I just read this on a friend of a friend's blog and thought it was worth repeating. It's actually from Rob Bell's book Sex God, which is a great book, by the way.

"You don’t need a man by your side to validate you as a woman. You already are loved and valued. You’re good enough exactly as you are. Do you believe this? Because it’s true. You have limitless worth and value. If you embrace this truth, it will affect every area of your life, especially your relationship with men.

You are worth dying for.

Your worth does not come from your body, your mind, your work, what you produce, what you put out, how much money you make. Your worth does not come from whether or not you have a man. Your worth does not come from whether or not men notice you. You have inestimable worth that comes from your Creator.

You will continue to be tempted in a thousand different ways not to believe this. This temptation will be to go searching for your worth and validity from places other than your Creator.

Especially from men.

But you don’t have to give yourself away to earn a man’s love. You’re better than that. You’re already loved.

When you give too much of yourself away too quickly, when you show too much skin, you’re not being true to yourself. When you dress to show us everything, then in some sense we have all shared in it, or at least been exposed to it. There is a mystery to you, infinite depth and endless complexity.

As the woman says in Song of Songs, “My own vineyard is mine to give.” In the ancient Near East, a vineyard was a euphemism for sexuality. She is saying that she doesn’t give herself to just anyone. She is fully in control of herself, and she is not cheap, and she is not easy.

Your strength is a beautiful thing. And when you live in it, when you carry yourself with the honor and dignity that are yours, it forces the men around you to relate to you on more than just a flesh level.

You are worth dying for.

When you live in your true identity, when you find your worth and value in your Creator, when you live “in Christ,” in who you really are, you force men to rethink what it means to be a man." -Sex God by Rob Bell

velvet elvis

so, i have a chapter left in rob bell's, "velvet elvis." when i began the book, i thought it was okay, as i disagreed a bit with some of what he had to say and i wasn't a huge fan of his writing style.

now, 159 pages later i want to get my own copy and think that this is a phenomenal book. of course there are things that i have a different take on, but overall i think bell does an amazing job both explaining the bible in a way that makes sense AND he does do a great job "repainting the christian faith." it is definitely work picking up. in fact, i probably will get a copy for my dad and possibly some others. enjoy!

Sex. God.

So, as tends to be the case when I get excited about a book, I am only on page 20, but so far Rob Bell's book Sex. God. is really refreshing and good. I'll try to write more when I am actually fully into the book or have actually finished it.

So, here is a little excerpts to grab your attention or pick at your interest (spanglish):

(p.19) "The writer of Genesis makes it clear that in all of creation there is something different about humans. They aren't God, and they aren't going to become GOd, but in some distinct, intentional way, something of God has been placed in them. We reflect what God is like and who God is. A divine spark resides in every single human being.

Everybody, everywhere. Bearers of the diving image."

One more thing... so far, these 22 pages i have thus far read now, i want to quote virtually the entire book, so thus to say I'm enjoying it and think Rob Bell has some good, insightful things to say. So, pick it up when you have time. I'm sure I'll write more as I get further along.