Rebel with a Cause

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This is my “good girl disclaimer” when I feel like my best work isn’t being put out there I feel vulnerable ~ this is one of those posts….I’m tired, a bit sick and have kids screaming around me.  This is a look into my brain on decaf coffee ~

I’ve been reading Grace for the Good Girl by Emily Freeman (twitter handle @emilychats) and have been loving it!  It’s hard to know where to start when talking about a book.  You see, I read books with a pen in hand and underline like crazy if I am connecting with the author.  This book is full of pen marks and comments.

As good girls, we subconsciously label ourselves as the strong ones, the responsible ones, the sweet ones, or the right ones.  We try to stand tall and capable as the good Christian, the good wife, the good mom, and the good one.  But Jesus is calling us to a deeper, truer, freer identity.  All he wants is simply you–minus your good works, minus your perfect attendance, minus your politeness.  When you really believe that, you may discover that all you want is Jesus, simply Jesus.  Not just to get to heaven or to help you be a good person or do the right thing, but to simply love and be loved by him.  - emily p. freeman – Grace for the Good Girl p.36

To give you a main idea of the book it deals with followers of Jesus who tend to like to follow the rules and do good things and get significance from those good works (and trying to get significance from God through it all)….and breaking free from this cycle.

That’s not how it works, I know that in my head, but what do I do when I’m naturally bent the good girl way?

I like rules.  They make me feel safe & secure.

At ease.

I know that if I follow the rules and smile while doing it people will like me & God will too.
Wrong!  God’s not after my good works.  He’s after my heart. 

I know that deep down, but it’s hard to live out day to day.

If I live my life knowing that God just wants me and my heart, my world will tumble down around me.  All of my perfect ideas of “good things will happen if I do good” will be wrong.  I know this isn’t true, but do I live like it’s not?  At my church one of our key phrases is our “daily decisions determine our destination.”  My daily decisions to rely on myself and my good works are taking me further away from God.  & these are some of the ideas that Emily shares in the book.  It is funny how refreshing it is when people admit how they are feeling, their faults, so we can learn from them and not feel so “screwed up.”  I feel like when I’m reading Grace for the Good Girl, I’m reading my own personal journal.  I connect with God’s redemption of Emily’s life and want that for mine.  

So, I’m turning into a rebel with a cause.  I want to rebel against the good girl I was and follow God with all of my heart and day!  Do you want to “rebel” with me?  What are you studying/learning?  Are you reading I John by the end of the month?

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