Dare: The Word Love In It's True Meaning

     As the title says, this dare is going to be about LOVE.  

     Quite a popular word, huh?  Have you ever noticed how people say love like it's just another word?  It's funny, people say that you shouldn't throw around the word hate, because it's such a strong word, but they throw around the word love like it's nothing, even though it's a much stronger word then hate.  Anyways, we're getting a bit off topic.  

     Wondering what I mean by "Love in it's true meaning"?  If you are a Christian like me, open up your bible to 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 it tells us what love is.  Here is what it says:  "Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preserves."

     Do you notice how all the things they list for what love is are choices?  So then, if all of these things that love is are choices, then love itself must be a choice.   

     Most likely the reason why people throw around love like it's just another word is because they don't even know what love really is.  We seem to think that love is a feeling, that warm, happy feeling we get around someone that we like of the opposite gender.  Even though that might be part of love, that in itself is not love.  We choose to love people. (Also, that means there is no such thing as love at first sight.  Could you seriously choose to get married and devote yourself to that person just by seeing them?)

     So then, this brings us to the dare.  I want you to be loving this week.  Not just to the people you like, though.  Try your best to be loving to everyone, including the people that annoy you or that you don't like.  After all, this is the second most important commandment in the bible!  Didn't God say that we are to love others as ourselves?  Plus, if we are loving to others, including people who aren't Christians,  they will see God's love in us.  It might be hard, but it is SO worth it.  So, I believe that is all I have to say.  Have a great, loving week.

Dare: What We Need, Not What We Want.

So!  Finally after nearly a month, I have come up with another dare.  Here is the story:  How it started to come up was that this past weekend I went on a trip with my family.  Of course, we needed to do some packing.  While I was packing my clothes, books, drawing supplies, and so on,  I realized how many bags we had all filled with stuff.  And I thought  "Why do we need all of this stuff?"  Seriously.  It seems that Christians always claim that all we need is God, and nothing else.  This, indeed, is true, but why do we still carry around all this crap?  And it's not just for trips outside of town, we carry stuff around town, around the neighborhood, even around our house.  In all honestly, most likely most of the stuff you carry around you don't need, they're just a want.  And that's okay, until they start taking up the time you should be spending with God or doing something worth while.  After my trip, I went to go hang out with my youth group (for those of you who are reading this and go to my youth group, you guys are AWESOME), and we started talking about God and all the things that we want.  We all realized that we are trying to fill ourselves with things other then God, and clearly, it wasn't working.  Why do we waste all of our time on something that might be poisoning us when we could be reading His word or talking to Him?  Not very logical, right?  So, this brings us to the dare.  Do you have something that you feel addicted to, or you simply are spending a lot of time with?  I want you to let go of that this week.  This is most likely one of the hardest dares, but it is one of the most important ones.  It could be books, TV, music, whatever it is, just put it away for the week, and spend that time with God, or simply doing more healthy/smart things.  It will help you to realize you don't need those things, AND, if you're like me, you won't feel guilty for wasting your time on something unhealthy and brain killing.  So, I think that's it!  Have a great week everyone.

Something That Has Nothing To Do With Pencils And Paper (AKA: Donut Day)

So, I know this is late notice, but June 1st is Donut Day (Donut Day, Doughnut Day, It's all the same).  So, in the spirit of the holiday I have a little picture I would like to show you all.

Nice, huh?  Have a great Donut Day!