Before I begin this blog, I wanted to announce that I will only be posting on Mondays and Fridays from now on. I am doing this so that there is enough time between each blog for me and God to talk about what I am going to write and how I am going to write it. This way, my writing will be more honest, wise, and loving for you all.
Back to the main bit.
It was brought to my attention the other day that people around my age (20-something or younger) are often given excuses as to why they do what they do.
"They are young, they're making the most out of these fleeting years".
"They are still figuring things out".
"They'll grow out of it".
Usually this is brought up in terms of basic things like partying, drinking, sex, etc. However, I hadn't noticed before that these excuses validate sin on a more internal level as well. For example, lusting over other individuals is okay because we are "young and attractive". Listening to modern music that promotes partying, sex, drugs, cheating, etc because we are "young and trying to have fun". Even scrolling through social media and looking at the "influencers" can subject us to making our appearances become our idols.
I am definitely guilty of this. I watched Game of Thrones, listened to some modern music, done things in relationships that doesn't honor God, the list goes on and on. I did these things because I gave myself the excuse of being young and inexperienced. I told myself that it would be better, healthy even, if I experienced these things I would learn and grow from them. In reality, I was just finding an excuse to do these things.
I am not saying that it is not okay to make mistakes. It is part of our walk in life to stumble sometimes. What I am talking about is making these things our lifestyle. Repeating the same sin over and over without meaningfully trying to turn from it is a dangerous game to play. Mark 8:36 says, "What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?" Wow.
Why would we waste time on temporary things when we have a God who is everlasting and is here to guide us on a path that is most beneficial to us? Why would we waste our time trying so desperately to become relevant within a society that only wants us to be like the rest?
Why waste individuality on a society that would rather gag you and shove you in a corner.
Maybe that was too harsh, but that is what it feels like to battle between living life for God and living life for the sake of avoiding persecution.
Yes, we are young and yes we have a lot of learning to do, but enabling sinful behavior just because "we need to learn" makes it okay to do those things later in life. It makes it okay to stay lost and aimless.
God has instilled in us a thirst for Him and the life He destined us for.
One verse that I believe sums up what it is like to seek God is Psalm 63:1
"You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek You; I thirst for You, my whole being longs for You, in a dry and parched land where there is no water".
This is my favorite verse. No matter if I am lost, no matter if I am found, no matter if I am having the best day of my life or the worst, my being will continuously seek my Creator. And I think that is the most beautiful thing that God has instilled in us. We have a place of belonging that each and every one of us is called to. Denying God, even in the little things like continuously enabling this lust-fueled, power-fueled behavior brings us further and further away from where we are meant to be.
It is okay to make mistakes and it is even okay to stumble sometimes. What isn't okay is making excuses for yourself to keep doing it. We must strive to better ourselves in the image of God because He knows what we need. He knows who we are truly meant to be.
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