Be Careful of Your Freedom of Speech

Recently I've been reflecting on the idea of freedom of speech. Here in America, it is a freedom we have and often use... freely.  It is a blessing but at the same time, it can be easily misused and abused even by Christians...myself included.

Let me explain my thoughts.

We live in a day and age where everyone has their opinions, thoughts, suggestions and preferences. There is nothing wrong about having a preference of music, feeling strongly about a certain health food, or having an opinion about a political issue. All of these have a rightful place, but often our opinions and preferences can hurt people in the way we express them.

In the last years of ministry, I've sadly been a part of many interactions with Christians who feel so strongly about certain issues that they will blatantly be rude, unkind, and prideful as they seek to communicate their opinions. Rather than admitting they're wrong, they excuse their sinful behavior by saying it is just because of their "strong feelings" toward the topic at hand.

Now, is it wrong to be passionate? No, not at all. But like my husband often reminds me, "be passionate about the right things." For an example, do I value eating good, healthy foods? Yes. But if I put more energy towards convincing someone of the benefits of coconut oil than I put towards sharing with them how Jesus Christ has radically changed my life... my passions are out of whack.

Using our freedom of speech to have discussions about how to raise our children, what we think about healthcare, which foods are best for our bodies, etc. can be very beneficial and helpful. We need to just be careful in how we are communicating these matters. If our passions about a specific topic results in us being rude and offensive, what good is that? Rather I would hope we would use our freedom of speech to serve one another. As 1 Peter 2:16 states, "Live as people who are free, not using our freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God."

I know I'm not perfect in this area, and I'm humbly asking for God's grace to help me grow. I do desire to use my freedom of speech to push people more toward Jesus rather than persuading them of my silly preferences. And I want to be passionate about the right things...

Apples. Photography. Sleep.

What all happened last month in the Buehler's home...

-         - “Uh-Oh” was Charlie official first word , followed by “ball”, “apple”, and “mama”

-          - Jimmy and I officially started up our side “gig”—Growing Images Photography

-          - We celebrated my mom’s  50^th birthday and Charlie’s 1^st birthday

-          - Enjoyed the beautiful fall weather and colors

          - I went back to my natural color. No more bright blonde!

       - Grieved with our good friends who had a miscarriage

      -We went on a honeymoon for our 3^rd wedding anniversary

       -Ate many apples on the kitchen floor with Charlie- he likes to eat them whole...

       - Enjoyed quality time with my family over Charlie’s birthday weekend
    - Took lots and lots of pictures- thousands.

        - Got really good sleep. Charlie consistently slept through the night all month! Praise God.
         - Anticipated and continuing to anticipate giving thanks with our family over Thanksgiving week