They Will Know We Are Christians, How?

Hmmm! How do I start this blog post?  

I should go ahead and warn you, this will probably be one of those...Part 1 of some number.  LOL! 

Additional warning:  It may take several posts before you understand why I am titling these as such.  Hopefully, it will make sense, eventually.

As a young, new believer, at the age of almost 14, my life did a 180 after I got on my knees in my bedroom to surrender it all to Him, whatever that meant, in Feb/March of 1974.  No, I don't remember the date, exactly, but He does.  But the life-change is unmistakable!

He had been pursuing me for a while and I just kept telling Him, "Not now!" I was having too much fun!  "Wait until I get married."  So thankful His pursuit was relentless! 

Back then...I could never have imagined the change that would overtake me in the next few weeks, months and years to come following my surrender of all to Him. 

I was a "good" girl.  Went to church regularly.  Made good enough grades.  Didn't have too many arguments with my parents.  Never let adults hear me cuss.  Never used God's Name in Vain, NEVER!  And I was masterfully skilled at deceiving others.

At this young age, I already "loved" wine and beer.  Apparently, I came by this naturally as both my mother and brother qualified as alcoholics.  My brother and his wife would let me sneak sips of their mufti-flavored Boone's Farm Wine (all were yummy!) and I would announce to my parents I would be washing my hair in beer to make my hair clean and shiny, with every intention of drinking the beer instead.  Of course, I would pour a small amount on my hair so my parents could smell it.  So many have told me, through the years, how they hate the smell of beer...not me, I loved it.

From that time forward, even though my study of the bible revealed drinking, within moderation as long as you were sober-minded, was not a sin, I gave it up completely.  This was one of those specifics, from my rebellious past, that I felt I wanted to sacrifice for the blood that Christ had shed for me.  No, it wasn't my drinking the wine and beer that was my sin, but it was the attitude in which I drank it.  First, it was against the law, second it was against my parents, therefore it was against my God.

Maybe you are wondering how hard it has been for me to refrain from doing something I loved so much?  It truly has NOT been a sacrifice for me, at all.  By God's grace, only once, in the past 38 years, was I tempted to "sneak" a glass of wine and that was about 6 years ago.  My mind said, "No one will know" but, my heart said, "He will."  Again, drinking the wine would not have been the sin, but my motive, my attitude...was sin!  Temptation for self-indulgence...averted.  Now, if I could avert the temptation to eat unhealthily, as easily, that would be awesome!

Not everything about my former life changed instantly, but some things did.  First, were those short mini-skirts I would wear, dropping my shoulders as much as I could to make sure they passed my parents test of "long-enough", as long as I could touch the hem with my fingertips.  Funny, how I now wanted to cover up the very things I wanted to flaunt before knowing Him, and at the age of 13. 

Of course, when my attire changed my friends began to ask me why I was dressing so differently.  It wasn't just my clothes that had changed, but everything about me was changing.  

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.  And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!  2 Corinthians 5:14-17