I know how easy it is to get stuck in the mundane and redundancy of this life. We go to work or class, eat our meals, workout, pray, go to sleep, and start the cycle over. It seems nearly impossible at times to not let ourselves fall in to the traps of commonness, the anti-humanness that life seems to impose on us. This is not what we are made for! To be fully human is to live a life with Christ, to know what joy and love really are, what this life should really be defined as.
Jesus himself was the most radical and badass guy ever. He roamed around with a band of men who lived with only what they had on their backs and nothing else. He blew up what people knew to be true, the rules and commonality of life and made new ones for them, rules that put everything on its head. He forgave sins, healed people, drove out demons in fear, left people flabbergasted, and claimed to be God. What? He was a radical and it was amazing. He was adventurous. I know I surely want to live like that! And isn't that exactly what he calls us to do? To live like He did? Life with Christ is a wonderful adventure and I want never to be common again. I want to know what it is to really be human, not what the world restricts humanity to be.
Below are some quotes from the Bible, from the very mouth of God, that I go back to time and time again, reminding myself of the craziness, the wonderfulness, and loveliness Jesus wants me to share with Him. These are the quotes that inspire me to be a Christian badass.
"He who started a good work in you will carry it to completion." -- Philippians 1:6
This quote reminds me that God has a plan for me, a wonderful plan to make me into the saint I long to be. Because of that, I am reminded to persevere in prayer, never quitting, fighting the good fight.
"I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." -- Ephesians 4:1-2
Whoa. The calling I have received. I have a responsibility, a duty to this calling and to doing it justice- to doing God justice.
"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with Him in glory." -- Colossians 3:1-4
Wow, who I am in Christ's eyes matters more than anything else. He has my life, totally and completely. Let me make my life something beautiful, then, to thank you.
"Do not be afraid. Keep on speaking; do not be silent." -- Acts 18:9
I will not be silent, I will sing your praise forever! This quote inspires me to be bold, unordinary, and recklessly in love with God.
"Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for others in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity." -- 1 Timothy 4:12
I don't know about you but that sounds pretty badass to me. I want to be like that! Going against the grain, pursuing and promoting virtue.
"You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees and fields will clap their hands." -Isaiah 55:12
So do love. Be heroically generous, be bold, live radically, and live a big story. Remember to whom you belong and let that inspire you to act.
"Give away love like you're made of the stuff; we're rehearsing to spend eternity together." - the man, the myth, the legend, Bob Goff.
