Are We Changing the Culture?

...or is the culture changing us?

The average woman in the United States lives for about 29,565 days (or, rather, 81 years). I just turned 26 yesterday, so I'm approximately 9,491 days into my life - already about 1/3rd of the way there.

Lucky for you and me, girlfriend, we have a tremendous God who gives us free will to work and play and live how we choose. The one problem with that, though, is many of us have handed the job of "life planner" to the general culture instead of following our hearts. And many of us do it without even realizing.

The world is a big place, but it's interesting how trends can sweep across the nation. A trivial example being how Adidas were very "in" last year, only to be replaced by black vans with the white stripe down the side (and yes, I bought both).

Many of these trends set by culture are not inherently bad; they're fashion statements or slang words or social media platforms or what-have-you. But - likewise - many trends becoming the "norm" are not ideal for women wanting to live in God's perfect plan.

The world wants to spend our 29,565 days for us through these trends, and often we tag along so we're not left behind in the dust. But as a woman of faith, I've been learning something very important: We will never change the culture by acting like the culture. The only ones changed, then, are you and me.

The world wants to tell us how to spend our time and money. If anyone should have that job (and it's quite a big one), we should freely and willingly give it to God. He's got a pretty good track record, having created the world and all.

When I get over-saturated in the world's latest trends, be it through reality TV or over-watching the news or spending far too long browsing Instagram, things start to feel off-kilter. Society becomes my God, my Bible forms an inch of dust, my heart lusts toward the world's fables, and I find myself acting completely out of character.

Believers in Jesus Christ are in the world—physically present—but not of it, not part of its values (John 17:14-15), and when we start living "hokey pokey faith" with one foot living God's way and another living the world's way, we're not helping anyone - only hurting ourselves.

To feel peace - we gotta spend time with our Creator, lovely girl. He made us and He knows best. But it's OUR duty to set aside that time to recharge and regroup with Him. "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart," our God explains; meaning an eye on the smoke and mirrors of this world and an eye on God will do nothing but make us "cross-eyed" and confused.

We're "cross-eyed" IF:

• Our emotions are inconsistent
• We're easily offend-able
• Sin seems more attractive than normal
• We become less productive
• We're too busy to spend personal time in the Word and prayer
• We can't hear God

Let's not allow the world to sink too deeply into our lives. By giving God our ALL, surrendering our future to Him, we can stand out from the culture FOR GOOD, not blend in with everyone else.

The famous quote "well-behaved women seldom make history" has some validity, with a minor edit. Instead, I propose: "women who copy reality TV stars seldom make history."

Let's not allow the culture to change us, doll. Instead, WE can stand out from the culture, finding ourselves as the "lights of the world," as He calls us. Let's not dim that light; instead, let's shine brighter.