We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God; and we take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:5
My high school/college Sunday school teacher used to talk about this verse a good bit. She was very real in telling us her struggles and weaknesses. Mrs. Rita died after battling breast cancer several years ago, but her legacy still lives on! She once challenged our class in high school to memorize the Fruits of the Spirit during one of our units - I can still say them all for you! (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control -- Thank you, Mrs. Rita!)
This verse has been very real to me lately. However, I never really knew (or paid attention to?) the first part of it, but I love it.
As human beings, our minds are great at justifying our actions and making excuses for ourselves. We argue with God and tell Him that of course we're right in what we're doing. We justify unhealthy friendships, thoughts that spur from low self esteem and limited confidence, damaging behaviors, and anything else in-between. But when we stop arguing and listen to God, we see the truth. We see His leading and His guidance. He starts to break our arguments apart and forces us to view the true problem at hand.
So, when I start thinking that I'm not good enough or pretty enough, I take those thoughts captive and remember Who made me. And why He made me. He didn't make me to marry someone or turn heads. He made me to worship Him and bring praise to His name. Period.
And I think of Mrs. Rita every time it comes to mind. Such a special lady, she was!
2 Corinthians 10:5 was my verse for this week's 52 in 52. I didn't have a chance to post about it earlier in the week because our family had a very exciting, very tiny addition this week! Jennifer, my sister, had her fourth child on Tuesday afternoon! Little Tobias William (Toby for short) is a perfect little man. :) This week was full of baby holding and older children watching for me, and sleepless (but very blessed!) nights for my sister. Please pray that little Mr. Toby learns to sleep in his bassinet very soon!
This week was also exciting because I received my new running shoes! They're Vibram Five Fingers, and I love them!! I ran in them for the first time today, and it went really well. I set my sights pretty low and planned on running only 1.5 miles in case the shoes weren't working out very well for me. However, after running those 1.5 miles, I decided to keep going. I ended up running 3.26 miles in about 34 minutes. This is still not the pace I'm wanting, but I will get there!
I tried on a pair of Five Fingers at a store before Christmas and was warned that they would kill my calves when I first started wearing them. Umm, yeah. Let's just say that I most definitely found that to be very accurate! Ouch! I'm doing lots and lots of stretches for my calves today. :)
And one more Mrs. Rita story to close the post. When we would go on youth trips, we would usually end up "staaaaarving" by the time lights out came around. Of course, we'd tell Mrs. Rita that we needed something to eat, and her response was always the same. "If you're hungry late at night, that means you just need to go on to bed!"
I still try to follow this simple rule to late night snacks, although not always successfully. Mrs. Rita surely was full of wisdom (of many kinds)!
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