I Am Not Both

Summer is a beautiful time for me... it is a time to relax and a time to prepare myself for the next - the next school year, the next ministry year, and for whatever may come my way.

Many of my friends are also in this time of preparing.  During this time of preparation, some moms are trying to figure out how the darkness in our world fits in and how we can reach moms who live in the darkness. In some ministries, books, and training events, moms are being told we are both light and dark, hope and fear, kindness and risk, wonder and mundane. They are being told to experience it all and embrace the swirly mix of light and dark. 

That sounds really nice when we look at our lives and how we are living - and how we want to live.  However, if we are in Christ, we are not both light and dark.  Yes, we do mess up, and we do sin.  But we do not embrace it, we turn from it. The Bible says:

Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life (John 8:12)

“Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (Ephesians 5:6-8).”

“If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:6-7)

Jesus said to Paul, “But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’” (Acts 26:16-18)

According to these and many other similar Scriptures, as followers of Christ we cannot embrace the darkness because we have been turned from darkness to walk in light. When the darkness tries to enter, we are to battle it with Light.  

The things my dear friends and many other moms are reading and embracing sound a lot like the teachings of Zou Yan (Yin-yang) and Lao-Tzu (Taoism). Some moms are blindly following these teachings without seeking the Truth - simply because they sound good or resonate in their lives.

Do not let someone else tell you who or what you are.  Read the Scriptures for yourself and see who God says you are.