Let Me Be Myself

“Let me be myself so I can shine with my own light…let me be myself for a while.”

Sometimes, it takes a lot of strength to just be ourselves.

If your right eye causes you to sin…

“If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.” – Matt. 5:29

How painful it is to gouge out your own eye, don’t you think?

Before, I thought this verse was literal.  What really is the very essence of this?  If I’d follow this literally, I’d look like those victims from the movie Jeepers Creepers.

Some people say the eye is the window to the soul.  And it is more often than not, that body part that’s easily inclined to sin, since we really can’t control the things we see.  Lust is something that doesn’t only pertain to people, but also to material things.  It is a deep desire to possess something that belongs to another regardless of the consequences, and oftentimes starts with just one look. But the commandments clearly say: “Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his goods…”  What must we do to avoid this?

The Observance of Lent – Biblical or Pagan?

I do not recall as growing up the observance of Lent, other than my best friend in High School being Catholic gave up certain foods during a time around Easter. She was very self-disciplined, and I remember that what ever it was she gave up; she stuck to it for the entire forty days. After becoming a Christian, I realized her efforts, however noble, was not biblical, nor necessary.

When did the custom of lent really began?  It began in the second century, as fasting, and abstaining from certain foods was imposed after the days of the apostles by the priests.

The Lenten season is believed to be a biblical custom of penitence and abstinence, beginning on “Ash Wednesday”’ Lent comes from the word Lencten, referring to the spring of the year. Originally it was associated with the spring but today it begins in the winter.