Things I Can Do Without

As read in Joolian and Carl's blogs...

Don't have television, living in the city now means I can walk everywhere... I guess the things I can do without are material stuff - books, CDs, DVDs, clothes, shoes, accessories etc. I don't really need to buy anything like that for ages. I'd like to be more frugal with food shopping. The only supermarket I use is Tescos, purely for convenience and price, but from reading Joolian's comments there might be something wrong with Tescos... shopping for fair trade or from ethical retailers seem like so much hard work, but if I really care about God's creation and people it's probably something I should invest some time and effort in.

Law, grace, and getting on with life

The post you've all been waiting for... how I'm keeping my hands off Ben (who bought me beautiful flowers today unexpectedly :)

I've been thinking a lot about grace, and how Jesus said he had come to set us free from the law. It can seem that being a Christian is all about keeping laws - you must tithe, you must go to church regularly, you mustn't lie or steal etc. This is all good, and in many cases it's good to know what God expects of us - for example there are many discussions on the NYFC Forum where it would be brilliant if the Bible said something more specific on how God expects us to conduct ourselves in every day life.

I wanted to put a quote in here from Dogma but the internet is stupid - Bartleby, one of the fallen angels trying to get back into heaven, talks about how he is outside the realm of God's grace and how humans have infinate grace and many of us don't even believe in him. I think God trusts us more than prescribing exactly how we should live. There is the whole free will thing, but even as Christians we're supposed to be free - free from sin but grace also means we should be free from the law. I think we have the freedom to do what we need to do, but within God's framework - the whole 'Be holy because I am holy' thing. So instead of obeying a rule that says, 'No couples should live together without being married', Ben and I are are choosing to be set free from that restrictig rule and live in a way that is a big improvement in terms of travelling to work, family relationships, money and practicality.

Along with that comes the greater temptation to be unholy in our relationship. Ben said somewhere on the NYFC forum that if you're going to be bad, you're going to be bad. Location and comfort might make it harder/easier to mess around, but apart from being caught there isn't much deterent. I'm discovering that the more we fill our lives with good stuff - praying and reading the Bible together, going to church etc the less we're tempted. We're not perfect and have slipped up many times before and during living together, but we've proved to ourselves that we are able to abstain. It's a matter of not taking grace for granted and keeping a short record with God.

Things about the difference between relationships and marriage have also been plaguing me but I'll save that for another time.

Our cosy lounge

This is a picture called 'Woman and Child' by French artist Aurelia Fronty. It's hanging above the fire in our lounge. I like the movement in it and the warmth it adds to the room.

Back

Hello fellow bloggers who I have missed,

Ben and I have moved into our new house and it's lovely. Curtains are the only thing left to sort. We'll photograph later once we've tidied up!

Are Christians a whole group of phonies who pretend to be better than they really are? The more I get to know some Christians the more I wonder if we are any different from anyone else in the way we live and act. /ponder.