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I figured I would put up something for our next church meeting this time around while I have the opportunity to do so ^_^

I figured I'd mention something about making excuses. Far too often in today's society is there the temptation to make an excuse. Sometimes we may make these excuses without thinking much of it if we do it as a habit, or in a situation where we feel like we're in a tight space. There might have been that one situation where the kid at school that nobody wanted to hang around asked a person, "Would you like to hang out with me?" and the person who had to answer the question didn't want to seem embarrassed or be separated from their popular friends so they might make an excuse such as, "Oh, I would love to, but you see...I have some homework that I need to get done. So, I can't right now." Sure, they may have had homework, but if they weren't planning on completing it, already had it done, or didn't have homework at all - it is an excuse with a lie. If someone asked me, "Hey, would you like to volunteer to help at a soup kitchen this Wednesday?" and I said, "Oh, you know what? I can't. You know, I have this big project I need to finish that's due by Friday," and I had no intentions on finishing it or doing any work on that project on Wednesday, then it's not an excuse that could be said.

Making excuses such as these sometimes involve telling a lie. Sometimes we do have an excuse that may be true, but use it for the wrong reason to get out of a situation, and we need to be able to identify an inappropriate excuse. I know I have truly gotten disappointed when I knew people were making excuses at me, so others probably get discouraged when we make excuses at them, too.

Some common excuses are, "That's not my job - it's his/hers."/"I forgot."/"But you never said I actually had to finish the assignment!"/"I have better things to do." Excuses happen all the time...at work, at school, and with others outside of those activities. Excuses are something that we shouldn't practice. There are some things that may be considered "excuses" but are truthful and not bad in a sense would be something like if a girl needed to make her flight and leave her house by 7 a.m. and it is 6:55 a.m. and her best friend calls the house and says, "Hey, can we hang out for a little while?" not knowing what time the flight is. The girl who needs to make her flight says, "I'm sorry, I need to leave the house in 5 minutes in order to get to the airport. Perhaps we can hang out when I get back or I'll call you when I am able to?" is different because it's a previous engagement that can't afford to be missed and is absolutely truthful.

An example of someone in The Holy Bible who made excuses was Moses, when God had ask him to go back to Egypt through the burning bush. This story can be found starting in Exodus 3 and continues into Exodus 4. When God appeared to Moses, Moses was absolutely frightened and made excuses such as:

Exodus 3:11

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

Exodus 4:1

Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”

Exodus 4:10

Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”

Exodus 4:13

But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”

Moses had made many excuses and was at first determined that he wasn't the right one for the job, and didn't want to have to go back to Egypt more than likely. However, Moses had realized after God had said His words that He needed to go back and did indeed go back. Although, it doesn't erase that he tried to make excuses at first. If Moses wouldn't have made excuses, he would've been able to leave for Egypt sooner. It's fairly apparent that God doesn't like us to make excuses for not doing His will.

At times, we may want to witness to others, but intentionally put it off thinking, "I don't know what to say."/"I don't know how to go about the situation."/"What if they ask a question that I don't know the answer to?"/"Maybe I will share the good news...tomorrow."/"I'm too shy."/"I don't like talking to strangers."

Putting off God's will is something that we shouldn't hesitate to do, especially because God has a purpose for it and wants to use us for His glory. We don't want to hinder God's will by making excuses. I am sure that Satan delights in excuses because it makes us hesitant to do God's will. So, the message I leave with you today is not to make excuses and to identify if you make excuses in your life and eliminate needless excuses from our tongues.

Well said 3nodding and thank you for your input ^_^

Philippians 4:13 is a great verse concerning this matter!

Also, stepping out of the comfort zone is a good way to put it. Something that I should've added. As I've heard some pastors say, "If you're too comfortable, then something might be wrong." razz

Well, I do think there is a certain degree of balance here with excuses and "white lies". While it's certainly not good to stick too close to one's comfort zone, I think it's also fair not to push yourself beyond what you can do. It can be a little hurtful, for example, to tell someone that you don't have conflicting plans, but can't hang out because you are tired and need a break. It might well be easier to make a more "understandable" conflict like needing to do household chores or spending time with the family, even though the truth is that you just need a nap. Likewise, in your first example, telling the kid you don't want to hang out with that you'd rather not just because he's smelly and annoying is definitely hurtful, so sometimes it really is more sensitive to let him know you're busy.

That being said, I absolutely agree that we should make an effort to think more about how we define ourselves and our position in the world. We are not just here to pass with the minimal amount of effort - we have a duty to go above and beyond and leave the world a better place than we came to it. And to me, that's a bit of the litmus test. If what you are doing furthers a greater good, then stop making excuses, and go do that! If it doesn't, then that's the time to start re-evaluating.

We need to look at the intention of our excuses to determine if we should be using them in the first place. Something based on physical needs that isn't a lie such as when a person says, "I've been jogging for a while, and I need to take a break because I feel faint." is perfectly okay and is an actual "true" excuse. If the excuse is true, it isn't always wrong. I'm not saying to push yourself beyond physical capabilities if it is truly harmful to yourself and cause long lasting effects or even death. There may be in times, where we will have to get out of our comfort zone and that might feel like it's dangerous to a person if they have social anxiety or don't enjoy being around others when it's actually not dangerous. Sure, those with social anxiety can feel uncomfortable, grow light headed, faint, etc. but we need to get over these issues because God does not want us to be anxious and avoiding others, and instead wants us to help others/be kind to others, and lead others to Him.

Also, my example of the kid no one wants to hang out with - if a person lies that they have homework to avoid that kid then it's not the greatest thing to do. Sure, they may have homework, but considering they had no intention of doing it and it wasn't keeping them from hanging out with their friends, it's an excuse that shouldn't be made.

But most importantly, what I'm trying to get at is if God wants us to personally do something for His glory and His will and we make excuses, God won't be thrilled with us and will keep pushing for us to do what He plans for our lives. Say that we know God wants us to go witness to others in another country and we make excuses like, "Oh, not me. I couldn't do it. You know, lack of proper plumbing, lack of clean drinking water, and things like that. It's not for me." or, "Okay, I will...maybe in a few years you know, when I'm ready." Sometimes we feel we may or may not be ready for a situation that God has planned for our lives, but with that situation - we can learn something from it and have the chance to do what God has planned for our life. God has a plan for everyone, and we must listen closely, pray, and continue to read God's word to figure out what it is. Some people have amazing callings that are at their feet and refuse to do them such as perhaps the person is able to make animated cartoons, movies, or scenes and works hard at it - they have a talent for it. They could truly use that for God's glory - be a part of something that could help that person grow and help them to help others. If perhaps there is a person that is a good writer, painter, musician, builder, etc. they can all use their gifts that God has given them for His glory. It's the matter of how we use them and that we need to use them.

Indeed, people do need to do their best for God and have the intention and action of doing it for what would be good in God's eyes smile Some people will of course mistake what good we do for evil, but that as long as we are doing good in God's eyes, it is not evil to Him 3nodding

Thanks for bringing this up! When I was job searching last year, I did the exact same thing, saying "Oh they won't hire me, I have no experience!" or "I don't have a car yet! So they won't hire me". This helps, and next time I find myself looking for one, I will definitely apply even though I don't qualify perfectly.

Congratulations on your interview!

I am a sloth at heart, too, and I am also selfish. I notice these tend to come out more if I skip filling my day with God's word. If I let laziness get the best of me, I often get depressed so I need to do at least one productive thing in my day as well as study God's word to keep the depression away.

I have been an excuse making machine in the past. If someone wanted to do something that I didn't, I'd make a huge excuse. If I wanted to go somewhere I wasn't allowed, I would lie to my parents about what I was doing or where I was. It's horrible stuff, really. The sad thing at that point is I didn't feel much guilt about it. Although, I also wasn't super grounded in God's word, either. Thinking back on it now a days makes me feel pretty rotten =/

I also need to be careful not to make excuses as well. You're welcome for the topic and I'm glad that it helped smile and I'm thrilled that you got the time to check out the church meeting this time because of the extended dates ^_^

You can always look up a 1 year reading plan online smile Having the plan written down in a Bible specifically is nice, but if you aren't able to find it at the moment - get a jump start while looking for it. Perhaps when you find your one day Bible, you can start in it where you left off in your other Bible ^_^ The Holy Bible is a book that needs to be read over and over again anyway, and studied =] so that shouldn't hurt.

I haven't read any of Joyce Meyer's books, but I definitely want to. Ironically enough, I watched one of her sermons the other night on "Making Good Habits, Breaking Bad Habits". Absolutely great sermon! I enjoy how she describes things. She is definitely gifted in ministry smile

That's amazing that you joined Christian groups at your college! There was a Christian group that was starting at my college, but unfortunately I couldn't make it because it started in the middle of one of my classes and ended a few minutes before it was over sad so I wasn't able to see how the group was.

When we do something that is right by God, we can feel it in our soul. We feel that feeling of peace and calmness like nothing that day will be able to bother us. It's great feeling when we can make a habit of studying God's word, praying, and doing other things that brings glory to God ^_^

Definitely smile chores are one of those things a lot of us make excuses about because they don't seem appealing, but the thought of, "I have to take out the trash/do the dishes/sweep the floor/etc." looms over like a storm cloud until it's done. This is why I try my absolute best to get it done as soon as possible, otherwise that's all my mind will be on. I want to be more of a person that takes action to get them done. I'm more of a dreamer, but I do want to cahnge that.

Indeed, the small things we do could be great accomplishments in God's eyes. smile So we need to even do the small things, and sometimes those small things lead to greater things before God.

Aw yeah =( I'd feel terrible about things like that, too. I can't say that I haven't done that in my life before. I remember there was this obnoxious girl that lived down the street and my friend and I were hanging out at her friends house. My friend was mad at her because the girl down the street had broken her skip-it, and we were all I suppose annoyed at her and the things she said or did. When she came to the door, my friend's mom answered and the girl down the street - standing at that door saw me and my friend and my friend's mom said, "They don't want to hang out with you right now." The girl started to cry and say, "But...but..." and my friend's mom said, "Sorry, they don't want to hang out right now." And she went home in tears. I felt terrible in a way - even though I didn't care for her. I had another friend who got an expensive diamond necklace for Christmas from her father and that girl down the street broke it somehow and this friend wanted to beat her up for it and kept threatening her and it got ugly. When that girl down the street moved and visited at that house years later, she was a better person and had changed a lot. I couldn't help but apologize through all the hurt we put her through. I forgive her for anything she did, but that's not as much of a feat as her forgiving me.

I remember I felt terrible once because my friend called me and I truly didn't feel like going out. I wasn't sick or anything, I felt like chilling at home on the computer. So I said, "I don't know...maybe not right now?" and then my friend was saying, "We haven't hung out in forever! It'll be fun!" and I said, "Eh, not today. Perhaps another day?" and then she said, "Okay, bye." in a saddened tone. I felt terrible for that. I mean, after I did that I thought to myself, "I do want to sit at the computer, but why did I talk to her like that? She's probably going to have a miserable evening because of me!" It's feels awful knowing that I did that for the sake of my stupid computer addiction. I felt rotten about it and still kind of do.

And yeah Dx oh, I need to get up a new church topic soon! Although, I'm glad I delayed it a bit since others could still respond and read it. I'm probably going to need to put it up tomorrow when I have a lot more time smile