Only One Thing: A weekly Bible Study for bad Christians




I am a bad Christian.

I pride myself on being a Christian and loving God with my whole heart. But, I don’t always look to Him first. I often ignore His voice, choosing to listen to my own instead. I am an inconsistent church service attendee. I cannot find 1 John or Galatians in the Bible. I curse. I yell at my children. I disrespect my mother.  I am a bad Christian.

Everyday is a struggle to be a good Christian. The biggest struggle is to realize there is no such thing. 

Here I am, on the cusp of 2014, following a year of transition--managing more freelance work, teaching more yoga and slowly changing from the anxiety ridden cancer-mom to a stable, firmly rooted mother of three healthy children. I pinch myself daily, but I don’t thank God enough.  I don’t ask Him enough: what should I do next? I rarely stop and sit with Him. I imagine you might be in the same boat: filled with more this year; but missing something. 

If you’ve read Yoke before, you will know I am moderately obsessed with the story of Mary and Martha.   The scripture  (Luke 10: 38-42) says:

38 Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. 40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42 there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her. 

There is only one thing--just one measly thing needed to be a Christian:

To sit at his feet. 

I have no idea how and when to sit at his feet, exactly. I have 3 children and a mortgage. 

But, I intend on figuring it out. 

This year will be the year of Only One Thing.  I will figure out how to sit at His feet and it will probably take the entire year, plus a dozen or so more. 

Give or take.

My hope is that this year will help me open my ears to his words and close my ears to my voice and the voice of everyone and everything else that does not serve me.


This is how my year of Only One Thing will roll:
  • Monday mornings, beginning January 6, swing by Yoke for that week’s devotional (this sounds very grown up, I will really just select a Bible verse, write my thoughts and then offer a prayer) 
  • All week long, I am going to focus on that scripture and that devotional--I am going to make it mine. 
  • Then on Friday, I’ll let you know how it went. 

And frankly, I have no idea how it will go. I tend to get busy (see post about how BUSY I am). I tend to get distracted. And I never finish anything, ever. And I want you to comment. I want you to share. I want you to discuss. I want you to help me. Because I have no idea what I am doing, exactly. 

My intention is to shine his light in the world. I am certainly not the light, but I think maybe I can touch his light, just once in a while and reflect it into the world. Maybe. 

You can follow along here, on BlogLovin and on Twitter (#onlyonething). 

Here's to #OnlyOneThing , because there is no such thing as a good Christian. 

Comments

  1. Good Luck and I don't think you're a bad Christian!! I think you're a lovely Christian

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  2. I think you will do a wonderful job! Looking forward to reading along.

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  3. Wanted to follow by email. Result: email not enabled :(

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  4. he point is, increase going to scripture whatever little bit you can. Try to increase a little more each week, or challenge yourself to do something crazy. Have an accountability partner or group. Do EXACTLY what you'd do if you're goal was to lose weight in a healthy manner. My church group -about a dozen friends I'd now trust with my life - started the year by reading 1 John (the whole book) daily. We tried, we failed, we tried, we kept doing it, but having support was key. It was life changing! Good luck.

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    1. . Isn't it fab having a trustworthy group of church pals to work through all this Jesusy stuff with? Happy New Year Gina! ( :

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  5. I love this. Thank you for being so open because I fail every day and I fault it for being so busy when I know that is hog wash. I don;t want to focus on being good but just being a light and an example and showing Christ's love but if I cannot do that with my own kids and hubby how can I show others. Everything seems to come before him and I want to rectify that.

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    1. I am so happy you love this. I am a disaster as a role model; but maybe that is the model: we are disasters, yet somehow we are loved unconditionally and it makes us want to be better.

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  6. I know how you feel. I feel like a bad Christian everyday. But my Christianity is not based on what I do. It is based on what Christ did for me. I am bad. My holiness is like rags compared to his. Thanks for sharing and inspiring.

    Mary-andering Creatively

    Mary-andering Among the Pages

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    1. I love, "my holiness is like rags compared to his." I love, love, love, love it. (and thanks for sharing your blogs too!!)

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  7. This is such a great idea. I have been thinking a lot about Martha and Mary lately. It is so easy to get pulled in and forget the main thing. Thanks for pulling this together.

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    1. Thanks so much!! And I am so excited to do this. I've been thinking about this project for far too long.

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  8. You, my dear, are a wonderful, inspirational Christian Mom who is "Perfect" in God's eyes! I can't wait to share your journey and will certainly make it mine as well. Love you!

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  9. You are a beautiful, strong, faithful Christian woman! What a wonderful way to share your light and God's word with others! Thank you!

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