All I want is to live free and have fun.

Just before I start, a quick reminder that I'm not forcing anyone to read this and all views are my own and blah blah blah. If I offend anyone you can take it up with my boss (Jesus).

I want to talk about freedom.

I live a life that is free. It has nothing to do with what I eat, how much I exercise, how nice I am to people or how often I get things right. It has everything to do with Who I know. Before you get bored, I just want to say this: Freedom is so much more than just doing what you want... It's doing what you love, and having happiness by doing it. Even then, it's more than that. When you're living in true freedom, what releases you into your utmost happiness will usually release others into theirs too. As members of society, we're all called to live harmoniously and as one whether we're Christian, Atheist or any other form of faith system. I posted a blog a few weeks ago about falling into a career that you love and doing what makes you happy, and this is sort of following that mindset but I think I'm going to expand a little more.

When I think of freedom I think of joy. To me, when I'm picturing in my mind what it looks like to be free I see a sunny day, driving along the coast with the windows down, hair blowing everywhere and the people I love. Free because there are no restraints. Free because there are no distractions. Free just because. But realistically, there are very few of us who get to drive down the coast with no cares in the world every day of our lives. Most of us have jobs, or any other number of commitments.

Quickly back tracking to what I said DOESN'T bring freedom, I feel like I wouldn't really be doing justice if I didn't mention that eating right and exercising does play a massive part in how a person feels about themselves. So if you're eating lots of junk food and never exercising (that was me 2 months ago) don't expect to have the best mindset you possibly could. Exercising brings out natural endorphins and it makes you feel good about yourself, so if you're feeling sad, do some sit ups, go for a run or just do some star jumps... You'll feel better! Also, eating right also effects the way your body processes things, so do yourself a massive favour and don't eat McDonalds or hungry jacks! It might taste good for five minutes, but in the long run it's killing you. Your body would love you so much more if you ate the things it was designed to eat (boys, eat a steak instead of a big mac... You don't get much manlier than that!!)

And also, being nice to people is SUPER important! I don't need to expand on that, just remember your manners and swallow your pride when you need to! (preaching to myself here)

OKAY. So I got all that out... NOW I wanna talk about freedom.

My belief is that freedom comes from God. I'm not refraining at all from saying that because I know it as truth. I know that on days/weeks/months when I neglect to spend time with my King and Saviour, things just don't work as well. BUT the split second I turn back and spend time with God, everything is better. I didn't say easier. But it's better. God isn't a God of making things easy, He's a God of making things worth it. Things don't suddenly become all flowers, rainbows and pretty songs... God just provides you a way out when the storms come rolling in and the lightning and rain are threatening every aspect of your life.

2 Corinthians 3:16-17 says this, "but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.  Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."

Some key points:

1. but whenever a person turns to the Lord. So, every single time. Whether the first time, the 5th time or the 900th time, the veil that separates us from the freedom of Christ is actually taken away.. Physically taken away. The only way it's brought back is if we do it ourselves. 

2. where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

Believing in God isn't about rules and regulations, the scripture here says plain and simply: there is freedom. Nothing binding, not restraining, not hard work, effort and striving. Just freedom.

I know all to well the pain of striving and being put right back in my place. I know how it feels to search everywhere for friends only to be shut down. I know how it feels to be dreaming dreams but not knowing how to activate them or reach goals. But what I know even more is the feeling of freedom that comes when I hand it all over to God and just let Him help me out. He's actually a top guy, hey. He knows what He's doing and believe it or not, He knows what's best. I'm quite an independent person and I hate being told what to do, yet I feel so comforted when I know the creator of the universe has a plan for me and all I have to do is say, "yeah, I'm ready for that." and I'll be able to walk in more than my wildest dreams could ever have imagined.

I'm going to post this video of Hillsong Young + Free's story below... It's significant for this generation... This generation needs to learn that freedom comes from sober thoughts, not clouded judgement. This generation needs to know how loved they are... This generation needs to rediscover what it means to be young and free.. And I believe we can.

What is acceptance? Is it weird to love people?

Forever posting strange titles, somewhat in the hopes it might get an ear to listen. (At least I'm honest)

Acceptance. This concept has been going over and over in my mind for a few weeks and I can't shake it. Australia, as a free country, claims to be accepting. Accepting of religion, accepting of gender, accepting of lifestyle. But how exactly do we accept what other people do? Is it classified as acceptance if someones lifestyle choices really bug me, but I keep my mouth shut and smile? Or is that just tolerance? The answer is obvious, it's tolerance.

I hate tolerance.

Yes, it's a very general statement and you're never going to be able to accept everyone so sometimes you need to suck it up and just tolerate them... But what I do hate is the thought that tolerance is good enough. It really isn't. Society most definitely has its issues and as a Christian, sometimes it's assumed that I'm going to instantly not want to be friends with someone just because their lifestyle choices are a bit different to mine. But that's not how it is. Honestly, I just love people. Full stop.  There's no fine print. I just love people.

I'm so tired of it being common practice to slander people and call people names, but it's suddenly "weird" or "soft" to go around genuinely complimenting people and trying to build them up. Seriously, what's with that? Ha, sitting here now I can recall times where friends have told me that I need to stop being such a "flirt" because I was "overcomplimenting" another friend. I'm sorry, but what? How is there such a thing as overcomplementing? The red lines underneath the word as I type tell me that it's not even a true word. (So don't hold back with the compliments, you don't know who might actually really need it.)

So back to the topic of acceptance....

I believe there are two principles that have worked for me in accepting people and not just "tolerating" them.

1. Listen to what they have to say and don't just judge on face value (or what others have said)

2. Accurately self-assess self so one doesn't just think they're better than other people (I'm not - you're not either)

Acceptance is important. It's vital. Australia needs a generation of young people who actually care about each other, not just about themselves. We need young people who are willing to love unrelentingly. We need young people who want to actually make a change and aren't just concerned about the latest iPhone or Android or debating which is better. I'm passionate about seeing people realise who they can truly be given the opportunity to shine.

There's no harm in trying to love on people.

P.S,

This blog has come out a lot messier than I intended. What I really want to say is that I'm over seeing people hurting over feeling left out, unloved or unwanted. I desire to see people feel loved, included and valued and it breaks my heart that it's just not happening. If you take anything from this, please just take this: do your best to be kind. You could make someones day.