Tag: Christian living

Faith

The Role You Wanted vs. The Role You Got

Rebekah Matt2 Comments

Once upon a time, I was an actor. Before I was a Christian, before I was a wife and mom, before I was a teacher, before I was a writer … this goes way back—high school and early college.

During those formative and tumultuous years, theatre was just about my whole life. It got me through high school in one piece, and it gave my life purpose and meaning. The stage was home to me.

After auditions, we actors would wait breathlessly for the cast list to be posted. We all had an idea of the role we really wanted. Sometimes we wanted the lead role, but not always. Sometimes we yearned for the smaller but more interesting role, or the role that would be more “fun” to play.

The “fun” roles were, as you might suspect, quite often the role of the villain, the antagonist, the person who causes friction or trouble of some kind. The person who has deep troubles or desires or motivations that are not … nice. Those roles are interesting, and if I were a psychologist I could probably write an article on why those roles are so interesting, but instead I’m just going to tell one story about one role in one play.

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Faith

When You Get to the End of “Believe in Yourself”

Rebekah Matt2 Comments

“Believe in yourself.”

If you want to hang this inspirational phrase on your wall, wear it on your body, use it for your lock screen, or stick it on your water bottle, you’re in luck:

“Believe in yourself—you are enough”

“Nobody will believe in you unless you believe in yourself”

“If you believe in yourself, anything is possible”

“Believe in yourself and you will be unstoppable”

“She believed she could, so she did”

These are five immediate results I found on a recent image search for “believe in yourself.” They’re nice ideas, aren’t they? It’s good to believe in ourselves, to have self-confidence and stay focused, to have self-esteem and a “growth mindset.” Surely that kind of positive determination will serve us well in life, setting us on the path to achieving our dreams. It’s likely you’ve even seen evidence of this in your own life or in the lives of others.

Why, then, is “believe in yourself” an idea you won’t find, in any form, in the Bible? Why does Jesus, in all his words of wisdom, never once even remotely hint at anything like the ideas above?

Instead of believing in ourselves, Jesus tells us to believe in him. Instead of trusting our own hearts, he says to trust in God. Instead of believing that we are enough for the world, he says that he is enough for us.

“But,” you may say, “when you say, ‘believe in yourself or trust in God’—isn’t that a false dilemma? I think I can do both. In fact, I think I ought to do both—believe in myself and trust in God!”

Okay, yes. You can do both. For a while.

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Faith

Use Your Comfort Zone to the Glory of God

Rebekah Matt6 Comments

“Get out of your comfort zone.” We hear it all the time, from friends, family, business leaders, church leaders, and actually, the whole rest of the world, it seems. But I’m going to encourage you here to do just the opposite: to find your comfort zone and stay in it.

Not all the time, of course. Sometimes, in order to grow and really see what you’re capable of, you do need to get out of your comfort zone. You sometimes need to try new things and stretch yourself, even if it’s difficult or feels awkward at first.

But there are reasons why you have a “sweet spot” of abilities or endeavors where you feel competent, confident, and thoroughly content with whatever it is that you’re doing. You’re comfortable there, and you’re in the zone. It’s your comfort zone.

Your comfort zone might be:

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Faith

The Case Against “Do the Next Right Thing”

Rebekah Matt4 Comments

Why adding one word changes everything—and not in a good way.

I first heard it in a Disney movie a few years ago, in a song from Frozen 2: “Do the next right thing.” More recently I’ve seen this phrase on posters, t-shirts, and used by addiction recovery groups.

In Frozen 2, “Do the next right thing” is sung by a character in despair over her bleak future: she is trapped in a cave and has just lost a good friend. I was empathetic to her plight … but when she sang that line, my mind instantly rebelled.

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Faith · Parenting

Light of the World, or 120 Watts of Jesus

Rebekah Matt5 Comments

Originally posted on Dec. 22, 2020

When each of my children was around 5 years old, we did a “Names of Jesus” unit together during our Advent homeschool time. Each day we would focus on a different name that Jesus is called in the Bible, such as shepherd, king, Alpha and Omega, or light of the world. Each lesson had an activity, craft, or lesson associated with it, most of which I’ve forgotten now … except for the object lesson I used for “Light of the World.”

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Faith

What Does God Want of Me?

Rebekah Matt8 Comments

Three questions to ask the next time you’re faced with a difficult situation in life.

Several years ago, my husband and I were facing a tough situation in our lives. I don’t remember the details—who was involved, what it was about, or what the outcome was. I don’t remember if it was a minor issue that we solved in a few hours or if it was a lingering problem that went on for weeks with no resolution. I don’t even remember if it was exclusively my problem (or his) or if we faced it together.

But what I do remember are the three questions that came out of this difficulty, questions that my husband raised in the midst of this trial to help provide us with direction and guidance. These questions have stayed with me ever since, and have given me clarity and lessened my burden in a wide variety of situations: problems with children or other family members, issues in my marriage, dilemmas in church, personal trials, and more.

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