Set-Apart Girl in a Glued Together World

Oh, my. I have so many things to post about today. I could talk about quite a lot of things, like how God has been working in a friend of mine's life, how He's shown Himself to me in extraordinary ways or how He's blessed friends in the past week. It's really amazing to have so many wonderful things to post about that I literally don't even have enough time in the week to get it all posted! But here I am, ironically enough, not posting about those things I mentioned above. I want to save a couple of those things for the new blog series (send in your testimonies for it, see last post for details!) and this is kind of on my heart after finally finishing up Authentic Beauty by Leslie & Eric Ludy.

What does it mean to be a Set-Apart Girl? More importantly...what does it mean to be a Set-Apart Girl in a Glued Together World? I know, weird title, very lengthy, a mouthful. What do I mean by "glued together world?" I mean just that - we are in a glued together society. Everyone does everything the same way, everyone believes in the same thing and if you don't believe in the same thing, you are considered racist, a hypocrite or old-fashioned. People, especially girls, are glued together nowadays. They always have to fit in, do the things that their friends are doing and wear what's in style. People stick together in this world, which isn't a bad thing necessarily until you completely lose sight of the person that we should be following and trying to be like - Jesus.

Being Set-Apart means to be different from the world around us that is sticking together so tightly. We are supposed to be so different that the world looks at us with wonder in their eyes and ask themselves just what is so different about us! Why are we so happy? Why are we that kind? Why do we dress differently? Speak differently? We're supposed to be so Set-Apart that the world can see the difference easily and clearly. We aren't supposed to stick with the world as if we were glued to it's latest fads and styles.

Let's delve in a bit deeper and find out just what a Set-Apart girl is, shall we?

1. Someone who is 100% focused on Jesus Christ.

Everyone makes mistakes and we all fall short of the glory of God, but regardless of that, we, as Set-Apart Christian ladies, are supposed to be 100% dedicated and focused to Jesus Christ and His holy word. Someone who is so interested in finding out more and more about Him, studying the Bible and finding new things out all the time. We are supposed to be interested in studying and praying and learning as we delve into a deeper relationship with our Heavenly Lover. Are you focused on Him, or something - someone, maybe - else? A truly Set-Apart Girl in this Glued Together World must be focused and dedicated to the Lord.

2. Someone with a kind, loving spirit.

We've got a lot of mean girls in this world, don't we? Lots of girls that only seem interested in making other people sad, only interested in hurting someone's feelings just to feel that power when the other person breaks down. There are a lot of feminists in this world, that are so caught up in Equality that they forgot that they were born a woman for a reason. Even though Equality sounds nice sometimes, in the end, the Lord wanted men to rule over the women in the household and for the men to be the strong leaders, and for women to be meek, lovely spirited ladies of Christ. Princesses, if you will. After all, we are the daughters of a King! When you think about a Princess, would you think about a mean spirited lady with disgust in her eyes? Or would you rather think of a sweet, tender person? We are supposed to be kind and loving, just like Jesus called us to be in Proverbs!

 

3. Someone who is proud of her Heavenly Lover. 

It's so important to be proud of Jesus Christ, especially in the world we live in today. We should be able to proudly proclaim His name and tell the world that He has a place in our heart that no man can take, a seat on a throne. We should be able to tell others that He is the one who is guiding us through our life and we gave Him the pen of our life, our love-story, our future, and that we are letting Him write out the rest of our life. It's one thing to believe and have faith in Him, but the Bible says that we are to be Fishers of Men! Tell me, can you catch a fish if you are nowhere near water? Without a proper supplies? No! You can't just sit around and twiddle your thumbs - be proud of your King and the relationship that you have with Him! How else are you going to be fishermen - or fisherwomen?

4. Someone who is willing to give Him the pen. 

One of the hardest things I've ever had to do is give God the pen and trust Him to write out my life and plan out my future without knowing exactly what He was going to do. I look forward to my future and seeing what He has in store, but it gets scary not knowing what in the world He's going to do! Is He going to give me a nice Christian man to settle down with? Is He going to send me to Africa for missions? Is He going to give me children? Is He going to continue this story for long? I don't know the answers to any of those questions and I've tried to grab the pen from His hands quite a few times and take back what I felt was rightfully mine, but I've seen firsthand that I am not capable of writing such an amazing story like Christ is. I am not capable of writing myself a flawless, intricate, thought-out story and making it real - Only God can do that. As much as I'd like to be able to say that I'm definitely getting married, definitely having kids, definitely having a cute little house and maybe a few horses for the rest of my life...I just don't know and I won't know until my life continues pattering on. A Set-Apart girl must be able to give the Savior the pen of her life completely, trusting in Him to write out the perfect story for her, even through the angst and cliff-hangers.

 

If you read my 4 out of many more reasons, you'll probably have noticed how different those traits are from the world's typical traits. Most girls now pick what they want to do and they set out for it, only trusting themselves to get them there. Most girls now call themselves a "Christian" but when pressed and asked hard questions about things like,

• Homosexuality.
• Abortion.
• Politics.

she starts spouting off things like, "Well, homosexuality really isn't bad..besides, everyone sins!" or, "Abortion isn't really murder, I mean, the baby doesn't feel it!" She is not truly a born-again Christian because if she were, she would be proud of her Savior. Friends, I've been accused of being blunt a lot, especially by my unsaved acquaintances. It is extremely hard to be blunt all the time like I feel like I need to be and remain nice as well, but some things must be said and I've never had second thoughts about doing what I needed to do and saying what needed to be said. Not to say that I didn't waver on a few things, but then God quickly pesters me until I correct myself. No one is perfect, I know that firsthand, but if you do not feel proud that you are saved, proud of being a Princess, then there is something missing/wrong with your relationship with Christ. Whether you need to rededicate or get saved, something is very wrong. 

Most girls now are, let's face it, mean girls. They feel no reason why they shouldn't tease someone for being too fat, too skinny, too pale, too tan, too short, too tall, etc. They throw out names and cuss words without thinking of it and act more like the drunk, mean men that we see on TV rather than the ladies that we were meant to be. 

Most girls now are about 50% focused on God, if that much. Their busy lives filled with boys, school, work, etc, leave them running and restless while there is "no time" for God. They have no problems with making dinner plans with a special guy while they complain about how they have no time for God in the midst of their life. If you are too busy for God, ladies - you are too busy. 

 

 

Don't think that you don't fit into any of those things, that you have none of those traits. As we strive to be Set-Apart, we must acknowledge our own failures and faults. Let's go back on the points for a moment.

Am I 100% focused on Christ? No. I'm not. My "busy life" is indeed "too busy" and I desperately need to take more time for the Lord and make sacrifices so I can spend more time on my knees in prayer or reading His word.

Am I always kind and loving? No. I don't get mad very easily, but when I do...I get mad. Sometimes I say things I have no business saying, sometimes I do things that hurt other people. And let's get on the topic of "mean girls" for a moment. There are some girls that bring out that Mean Girl in me! There are some people that literally make me cringe just by seeing them, I won't lie. Is that okay? Well, I think it's okay to dislike someone a little because of a good reason, but there's nothing "okay" about being mean, even if it's to another mean girl.

Am I always proud of my Heavenly Lover? While this may be one of my better traits, I am nowhere near 100% with it. Sometimes, I hesitate to tell people about Jesus Christ and how He's worked in my life because I don't want to seem like the typical weak and meek Christian, who has no guts. Saying things to a person, in person, is much harder. I can be blunt with people all day long, but when it comes to me having to say something ooey-gooey, which shouldn't be the main focus, but a focus nonetheless, is hard for me.

Am I willing to give Him the pen? Like I said before, I try, but I fail daily and have to say, "Whoops! Sorry, Lord!" and give Him back the pen. I try to take control too much and while I know my plans will fail in the longrun, it's oh-so tempting to take it from Him and demand control so I can use MY plans! After all...I know myself so much better! Right? Well, nope. Not really.

Being a Set-Apart Girl in a Glued Together World is one of the hardest things you'll have to do as a Christian lady. It's hard to give Him the pen of your life, it's hard to say, "Here I am, Lord. Send me!" and trust Him completely. It's hard being different because if you are different in this world, you'll be looked down upon. But in the end, when He comes again, it'll be worth it, being Set-Apart.

My questions for you....

              Do you fall in any of the "bad traits" categories?

            Have you given God the pen?

 

Outfit Details:
Shirt: Yardsale

Skirt: Cato

Flats: Target

Necklace: Etsy