If my life was a hugely popular teen movie…

I’ll start this post off with a giant disclaimer: I am a fan of all things pop culture. I love feeling the pulse of civilization and wondering at the latest craze that’s caught the nation’s eye. That said, there are some things at which I draw the line and refuse to immerse in. One such voraciously avoided thing was a popular movie franchise that had the young girls of earth swooning and flocking in droves. I avoided it successfully until a friend of mine had a birthday and I told her I’d treat her to a movie and dinner. What should her desired movie choice be? None other than the second part of said movie franchise. Having not seen the first movie in the series, I sat through the entirety of the second movie with raised eyebrows of confusion and skepticism. The love relationship being portrayed was essentially the basis for the whole story, and yet, having missed the first installment, I heard nothing about why the leads were even in love with each other to begin with. From my vantage point, they certainly seemed to cause one another more heart ache than joy. Having missed the moments in movie one where the leads actually fall in love, I was left with was a situation of all tell and no show. In other words, I kept being told that this young, angst-ridden pair were desperately in love, and yet, I saw no apparent reason for it on the big screen. All I saw was them talking about their love, with no demonstration as to why this love was so great as to warrant the endurance of such tumult in the first place.

Is my relationship with God like that?

Do people constantly hear about my relationship with God through my words, but fail to see the ramifications or reasons for my love in the first place. Do people hear more about the past and how great God used to be or how wonderful things initially were, but see nothing in my day-to-day life that supports the sustenance of such an all-consuming passion now? If people meet me now and missed the first “movie” of my life, will they, like I once did, sit through the second installment confused and wondering why I am talking about this God in my life when there’s no evidence to support our great love story to begin with?

I don’t want that to be me. I want my life to be a daily offering of the great love that God has lavished on me that I desire to give back to Him. I want it to be so evident in all my actions that I’m devoted to the God who saved me, that no one should be caught off guard to “discover” that I’m not only a Christian, but one whose love for God permeates each and every one of her decisions. I don’t want my life to be all tell and no show. I want to be a living, walking, breathing presentation of the love story that God and I share, without even having to speak a word. I am challenged today to make changes in my presentation so that there is never any confusion over where I stand at any given point in my journey.

I want to live a life of show and not just tell. May my actions back up my words and supersede them in incriminating evidence to share with the world who it is that I truly am. This is my prayer today and for this year: I want to show my love for God, and His love for me.