I have an admission to make… I’m addicted. No, if I’m honest I have to admit that I’m a full-fledged addict. At least I’m not in denial… and I’m comforted by the knowledge that many of you share this addiction.
Words with Friends.
Oh I know… it seems so innocent at first. It’s more than passing familiarity to the Scrabble board game we played as kids makes it an instant ‘comfort game’. Like pushers of hard core drugs, the makers of Words have devised a brilliant marketing plan. The first version is free! But by the time you get hooked (and tire of the endless adverts!), you are forced to buy the full version. Then you quit your day job and keep a dictionary at your side constantly… lol.
Ok, so I’m not that bad. But I really do love words and this game really is fun (and dare I say educational as well?). Most of my family and I play, and a few of my close friends as well. And as much as I love to read and think I have a strong vocabulary, my tail regularly gets kicked in the syntax!
But there is a word that has been haunting me of late, and I was discussing this with a friend the other day.
Courage…
I’ll not bore you with the official definitions, but it’s a great word. Especially in light of who we are and should be as Christ-followers. Sadly, I’ve found that many Christians view this word only in the context of having the nerve to ‘witness’. Sharing our faith can be scary, I suppose.
So… what does ‘courage’ really mean? To me, at least?
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Hmmm… does that mean we are to give our hearts away?
Now that IS scary.
So to encourage is not what I thought. It’s not reciting the Sunday School lesson from last week… or to throw the Law at someone. Or to even say anything at all.
We have to have relationships where we can literally give our hearts to the other. To know our friends closer than a brother (or Dad or sister or weird Uncle Ed).
Following me so far? I have to admit that I’m struggling a bit with this. Oh sure… it’s easier to share this kind of courage with some more than others. Especially people that believe like we do.
But what about people who don’t believe like me?
Hmmm… is there a different kind of courage or encouragement for people who don’t share my beliefs? I guess that presupposes we even have people in our lives who fall into this category.
Usually, a blog entry like this will make a turn at exactly this point… a turn toward the eternal truth that the writer intended to share.
Not this time.
Like many things in life, I’m left scratching my head a bit on this one. Because sharing our hearts in any form or fashion is dangerous. It’s messy when we get in each others’ business. Especially when we don’t share a common heart.
But can I really be transparent and say that my heart and life is a pretty messy place?
That’s gonna take some courage.
Trust me… there’s more to come on this one…
GV