looking for.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoGodsNoMasters #MyNepheshMyChoice #MakeYourselfGreatAgain #EmbracetheWithin