Me, Myself and Others

I have been rather observant of other people lately and I am starting to really not get excited about what I see. I try very hard not to be a judgmental person because I know I have done things that I’m not proud of, but it’s hard to see what’s going on around me and not feel….well flat out repulsed.

In my younger life I was a drinker. I could drink just about anyone under the table. It wasn’t a rare occurrence to see me with a giant bottle of Jack in one hand and a bottle of Rum in the other. I would go to parties and have a good time and get drunk. I would act like I was 5 years old again without a care in the world. At this point in my life I had completely lost my focus on God. I figured I would go out and do all of this stuff now so I wouldn’t miss out on what I perceived to be anything “fun”. But something happened. I grew up! I met my wife Brooke in the fall of 1999. I was just starting to get out of the drinking scene and trying to be an adult. She was (and still is) the best thing that has ever happened to me. As we dated I started to notice my thinking was changing. I didn’t see going out and getting drunk as a fun thing to do anymore. I was amazed, I didn’t think that could ever happen.

Flash forward a few years to..well…today. I look back at that part of my life and I don’t regret it. It’s amazing how God has used that as a witnessing tool to help show His glory.
But here is what has been getting to me lately. I have been around many people lately who are my age and are still acting like they are 18. I mean the other night I had a beer, I drank it in like 3 seconds and it tasted awesome, but I didn’t go over board. I started thinking this week about what the bible says about being a stumbling block to others and these are the verses that touched me.

1 Corinthians 8:9
9Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.

Romans 14:13
13Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way.

This really hit me hard, here I am professing to be a Christian and I still act the way I did when I was 17. I know changes need to be made, I do NOT want to be a stumbling block for other Christians or Non-Christians for that matter. I serve in our church, and I don’t want to do anything that would jeopardize that. I believe when you are put in a position of serving the church you should have some humility and be able to conduct yourself in a Christ like manner. So I am going to work on myself. Will I give up having a beer every once in awhile? No! I am just not going to be stupid about it. I will also work on my mouth . I say some pretty crude things sometimes and I’m often baited into it by other people as well. I am working on that to. I’m sorry this is so random but hey..it’s me.