Summer is easily my favorite season!! Around this time, my friends usually start posting their infamous Summer bucket lists. They’re typically repetitive, hoping for things like bonfires, pool parties, manhunt games, and so on. Still... seems like something's missing.
In addition to asking ourselves what we want to do this Summer, how about asking who we want to be? A hard worker? Awesome. A student getting ahead? Cool. A traveler or even a better friend? That’s great, too. Whoever you will be, it’s important to keep living for the King through your actions.
It just seems like as soon as the hot weather rolls in, so do the chances to stray away from living for Christ. As the heat increases, so do these 3 challenges:
FIGHTS
Whether it be with a sibling or a stranger, we’re all prone to argue. With less supervision, it can get difficult to handle these altercations on your own.
Ephesians 4:31-32 says, “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you.”
With time and patience, you can problem solve without it turning into something heated. The action words here are "let" and "be", so we should be intentional about what we are 'letting' influence us, and 'being' to others.
TEMPTATION
With a lot more free time on our hands, this creates the perfect conditions for impure ideas to creep in. If you must be busy, be busy with something purposeful and pure! Read scripture, find a new hobby, take a walk, listen to music, or create a project for yourself. If you’re tempted to do something sinful, just know that there always is a way out (1 Cor. 10:13).
INSECURITIES
Say it with me: There’s no such thing as the perfectly sculpted summer body. You are made in God’s perfect image (Gen. 1:27), and should never compare how you look, to others. In the summer, there’s a balance between being too reserved or too revealing; it’s simply carrying ourselves with modesty and self-love. A lack of boundaries invites a lack of respect.
So remember while the sun is out, the Son is still out! God’s watching us, hearing us and helping us. Stay blessed, y’all.