Bratty Girl

A Heavenly Angel was created and formed by the hands of God, a perfect creation. God said, “This is truly a one of a kind. I must now break the mold, because there shall not be another. No two things will ever be made alike. I am well pleased.” God was so pleased, that heaven also rejoiced with Him.

The Heavenly Angel was unique, beautiful, and she possessed the gift of touch. Her touch could melt mountains, and turn the hearts of men into pure gold. Her presence demanded the very best, because she, herself, gave her very best. She would meet or exceed all expectations.

One day, God heard a desperate cry from a man, who was lonely and very depressed. The man was fair looking and he had a lot of potential, he also had lots of love to give, but no one to share it with. So, God decided to send the Heavenly Angel to earth to lift this man's spirit.

God's intentions, was that the Heavenly Angel would comfort the man and return back to heaven, however, while upon the earth, something very unexpected took place. The man and the Heavenly Angel had fallen in love.

As God watched from heaven, He realized that the two of them made beautiful music together, they were deserving of one another. So, He sent word to the Heavenly Angel that if she so desired, she could stay with the man whom she loved. God also told her that love, joy, and happiness would be with them for eternity; and that He was well pleased with their union.

“For what God has joined together, let no man tear it apart.”

The Heavenly Angel and the man, are you and I!

“It’s not about the answers; it’s about asking the right questions.”

I encountered this question in Y! Answers. Because of its simplicity, the question could have easily been discarded with a noncommittal kind of reply. No, I wanted to answer this question in all sincerity. I wanted to give an honest and genuine answer. I am sure many people may have thought about this question, but I wonder how many people have really sat down and meditated on it.

If you could ask God one question, what would you ask?

I hate to admit it, but my first impulse was selfish. I thought that I might ask God how He saw me. Or maybe something like, who am I? Or, what will make me truly happy?

Nah. There is so much more in the world than just me.

Boy, that’s a tempting question to ask. But with such a question, there is usually an answer, and I might not like it. If the answer was affirmative, what joy! If the answer was negative, well…I can’t imagine how despairing that would be to hear.

Maybe I would ask God something cavalier, like who really killed JFK? Or, is there intelligent life on planets orbiting other stars?

Or, what about one of the “big” ones? Maybe, what’s the meaning of life? Or, why are we here? Or, what happens after we die?

What about something more along theological lines? Like, how do I learn to know Your will? Or, how does the Trinity exactly work? Or, did Jesus really have to die to bridge the gap between man and God? Or why is there pain and suffering in the world?

Maybe, something more personal, like what does God see as the best and worst traits in humanity? Or, does God get tried of hearing all our whining and complaining and asking for this and that?

Maybe I could ask God to explain precisely why He loves us? Or, why did His Son sweat blood in Gethsemane? What did He pray for that night in the garden?

It seems that there are many questions I could ask God. The original question seems to beg for certainty in some small area in our lives. Something that we will never have one hundred percent. If we did, then it wouldn’t be faith, would it?

As a whole-hearted, committed Christian, one who yearns to be a good and faithful disciple, my faith has already asked all those questions above and many more. (Except for the JFK, intelligent life, and smashed thumb questions.) And at the risk of appearing prideful, the answers have already been given. I just have to open up my heart, be still, and listen humbly to God’s whispered replies. I also have to be willing to accept God’s answers and not expect to hear what I want to hear.

In a way, I can ask God any question I want right now, through prayer.

I think I know the question I want to ask God. I think I have been asking this question every day since I fell in love with Christ.

These are the three most important reasons to stay pure:

1. God says so! The very best reason of all to keep your mind and actions pure is just because God wants us to do it. This is love for God: to obey his commands. (1 John 5:3) If you truly love God, you will do what He says. After all, He suffered and died for you!

2. You're not missing anything by waiting. The consequences of being impure are far greater than any of the benefits! Consider what you gain by making out or having sex with your boyfriend: a temporary good time. It doesn't last very long. A few hours at the most. Yet the consequences can last a lifetime. You could get diseases, you could get pregnant, and you could lose your good name and self-respect. Even if you don't go all the way, you can still struggle with feelings of guilt and low self-esteem. You can damage your relationship with your boyfriend, your parents, and God.

3. True love remains pure. Eventually, you will have problems in your relationship with your boyfriend if your thoughts or actions are impure. If your relationship is based on lust instead of love, it's bound to fail. Lust can damage even the truest love and corrupt even the closest soul mates. If you really want a wonderful relationship with your boyfriend, you will have a pure relationship with him. Lust, at its very heart, is self-centered. Yet love is other-centered. Love is patient, love is kind. It is not self-seeking. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. (Excerpts from 1 Corinthians 13) How can you really love someone if you're focused on meeting your own desires?

Now that all sounds pretty good, but is it really true? Let me give you some examples of why lust corrupts true love. First of all, if you are lusting after your boyfriend, you really want to use him for your own benefit. Eventually, he's going to get sick of that. If you continue the pattern of lusting after him to fulfill your needs and wishes, he's going to resent you instead of love you. Nobody likes being used. Nobody likes being controlled and manipulated. And you can guarantee your boyfriend will hate it, too. Second of all, if you are trying to love your boyfriend by meeting his demands for physical contact, you are really just feeding his lust. I will be so bold as to guess that 100% of guys struggle with lust, some more than others. When you hug your boyfriend, you may be thinking, “What a sweetie!” But he's thinking, “What a hot body!” The tiniest of things can send a guy's whole body flaming with lust, and the girl has no idea. That's why even if you don't struggle with lust, you should be extremely careful. You may think, “But my boyfriend wants to kiss me because he loves me!” That may be true. People who are in love want to express that love in physical ways. But you'll be able to tell if your boyfriend really loves you if he wants to keep your relationship pure more than he wants to kiss you. Real love wants the best for the other person. And God's standard of purity and holiness is the best for both your lives. Don't allow your boyfriend to act on his lust with you. If you do, you are just storing up trouble for yourself in the future. A lustful boyfriend or husband will likely do one or both of two things:

1) Be unfaithful to you by lusting after other girls and;
2) Use and control you to fulfill his lust.

Anyone who lusts tries to use and control others. And you don't want that kind of relationship. My parting thought is this: If you lose your boyfriend because you have high standards, then he was worth losing. Stay away from lustful guys who want to use and control you. Look for a guy who loves God first and who loves you so much that he wants to do the right thing.