Line in the Sand

Have you ever had a friend that you thought was meant for a lifetime. A friend that stuck with you over a long period of time, someone you shared much of your time, energy, goals, and dreams with? Have you ever had to draw a line with that friend, or maybe even end that friendship?

Well, this is something that I have had to recently do, and let me be the first to say IT IS NOT EASY! I am sure that many of you may be thinking, "how could you end a friendship with someone that you've known for so long and shared so much with?"

I told you it was not easy but, sadly when it comes to our own personal journey through life and even for some, the journey with the Lord, cutting ties is necessary. It's not necessarily to say that you will never speak again but, for the sake of running your race you have to let some go.

For me, I had been struggling with this decision for a few years. Yes, you read that right, YEARS. After all the ups and downs that we faced together, I came to realize that we wanted completely different things in life and yes, I know what you're thinking, "People have differences in wants all the time, but that's no reason to end a friendship." Actually yes it is. Have you ever heard the saying, "you are the company you keep." Well, that is so true and if a very close friend that you have doesn't agree with your spiritual journey and at times will question it in a way where they flat out say, "so are you saying that because you disagree, you're better than me." That is not a good place to be. I'm going to be completely honest with you, I used to be a party girl, I used to give my body away and I used to drink until I'd blackout. I used to smoke weed and not care about the consequences of my decisions. When I decided to follow Jesus, something began to happen in my heart, I had realized how deeply I was loved by God and it actually changed my mind about what it really meant to be free. For so long I thought freedom was doing whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, not caring about others or the consequences of my actions or even what I could be doing to my body. I am here to tell you IT DOES MATTER! What you do matters, who you want to be, matters, YOU matter. When you give up that old life and trade it in for the love of the Father who created you, you begin to receive a type of love that doesn't seem real, it's a love unlike any other love and if you open your heart fully to receive it, it will transform you. You will eventually not want the same old things anymore because you'll realize that those things are so temporary and/or damaging that it's not worth it because YOU ARE WORTH SO MUCH MORE! This friend I am speaking of, well, she was the last piece of who I WAS. She always wanted to reminisce about all the stupid things we'd done and even try and entice me to drink and or smoke weed on occasion. There were so many times that I would fight with myself not to go hang out with her because I knew what was going to be around. I would still go, even though I would feel ill, even though I would have a high level of anxiety about it. I just never wanted to hurt her, so I kept hurting myself instead. I would say no, no, no and then I would give in and drink, or smoke and then the next day I would feel so awful. I am not saying that drinking is wrong, if you are of age and want to have a drink or even a few drinks hey, do you honey. For me, I would feel convicted by the Holy Spirit every single time and I would still give in. The effect of going against what you know God has and wants for you is not a good feeling at all. Please know though that there is no condemnation for those in Christ. That's in the Word of God and that is the truth but for me, although I know God would never condemn me, I still don't want to do things that I know He doesn't want me to. I had such a problem with drinking, I was addicted to the feeling of drunkenness and also to the party life and even having just 1 or 2 drinks my body would want more and my mind would say, "come on have fun, you've earned it." That's a load of crap directly from the enemy of our souls. If you want to live differently then your actions have to change, to change your actions you need a different environment, and much of the time that means new friends or simply doing away with the old ones that are not on the same path as you. Even some friends that are not on the same path are fine to have, as long as they don't attempt to discredit your belief in Jesus or your boundaries for yourself. It's ok to draw lines in the sand, after all, YOU are so worth it, YOU were worth an excruciating crucifixion on the cross of Calvary. If our Heavenly Father knew before the foundation of the world, that we were already worth it, then, we need to live and move like we know we are too! I am here to say that YES WE ARE WORTH IT! Don't be afraid of drawing a line in the sand and saying you are done with the old. Take that step into the new and know that you are so, so loved!