Me & the Family

Me & the Family

Monday, November 28, 2011

Your Favorite Shirt

Everyone has one.
A favorite shirt that is.


The shirt I am talking about is NOT the one you picked up while shopping after Thanksgiving.  No, this shirt looks a bit different.  It's the one that you find shoved in your dresser or up in the closet somewhere.  It's the shirt that you ONLY wear around home, not that you are completely ashamed of it, but because you do have a sense of style now.  You might wear it to WalMart on a whim and you are fine so long as you don't look in a mirror to get an accurate view.


Yes, it's the memory shirt.


It might be tied to high school or college...or even your first boyfriend.  If this shirt could talk MANNNN you would have to shut it up!  Incriminating to say the least!


Even though your life has changed, WHO YOU ARE has changed, you still have that shirt.  You take it out while cleaning sometimes and laugh - maybe even are willing to tell your kids a few of the stories behind that teacher, all the while smiling at the stories you DIDN'T tell.


Or maybe I'm just along in this?
Oh, Lord.
That would be AWKWARD.


I was thinking about this the other day.
The little treasures that I treasure.
Stories that I could recount.


Those who knew me over, well my entire life practically, will tell you that I am a bit of a dare devil.  No, I've not gone skydiving (YET) but I took risks that many people did not take.  Many of those things that I gambled with did gamble my life: binge drinking, parties, driving while intoxicated and the list goes on and on. I made a LOT of bad choices.


Now over the past few years I have made a lot of changes in my life.  I don't really party, but I do enjoy dancing.  If I can go dancing every couple of months than I'm happy.  I can dance, if the music is good, until 2am.  I quit smoking 6 years ago - best decision of my life.  I do still drink but I drink carefully and thoughtfully.


Thoughfully?
YES.
I count my drinks and I watch my clock.
Approximately 1 drink an hour.
I NEVER drive after I've had even ONE drink.
I get a TAXI.


Those are basic thoughts about alcohol, but for me, those took some changes in my life to realize that it needed to change.  I also do not drink to RELAX, or FEEL BETTER.  If I need to do that then I turn to God.  He's my sustainer and my JOY.


Now, I'm saying all of this matter-of-fact but....I have a problem.  I find myself laughing and enjoying these memories of WHO I WAS.


Really?
REALLY.


See the thing is, I liked ME.  I liked me then.  I did not like my insecurity, but I had "fun" and when I go down memory lane it makes me smile...


Romans 6:6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.


Colossians 3:9 Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds.


A glance at these verses, through my heart and back at that shirt in my closet.  Have I really accepted that I should not relish WHO I WAS.  I was LOST.  I was filling my empty heart with things...things like ALCOHOL and PARTIES.  I was seeking attention in ALL THE WRONG PLACES.  How can I enjoy such thoughts - thoughts that my God and Father weep to think about.


Christ died so I could strip all of that off.  Like something bad I should BURN THEM, not relish in them.  How can I help others that are experiencing that VOID then one that they are trying to fill if I'm telling them, "hahaha, yeah, I did the same."


I can't.
And...it's a lie.


That old favorite shirt?
It needs to burn.
The joy of those deeds?
Needs to go away.


Ephesians 4:24 Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.


My question for you is...
DO YOU HAVE SOME OLD SHIRTS TO BURN????

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