Get the crap out of here...

Okay so crap was not the word that I wanted to really put there.

But there are people who read this who would be offended and probably shocked if I put what I thought there.

And there are people who would still love me. Some would excommunicate me from everything in their lives though.

But to be honest, sometimes I think bad words in my head, and sometimes they slip out of my mouth. I may not like it, but yes sometimes it comes out.

And Jesus doesn't care.
Jesus hung out with sinners like me all the time.
Jesus hung out with people who cursed and thought bad things.
Jesus hung out with murders and thieves.
Jesus ate food that had probably been stolen or sacrificed to other gods.
Jesus still loved those people and died for them too.

But honestly, why do I not do half of the stuff that I don't do? Because that is what I have been taught since I was a kid.

At some point you have to ask yourself, why do I not do this?

Why do I not smoke?
Why do I not have sex before marriage?
Why do I not drink?
Why do I not party?
Why do I not have tattoos?
Why?

Where are these rules and where are they in the Bible?

Why do I not smoke? Well I don't remember Jesus ever mentioning that in the Bible... I don't remember Him saying anything about smoke and you will go to hell. I know that I don't smoke because I don't want to smell like that and lung cancer runs in my family. So that is why I don't smoke, not cause Jesus said so.

Why do I not have sex before marriage? I don't remember Jesus saying that. And if he did, please feel free to correct me. Yeah for me personally, I have waited this long, why stop waiting now. And I have heard from enough people how it ruins your future and relationship. I have heard the negative side of things, and I don't want to risk it. I know for me I would regret it the next morning and there is no reason that I would want that. I would rather it be beautiful and be able to wake up and do it again and again for the rest of my life...to be bluntly honest. I don't wait until marriage because of the Bible, I wait for marriage because of me.

Why do I not drink? Because I am not old enough to do so. For heaven's sake, Jesus made the best wine in the world. I am pretty sure he is okay with people drinking it. Yeah so getting smashed and drunk may not be in your best interest, you probably will make decisions that will harm you and others around you. That's why I don't drink yet and why I won't get drunk when I am of age. Plus you should check out these verses, they are kind of my favorite verses on the subject: Proverbs 31:7-8 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+31%3A7-8&version=NIV. And Lord knows that I am poor!!

Why do I not party? Jesus went to parties. Probably pretty wild ones too. He went to parties with people who knew how to party hard. So why do I not party? Because I am not really in the mood to take care of drunk puking people. To be honest, I don't want to have to be the responsible driver and have my new car smell like puke. Plus I have a curfew of 12:30. Kiiiinda impossible to party with that curfew.

Why do I not have tattoos? Because pain makes me sick. I can't even pop my own pimples without getting sick to my stomach. Plus I change my mind and cannot make decisions well...so even if I thought about it, I would still be thinking about it when I die. I don't have them not because of some verse in Leviticus that says that, because if that is really your reason, you need to get a life. Okay so that was kind of mean but if you follow that verse, then you better follow the whole flipping thing and never cut your hair or shave your legs and armpits. So if you have been to the hair dresser in the last 6 months and there is a razor in your tub you can shove that verse up your butt because I don't want to hear it. You can't pick and choose which Old Testament verses to live by and which ones not to live by. Either you follow the entire freaking law or you live under the freedom that Jesus bought for you with his BLOOD! If someone said I didn't have to live underneath a dictator because they died for that freedom, I would not choose to live under that dictatorship! That is a slap in the face.

Please stop placing these rules and regulations on our Christianity. Jesus isn't about rules. Instead of shoving purity down people's throats, why don't we tell them about a lover better than all the others. Preach about what Jesus really stressed, like forgiveness and love and treating people right and loving God and respecting His temple. Ask yourself why you do the things you do. If you have Bible verses for why you do them, great!! But please make it personal beyond that. People grow up with a view of the Bible as a book of rules and not a love story written so that we might have a full and blessed and happy life. Make the Bible personal to you. Ask yourself why. Find your answers in the Bible and then make it apply to you.

The Bible isn't there for rules, it is there to scream of Jesus' love for us.