How do I honor God in all things?

Hey there, it’s Christina. Okay, so I’m recording a video for someone who wrote in. And this is what the submission says it says, Hey, Christina, I got a question for you. The other day, I saw a Bible verse that said, honor God and all things that I do, how do I even do that? What does that look like? Okay? So I don’t know exactly what the Bible verse was maybe trying to inspire within you. But I can tell you how I do that, and how I honor God and everything I do. And then we see how do I start this, I guess, if we were to, if we were to believe, right, that God created the universe and created everything in it, and is responsible for every experience we have good and hard, and that everything is happening for us and not to us, then we can give thanks to God, for everything that happens to us and every experience we have. For me, I believe that nothing happens to us, and everything happens for us. And I believe that even moments that are hard or painful, are ones that are happening to help me to awaken into a better version of myself, to help me to grow and evolve into a version of myself that I’m destined to grow into and evolve into. And so I have a lot of gratitude for those moments and have a lot of gratitude for God in those moments as well. So it goes like this for me, sometimes when I’m going through, let’s say, an experience that maybe I get triggered in, right, like, I get triggered about something. And I realize like, Oh, yay, I’m getting another moment to grow like woohoo, right. So I will say like, God, thank you so much for bringing forth this experience that’s helping me to grow. I know that I’m strong enough to be able to get through it. And I know that you’ll help to guide me through it. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to grow into an even better version of myself than I am today. May I give you thanks, God for this, I’m so grateful for you. Right. So to me, that’s one of the ways that I express like my gratefulness for God. And I mean, just look at your message again. And that’s how I honor him as well. And like the things that I do, and so even like, every morning, and every night, like I write gratitude journals, and I do a minimum of eight things in the morning, so in the morning, eight things that I’m grateful for, and then at night, eight things that I’m grateful for that happened during the course of the day, right? So when sometimes I’m like 20 things, three things, like whatever is flowing through me, all right, I don’t stop myself at eight, if I have more to say. But if I don’t have more to like latch on to then I do just stop at the eight. So even in those things, I’ll say things like thank you so much, God for a beautiful day today. Thank you so much, God for time with my family. Thank you so much, God for inspiring me. Thank you so much for our I’m so grateful for the experiences that I had today with my family. I’m so grateful for your trust and faith in me God, like all of those types of types of things. And like, in those ways to I feel like in those ways, I’m also honoring him. Now, I think sometimes people will say that it’s like, like, they won’t allow themselves to take I’m not sure how to say this. Like, they won’t allow themselves to take pride in like their own hard work and effort because they deflect it all or, or give it all to God and I don’t have a feeling right or wrong on that. I know for me, I’ve learned that it’s okay to be really proud of myself. And that it’s okay to be really proud of like, the things that I’ve worked really hard to accomplish. And it’s also okay to no and to honor that, like, none of that would be possible, if it wasn’t for my faith and something bigger than myself, if it wasn’t for like, being built with the ability to do hard things and to overcome, like everything that life throws at me. And so you said in your in your submission? Like how do I do that? What does it look like? And so I’m giving you some of those examples of how I do it. And I would suspect that everybody does something a little bit different. And I would even suspect that those that don’t really believe in God per se or don’t like have like a close connection with that side of their, their essence or of their being, in a lot of ways still make the connection even though because like, how do I say this? It’s like, it’s like, even if we don’t believe in God, and I guess I’m just gonna have to use myself as an example like I always do. So there was a point in my life and for a long period of my life that like the first 33 years of my life, that and I’m 43 now that I believed in God, but in like a really esoteric kind of way. And I had a pretty strong rejection of religion in its classic sense because my experience of religion from people who were religious was that there was a lot of hypocrisy and a lot of like preaching the Bible inverse, but like not being able to live it, and in certain churches that I would go into, there was times where it was like the minister was preaching something, but like his deeds didn’t match it, and I didn’t understand it. And so I rejected it. You know, and, and I think for me, also, you know, my, my grandparents, my mom’s parents, when I was a child, you know, they were Caucasian, and they are very Catholic, and they disowned us and my family because we’re black. And so I also had this like, like, people that say, they believe in God, like, weren’t the most loving people was my experience of it, right? That they do really hurtful things in the name of God. And, and I didn’t understand it. And so I rejected religion. And I rejected a lot of the, the dogma out there for most of my life. And then I started growing. And then as I grew, and I grew to understand more about the God that I believe exists, which is a God that is compassionate, and kind, and loving, and forgiving, and all knowing, and the creator of all things, and the master of all masters, if you will. And I also was able to reflect and look back over my life and all those years that I didn’t believe, if you will, in the existence of this presence of something bigger than ourselves. And in this experience of God, that the whole time that like, it was still working with me and for me, and even in some of my beliefs that I had even had as a young child, like the beliefs that like I’m we’re always where we’re supposed to be like, even if it doesn’t feel like it, and nothing happens to us, and everything happens for us. And I don’t know why I’m a 14 year old crystal meth addict who’s about to die from my addiction. But I know that when it’s time for me to not be I won’t be, you know, this isn’t my life. This isn’t how I was born to live. And it isn’t how I’m going to die. And I just knew that. And I didn’t know until so many years later that that knowing that knowing that fate was a lot of that influence of like, God’s presence in my life, I just didn’t know it. And I didn’t label it. And I didn’t. I wasn’t ready to be aware of it yet, I guess you could say, right. And so I never shame or chastise people for their beliefs. And I never ever believe that there’s anything wrong with where anybody is or what they believe. I feel like everybody arrives at their own place when it’s time for them to. And my own life is like a testament to that because my goodness, now I like walk hand in hand with God, it feels like I do not deviate at all, from like, what my mission is. And you know, my mission, my mission to love, right? And to show the people that way. And so I guess I would say to you like, what does it look like? It looks like that, all knowing and then all trusting that. That we’re going to honor God and all things we do. And here’s what you said in your submission, like, you saw a Bible verse that said, honor God and all things I do. So what that also means to me is like, I believe that God is this loving, compassionate, tolerant, being or energy that shares unconditional love with all people, no matter what their choices are, no matter what they do, no matter how they live, no matter who they marry. Like, I believe that the God that I believe in is all loving. And so honoring that God in what I do means honoring that love that He has for me and all people, in all people in everything we do. So it’s being that representative, if you will, of that love for others. And to me that’s honoring God, and the love that he has. For me, it’s loving the people who do things that would otherwise make them hard to love. It’s loving those who who need it the most. It’s sharing unconditional love with all people, regardless of their beliefs or their values, regardless of how different their beliefs or values are from my beliefs or values. It’s loving them anyway, like that, to me is honoring God and all things I do it’s it’s having radical compassion for people who other people dismiss or shame or judge or damn or blame is having radical compassion for them because they too are on a journey divined by God, to complete whatever it is that they’re here to complete. And it’s not for me to judge or to shame them for being who and where they are. But to honor God and all things I do means to have compassion for them, because that’s what I believe he would also do. And so it’s honoring him as he works through me. And all things I do. And the other attributes that I attach to God as well, right, it’s honoring those attributes that he interests in each of us and importing those out into the world. As ambassadors I guess, if you will, of his compassion and His grace and His love. And so to me, honoring God and all things I do means showing up in a way every day, that would be of honor to God. And the interesting thing about saying that, and it makes me want to cry, because I’ve worked so hard in my life to get to the place where I can do that, where I don’t have the same level of pain that I had before that made me hate and judge and shame and damn others for being who and where they are. So, because I don’t have that pain anymore, I have room and space for so much more love and compassion and grace for others. And so I say that, because I feel like I always say this. I feel like that if everybody who believed in God was capable of showing up in a way that was honoring of themselves and one another, then the world would be such a better place. But so many people carry so much pain that prevents them from being able to show up in a way that they find honorable. And when we don’t show up in a way that we find honorable towards ourselves and towards others, then we lose our love for ourself, we lose our self worth, we lose our ability to be confident ourselves. So as I began my journey of growing and began to realize that, like, what what God is for me, and how his presence in my life has shaped me into somebody who is honorable, and not that I wasn’t honorable before in the status quo kind of way, because I was I didn’t break the rules. I, you know, I had treated people nicely and kindly, at least to the best of my ability. But to see where I’m at now, having gone through the personal growth that I’ve gone through, and realizing how much more my worth, and love for myself, I was able to cultivate, develop, and keep, because of my ability to show up in a way every day it is honoring of God and allows him to, I guess, shine through me and show other people how amazing and powerful it is when you learn to love yourself when you have self worth and learn how to keep it. And by the way, like learning to love yourself and developing self worth is about. You know, I’ve learned this the hard way. But I’m so thankful I’ve learned it, it’s about showing up every day in a way that we feel this worthy, right, it’s about treating others and every second of every day in a way that we would want to be treated even when it’s hard to you know, like even when it’s hard to it’s when it’s necessary. The most like that’s when we earn the most of our worth back is when we do it when it’s hard to it’s not when it’s easy. That it’s the challenge. It’s how do you show up when you’re challenged? That matters the most, because that’s where you develop the greatest strength, it’s kind of like when you go to the gym and you work out like you’re not going to build strong muscles by lifting light weights, you’re going to build strong muscles by picking up the big stuff, the hard stuff, the stuff that’s going to challenge your muscles breaking down a bit a bit, a bit a bit so that they can grow, right. And the same thing happens with us as individuals when we’re growing our brain. And when we’re growing a neural pathways, and we’re trying to build new patterns, new behaviors, new experiences, it’s those moments that challenge us, that ask us to step into a bigger, fuller version of ourselves. And if we can do that, then we regain some of the worth we’ve given away throughout our life by showing up in ways that don’t feel good. And so I always say to people that when you are able to show up that way, like that’s when you start to accumulate that what you like most about you, and when you can do it without Without question, when you can show up in a way that you find valuable. And you develop that worth. And you can do it consistently without beginning without questioning it. That’s when you develop something called self confidence. Right? That’s when you start to trust yourself. And you start to trust that you can do hard things in life that you can show up in a way that you value and that nobody can take you out of that even the people that are trying to bait you to show up in a different way the people that are trying to bait you to defend yourself or judge them or shame them or be angry at them. Like you can just observe them and love them anyway. That you don’t have to participate in the game of you trying to go negative or shame them. So that makes sense. I know I’m going off a little bit original ask was but you asked me. Let me see what it say. Bible verse said, honor God and all things that I do, how do I even do that? What does that look like? So that I feel like is what I’ve just kind of articulated to you. It’s consciously deciding every day that you’re going to show up in a way that I think God would find honoring and it’s not about by the way, so much these days. People use God to be like I’m right, you’re wrong. You’re going to hell like that’s a sin that edited out right all of that stuff like I feel like you that creates separation where none is necessary, because it’s not for us to judge how God would receive something or perceive something. It’s for us to hold that, that strengthen that like constitution in us, if you will, of peace, love, tolerance, forgiveness, mercy. It’s to hold that for all people, and to not be the judge or the jury as to who is doing something righteous, wrong, moral immoral, like, it’s not for us to really judge I don’t believe. And besides, I’ve also learned that whatever you don’t like in someone else, you have to be sure to correct yourself. And so we use those moments where we want to judge or I do when I’m teaching people, there’s moments where you want to judge someone, or shame them or dam them. Those are the things that we need to really take a good look at, and see if we carry characteristics that are similar within ourselves, and if so we need to correct those. And once we do, we no longer feel the need to judge or shame or dam or blame somebody else. It’s very interesting how it works. So anyway, I hope this is helpful to you. It’s not as much like I don’t know if it’s as much about like in the physical world, although I will say like in my gratitude writings, and honestly, all throughout the day, like I feel like I live this life that is I’m so grateful for. And I’m so grateful for the honor and the privilege of being able to tap into such deep love and to know how to use it, how to keep it how to how to give it away from the right place in me that doesn’t deplete me how to share mercy and share compassion and tolerance and grace for all people, even the people who do things that don’t always feel good, even people who believe things that maybe are hurtful, but to be able to still show up anyway. And so I all day, every day, give my gratitude, and my grace and glory to God. Me personally, it doesn’t mean that anybody else has to, it doesn’t mean that, like, there’s anything right or wrong about what I do. I just feel so much gratitude. And I know that it’s from a source so much bigger than me. And I call that source for me, God. And so in my prayers and my meditations in my moments where everything is going great in my moments for everything is a challenge. I thank God for all of the opportunities that I’m being given to learn more, or to grow more or to heal more in whatever ways I’m destined to. That is how I connect to it. And that has allowed me to soar to heights that I never knew possible. Like I couldn’t even have created the pictures in my mind about the future that hasn’t happened yet. Because they have been so much bigger and more glorious than I could have ever dreamed for myself as a mere mortal human being. And so and I know it’s only going to keep getting better, which is even more exciting for me. So I guess I would say to my friends, I hope this was helpful. And if it’s hard to know how to really begin to tap into that, just start with little things and writing it out and start to see, like in the moments where you write out, like maybe you start with the gratitude things, and maybe you write out one day, and like I’m so grateful for whatever it is that you say. And maybe you notice when you write that thing that there’s like a twinge of like resistance or like ik feeling or like a like you reject that a little bit, tap into that. Because if you’re not able to know how to connect with God in those moments, but you want to, let’s say like if you want to, then those moments where you find that bit of resistance, or that bit of rejection of something, is your invitation to kind of go deeper into it and figure out what it is that you’re actually rejecting about it. I know even now when I write certain things that I’m grateful for, like I find sometimes that I have a little bit of rejection to it. And I’ll know that those are the things that I need to kind of figure out like, why don’t they just reject that, like, Why did my energy, want to reject that, and I know that it’s because there’s something that’s not in alignment, like I’m either just saying it and don’t really believe it. Or like, or I’m saying it and I don’t really feel like I’m really grateful for it, you know, I’m just saying it to say it. And so I need to step into like releasing whatever the pain is that’s keeping me from really being able to enjoy blank or sad thing. Or to really be grateful for blank or sad thing like maybe there’s still some pain there that has to be released. And by the way, we just when I say we’re like a pain that has to be released, pain gets released, by allowing yourself to feel it. You know, so if you write something that you’re grateful for, and you feel that rejection, to the to the writing of it, or like that resistance to really allowing yourself to be grateful for it. Then maybe like for example, maybe you say something like I’m grateful for I’m grateful for my mom, maybe you say that and you feel like there’s a little bit of resistance there. are, you know, so then you have to ask yourself like, am I saying, I’m just grateful for my mom? Because I’m trying to check the box and finish my eight things? And is there some resistance to that? Like, is there still some pain there is there’s still some hurt about the way my mom treated me that I’m not really completely grateful for her and I still have some pain or some feelings about that. And if so, then there’s nothing wrong with that, you just have to let yourself feel those things. Because as you allow yourself to feel the pain of it, because sometimes remember, gratitude could light up pain, and you also, so as you begin to feel the pain of it, and you let yourself cry, then those suppressed or unexpressed emotions, some people call them like subconscious emotions or thoughts kind of bubble up into our present moment. And then as they bubble up into our present moment, we can then release them. And they’re really just feelings that were never allowed to be felt, that just need to be expressed and to be felt. But they don’t have to be expressed to somebody, you don’t have to like project them onto somebody, you can just allow yourself in your tender moment, to feel what you need to feel and cry, what you need to cry to release the vision of the life that you thought that you’d have, that you don’t, or the vision of the relationship with your parents that you thought that you have, that you didn’t, and you release the pain associated with the difference between those two things. So I hope that this was helpful to you. And again, I don’t in any way for anybody who’s maybe watching this that doesn’t believe in God or doesn’t believe in anything that I just said. All of that is okay, too. I only share like what has worked for me. And I do it from the place of knowing how vehemently I rejected religion and God for most of my life. And I can tell you like even to the point that my wedding like I didn’t even want my father in law to say a prayer, because like it was a fight about it, but it was a big fight about it. Because I rejected it even then. So just know that like, there is the possibility for you as you grow, to evolve into this greater understanding of kind of the universe and the order of things. But it does mean you have to, like you can live an incredibly happy life or overcome challenges and go through a path of growth without ever needing to connect to it in the same way. But I will say it’s really fulfilling if you ever arrive at the place where you realize that there is a presence and energy that has always had your back and continues to even when it hasn’t felt like it. I think that was the most powerful part for me was realizing like oh, this was all happening for me. Oh my goodness, thank goodness. Thank goodness. So anyway, I hope that’s helpful to you. If if it’s not already like triggered something in you feel free to write to me. If you have any other questions on it. Send me a note at personal growth for all that calm and I’d love to answer it for you. Take care

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