Who is God, Again?

I was reading an article this morning and something caught my eye. It wasn't in the article itself but in the comments. One of comments was a reply in which the commenter said "...God wants you to kill." This stopped me and I held my breath for a moment as the words rattled around in my head. My brain began feverishly searching for verses, teachings, and ideals that relate to God and war. I came to the conclusion that I do not know a heck of a lot about it.

To be honest, my Biblical literacy is embarrassingly low. Then again, I never made the Bible a central aspect of my life. With that said, I believe God, as given to us through the witness testaments of Christ, is a love. As such I would have a very hard time believing that Christ, God, would ever want me to kill anyone. This line of thinking, of course, might have exceptions and I am sure all the atheists out there are preparing their notes as I write this.

My thought on the matter is not as important, however, as the idea that followed after. Who is God? Not just to me, but to you? How about the Muslim four doors down? The Jewish baker downtown? Who is God to you mother, father, sister? I believe He is different to everyone. With this idea you can understand my frustration and anger when I hear people make affirmative statements about what they think God wants us to do!

In the end, for now, it is all broken thought to me. Who is God? Well, I find out a little more with each day. But I believe I need to keep my beliefs in check when I am in conversation to make sure that I do not claim affirmation in regards to something I do not fully understand.

Discovering our Gifts

Through my life journey so far one of the things that I have spent a great deal of time thinking about is my personal gifts. That is, what are they? How can I use them to sustain a healthy life while giving back to the community that I wish to serve?

The answer that I have settled on is based on personal interest. If you find something that you genuinely enjoy, your gift has been found. Granted, of course, that is not dangerous to yourself or others. Any interest can be turned into a career; stay the course and it can be done. Remember, no one has interests like yours and no one can take those interests and turn them into gifts like you can.

You are unique, so are your gifts, talents, and goals. I do not believe there is anything holding us back, except ourselves.