Your Relationship With God: Terms and Conditions Apply!

One of the misconceptions that we have to deal with as young people is the idea that living a clean and disciplined Christian life is boring, ‘kuyabhora’ as they would say in Swati! Ok, I won’t dilly dally on this one; I’ll go straight into what I think.  I believe that there is no substance in this thought. Get me well here, I am not in any way taking lightly the effect that this negative attitude has had on many young people’s Christ walk. We need to understand that being born again is only the beginning of a relationship that requires one to consciously and constantly desire to grow and experience an intimate relationship with Christ. It is by no means an end to all one’s troubles, problems and temptations! Actually, it is the beginning of a friendship, a partnership of sorts.

Every relationship has some sort of ‘give and take’ aspect to it. It connects people, challenges you to reach out and will yank you out of your comfort zone at times. A healthy relationship, especially if it’s between God and a person must also empower that individual. So if it is to yield any fruit, both sides must be willing to give as much as they take. I’ve heard many youth complain about how boring and ‘uninspiring’ it is to be Christian today. Yet when I ask them to tell me about what they have personally done/put into the relationship to ensure that it develops or grows, their response is almost always disappointing to say the least. I have observed that it is only after I’ve asked this question that they begin to see things from a different angle.

If a relationship experiences problems, the possibility is someone is taking more than they are giving, one way or the other. My guess is God is not that person. When it comes to giving in your relationship with God, you can never out give or outdo God. So in the effort to make sure that being a born again believer doesn’t become boring, the responsibility rests with the individual. What I usually suggest here is that you’ve got to totally devote yourself to God from the onset. You’ve got to play your part. If there is anything that doesn’t seem to be going right in your life, instead of rushing to blame it on anything/anybody else, ask or talk to God about it.

I have found that a change of attitude and mentality can greatly enhance a young person’s relationship with God. Instead of sitting back and talking about how boring or uncool it is to be a child of God, stand and take stock of your relationship with God, then you can talk to me about it! Are you taking as much as you are giving in this relationship? Are you giving yourself enough time to get to know God in prayer, fellowship and being responsible for your actions? What have you personally done to try to bring the fun into the relationship? It is my honest opinion that if you can find answers to these and other questions about your relationship with God, then it will help you redefine and revitalize your Christ walk. If you still can’t get the hang of it, then email me and I’d be more than willing to have coffee with you! Lol.

What they said – Facebook group dicussion comments!

Hey! I am so excited that finally we get to do this after I my promise last time. This is it, today we get to sample views shared by some of the young people who commented on this subject! A couple of weeks ago we posted a question on the sukumaRIZE youth Expressions facebook group asking them some ‘open’ questions like the following,  ‘Is marriage overrated? Why are young people failing in marriage? Why do we get married anyways? The response we got was ok, some of them really engaged the discussion, and some did not. But those that did share their thoughts made an impressions. So I thought, why not post some of their comments here and lets all see how open, clean, informed and God oriented a response they gave us.

Read and find out what these young guns had to say, here goes………………..

‘….it’s not marriage that is overrated but sex is overrated, I don’t know in what way but it is, especially for those that are not married. Maybe not all of us desire to be married and be committed to one partner but it’s one thing I feel I would definitely call a blessing. Maybe if love is hot in both the partners and not one sided! I definitely desire to get married one day but my fear is me and my so called partner, will we look things and understand them the same way or we will call it a journey halfway???’

‘……an element we mostly neglect is God. That which the Lord has brought together, no man can separate! so people allow themselves to be led by the lust, emotions n marry coz she/he is beautiful/handsome, perfect body features blah,blah,blah n neglect the humanity part of that individual, when all that is stripped away, the real person emerges like a worm from its cocoon..and it’s that which people run away from..We always want what seems appealing to the eye n not look into facts and ask God…….’

‘Marriage is not overrated. It is just not highly anticipated like it used to be obviously because of the “blessings” of marriage being discovered out of marriage.’

‘The problem is with Us, we are not marrying for the right reasons. There are so a lot of factors that can lead you to marrying, yet they aren’t the ingredient for marriage. Lomunye wake watsi she married because she wanted to have sex ngalokusemtsetfweni, and someone else said, besekahanjelwe sikhatsi, all her friends were married, thus she married too.’

‘I believe in:
a) Finish your ambitions as a bachelor
b) Fall in love not because you fit together but because you can’t live without each other (Remember, Moses married a black woman)

c) Make it work and never give up.

‘Unfortunately, when it comes to matters of the heart we tend to shut God out yet it is God that brought the woman to the man in the garden (Genesis 2:21). It is on this conviction therefore that I believe the spiritual quality (not in comparison but in reality) of a potential lifelong partner is crucial.’

‘…..God’s kind of marriage, a guaranteed success, is not a wedding only but a union according to God’s set standards. These are not just rules or laws but a way of life, a truth of heart and life lived through faith in Jesus Christ.’

‘…..so people allow themselves to be led by the lust, emotions n marry coz she/he is beautiful/handsome, perfect body features blah,blah,blah n neglect the humanity part of that individual, when all that is stripped away, the real person emerges like a worm from its cocoon. And it’s that which people run away from. We always want what seems appealing to the eye n not look into facts and ask God will to be done.’

‘….a lot of factors do come into play. e.g.

a) did you seek God’s guidance through prayer before marrying?
b) Are you in love or are you compatible?
c) Do you relive your “first love” experience constantly as depicted by Jesus to the Ephesus church?
- And there are many other factors’

‘We go for people who have THE looks but lacks humanity. Who am I to judge??? I am not but that’s why marriages fails left right and centre. it’s time we remind ourselves where we really come from, who initiated all the beautiful things we lays our eyes on, it is God who knows who’s good for who and who’s not’

‘…..I still stand to say, what I also believe is your point, that yes a wedding can survive without God, but the marriage can never.’

‘………guess it’s not only young people who are failing but a majority of the populace. Personally, there’s one element people neglect after the wedding. It’s more like a marathon. Once you have turned almost all the corners, you still ask yourself, why I have to turn another one after all….. ?’

I really would like to salute all of y’all facebookers who submitted their comment. With this kind of mindsets and standards I see a generation that will bring back the sanctity and didgnity of  God founded lifestyles even in marriage.

I’m out, stay blessed!

Note : For reasons of privacy, especially on the side of the commentators/contributors, we decided not to publish their identities.

Is marriage overrated really?Why are young people failing in marriage?Why do we get married anyways?

I asked this question on our sukumaRIZE youth Expressions discussion board on Facebook a couple of weeks ago, I thought the response we’ve been receiving from young people is really ‘awesome’. I recently (yesterday in fact) discovered a comment from one member, after that the discussion just got crazy. For the first time we went to 21 comments! They seriously came in with solution oriented contributions. Hopefully I will be posting some of the points raised right here on the blog. I believe they are so ‘user-friendly’ and relevant to young people who are geared up for a true Jesus didn’t die for nothing kind of life.

Our world is battling a lot of ills today and sadly most of these problems are manmade. Infidelity, cheating and unfaithfulness in marriage is one of the issues troubling even Christians. So by engaging this topic question, the intension was to engage young people on the issue of marriage without saying ‘let’s talk about marriage’! If there is something that is impossible to do on this earth, it is the biological process of being young! Everyone, no matter how old they may be now, was one a youth! Although others tend to overdo it! Did I hear someone say ‘young at heart’ ! ha aha aha aha!

Like it or not these young people are growing up and sooner than later they will be walking down the aisle! Some of them even detest marriage because of what they have been exposed to. Many factors come into play as we discuss this, genuine issues like social pressures, misconceptions and even cultural and religious norms amongst others. Over all I would agree that indeed our world is need of moral healing, social empowerment and most of all a spiritual direction and leadership.

The positives of the discussion are the mutual views shared on the issue of allowing God to lead and direct one’s life every step of the way. Most comments are pro- marriage but with caution. Most people who commented believe a man and woman’s union was established by God and so should be guided by His leadership all the way. It is an interesting and open discussion which is what I like about such conversations, you get to disagree without looking each other in the eye as you would in a face to face setting.

For now, let me get back to facebook so I can see what the latest comment is!

Emmanuel 'ChristaHolyc' Dlamini

Youth:Naturally spiritual

Jeremiah 1:7 But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child……..

The time is now that young people no matter what colour, creed or size they maybe begin to take responsiblity over their own destiny. Often times today’s youth have been classified under the no direction, immature and unbalanced category of the human species hierarchy. Without desputing the physical and biological development of an individual, it is however important to consider the divine disposition of every young person that came into this world through the creative genius of the Lord our God. If indeed it is Jehovah God who made every man in His image, and after His likeness(Genesis 1:26) then it is not logical or even wise to view any individual whether young or old without considering God’s perspective on them. Why did He create them? What was God’s intension concerning their lives? Does God view them any differently from the way the world sees them? The answers to these and many more questions form the basis of what God sees when He looks at a young person.

By virture of being a product of God’s genius in creation, young people automatically qualify into the divine or spiritual bracket of life. God is spirit (spritual being/person) and so if something is made to be like Him it possesses the same qualities as God. Although man was also formed from the dust of the ground, they still retained the God quality in them. Humans unlike all the other creatures were given that distinct touch of God’s person. This is where our world and inevitably its people have lost it in understanding young people. They maybe physically and biologically immature I agree but that does not mean they not spiritual. The spirit in a man is the one ingredient that need not be ignored if we are to better understand that individual. Before a one is given a body, they already are present inside God (Jeremiah 1:5), by the time they are born the person is way older than the body (physical). It is no wonder then that God corrects the prophet Jeremiah’s speech in instructing him to say not that He is young. Although this partcular scripture is a conversation between two persons, it is not detached from the matter at hand. In speaking to the prophet God reveals the crux of His perspective on young people; young people are not young.

Youth @Camp Sukuma havin' a blast!

If our world wishes to see the potential of its youth unleashed then its high time we see young people the way that God sees them. In a similar fashion to a producer that knows his product it is God who knows them best. The world simply needs to align its activity and culture with God’s. For generations the world and its people have tried to groom its young but has failed dismally. This is simply because resources and effort have been concentrated on the physical and biological aspects of the young person’s life. Mind you, this is not entirely meaningless, as it is also important to develop a person’s mental, social and vocational abilities. Perhaps no one can say it better than Jesus Christ, ‘What benefit will it be to you if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?’ (Mark 8:36) The sooner we accept that the gospel of Jesus Christ is not just a religion but a life styled on a tried and tested ability to live a meaningful, peaceful and successful life, only then can we expect to see a young people who will be an asset to our world.

SukumaRIZE therefore is a movement that long realised that you can empower the young mind with the ability to see beyond the inadequacy, mediocrity and immaturity that the world inflicts on them to a point where they connect with God in them. Once one is linked in to God He then takes them on a jouney of self discovery. This is when they realise that all along they have been living a lie. When the world tells them they are young, God has instructed us to usher them to their position in God before they were born. Because that is where their origins lie: in the Spirit, where God’s genius is. Where they are naturally spiritual.