“Stop slouching and sit up!” I cannot remember how many times my mom would say this when I was younger. We all, at some point or another, had those words spoken to us, right? Like many things in life, I’ve come to realize that my mom had a point to what she was saying. The reality is—poor posture affects us. And not in a good way. A few examples:
The bottom line is…bad posture affects the whole person. The simple act of consistently slouching, always walking with your head down, affects the body and the soul.
But this post is not about slouching or poor posture.
At least not in a literal sense.
Wise old sages (Augustine, Luther, and others) have used the idea of poor posture to explain how sin affects us and the relationships in our lives.
Incurvatus in se.
That is Latin for: “Man turned in on himself.”
When I think about that idea…I get a picture in my mind of someone slouched over with their head down. It is an unfortunate picture. They cannot see anyone around them…just their own shoes.
I think this is a perfect way to describe how sin affects relationships. I imagine someone with chronic poor posture.
The longer they hold on to pride and selfishness, the more they try to find control because of insecurity…and the further they shoulders bend forward. They become more and more turned in on themself. And the saddest part of this all is…it consumes them and they lose the ability to see anyone else but themselves.
There’s more to say, this is just part one. Come back tomorrow to hear the second part of this discussion.
Tonight at youth group, I asked you how YOU would describe the effects of sin—of pride and selfishness, lack of faith, and insecurity and control—as a metaphor. What did you come up with?
The statistics are sobering. So many people in our world are without food. It should cause us to stop in our tracks; both to thank God for His provision for us, and to lament, to grieve for those who are hungry.
In a way, that is what I want to take away from the 30-Hour Famine. If you don’t know what it is, the 30-Hour Famine is an event happening NEXT WEEKEND (Mar 30-31), from 8pm on Friday to 8pm on Saturday. What will we be doing? A ton. Here’s a little window into what to expect…
Oh, and by the way, from NOW until next Friday, if all of you collect at least 1,000 cans of food in total, you will be able to shave my beard off. That’s right. It’s been 5 years since I’ve shaved it off. It will be awesome. For you.
Please go to the facebook event page to sign up, or email Abbey (aharkins@eastbrook.org) to sign up. The cost is $10 for everything.
A friend posted this question on his blog, and so, in preparation for our discussion next week at youth group, I thought I’d ask this question here and see what your responses would be…please respond! This will be really helpful in shaping our discussion next week!
Is it possible to be in dating relationship as a teenager & it not be for self-centered reasons? Explain your answer.
(Thank to Ryan Bilello for this question that I found on his blog)
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