"I will not boast in ANYTHING ... But I will boast in Jesus Christ"

Hey friends,

Something has come to my attention and I figured it deserved an entire blog post. So let's talk about it. I would argue that this is one of the biggest problems in ministry and something we all struggle with if we're being honest; and that is becoming someone's Jesus.

Now, if you didn't know my 20th birthday was 2 days ago. Which is exciting but it's 20 so it's not that big of a deal. Anyway, this is relevant, promise. You know, now that it's 2013 you don't really get birthday cards or phone calls anymore, (except maybe from your grandparents, holla!) you get wall posts, tweets, snapchats, texts, and my personal fave: instagram picture collages. If you know me at all you know my love language is words of affirmation. I love when people give me words. That also leads into my biggest struggle in life: pride. So now I'm going to wrap this back around to my birthday messages.

Let me start by saying that The Lord has blessed me BIG TIME with the community of friends in my life, whether they're believers or not God is using them to bring me closer to Him. So I got absolutely bombarded with encouraging words of all kinds from people and let me tell you it was AWESOME! I felt so encouraged and so loved. But I had a question, do people love me, Brea, or do they love the reflection of Christ through me?

I think John 1 does the best job of talking about what I'm getting at, so here's some scripture:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome^[a] it.

⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. ⁸ He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

⁹ The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world." (NIV)

Incase you've never really looked into those verses every time you read "the Word" pretty much just replace that with "Jesus". Anyways, let me pick out some of the more relevant parts: "in Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind", Pay attention to the word "light" in all of these verses!! "He came as a witness to testify concerning that light", "He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light".  In a different translation instead of "witness" it says "reflection". 

So, when people are calling me "inspirational" or "so full of love"... etc. I want you readers and those people to know that doesn't come from me. I am not that great, I'm a sinner. I am selfish. Ya  know who is really great though? Jesus. I want you to know that everything anyone likes about me is merely a reflection of who He is. He makes me love everyone because He loved me enough to DIE for me. So, I guess my hope is that no one aspires to be like me, or thinks I'm anyone inspirational. Cause I'll be the first one to burst that bubble for you, it's Jesus. I hope my life points 110% to how good He is, because without him I am absolutely nothing. That's the great thing about Jesus, He takes dirty, broken, sinners and makes them His children "without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish" (Eph. 5:27)

So I guess that's what I want my life to be, a reflection of the light. Not the real light.

xoxo

Brea