They said WHAT?!?!

"What's mine is mine and what's yours is mine too!" This was my mom's favorite phrase every time my dad asked her where a tool went, what happened to his favorite shirt or where the extra vacation money went. If I had a dollar for every time I heard her quote this infamous family cliche, I could fund a mission trip! How many times do we say the same thing to God? Are we stingy with those things he provides for us or blesses us with? Do we hold back our time, money, talents, prayers while basking in His abundent Grace and big-hearted love? What does our Most Gracious Father provide for you that you claim as your own without notion of offering back to Him? I thought it would be insightful if we could share some of those phrases or cliches we hear in life that offer us an opportunity to reflect on our relationship with Christ, other members of His Body or the world. Do you have one to share? I'm sure you can think of a few :)

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  • Which leads us to my Grandpa's favorite phrase. "Many hands make light work." Usually said while helping them with the garden. It was so much more fun than helping mom do the same thing in our garden almost next door. Something about grandparents just makes it better. Then again this was I nice change from "You help eat it, you can help grow it." Even in the church the job is easier when we all work together and sometimes we do partake of the very thing that we help grow.
  • Rev Rudy, I had to show this to my daughters because they think I am the only parent in the world who makes their child repeat a task/chore until it is done properly. (I'm a "meeeeeannn moma" is what the middle child says)

    In our home, if one of the children do not do a task or chore properly the first 2 times, we all have to pitch in and do it with them. This way, the child can see how a sloppy job effects others and how when we lift each other up with mercy, things get done right in half the time.
  • Valia - Community Tech Support said:
    Here's a cliche that originated in the Bible itself "With God all things are possible." - Matthew 19:26

    I say that it's a cliche only because it's a phrase that is used over and over again.

    I bet most people that have used this phrase and are unfamiliar with the Bible don't even know that it comes from the Bible. The verse becomes more clear when you read the first part of it:

    "But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." —Matthew 19:26

    This phrase reminds us that even when something seems impossible to us, nothing is impossible for God. The evidence for God's limitlessness is in people's changed lives.

    Take Keith Green for example. He was a typical hippie of the 70's. But he found God (or rather, God found him) and his life turned around! I read about Keith's walk with God in the book "No Compromise" written by his wife Melody. It's a great book that I would highly recommend if you're looking for inspiration.
    Valia -- Great post!!!
  • "I can't keep myself from looking at monkey butts!"

    First off, I must explain that my home is full of children and often a grandchild. This phrase was coined years ago by one of my daughters when I had asked her repeatedly to put a book down and go finish cleaning her room. She was looking at an animal kingdom book about monkeys. Apparently, each monkey in the book had such a "unique" backside that she had become completely distracted by the sight of them.

    This is a common phrase used now by my kids as an excuse for distraction.
    Why haven't you finished your homework? I can't keep myself from looking at monkey butts.
    Why didn't you get to the dishes? Monkey butts distracted me.
    Why aren't you ready to go? I was looking at monkey butts.

    How many monkey butts do you look at in a day that keep you from doing what the Lord has planned for you?
    Do you believe an excuse is enough to make up for lost time?
    Do you allow "shiney objects", "monkey butts", "train-wrecks" or other "distractions" become a temptation in your life to move your focus God and to your own interests?

    "But by shifting our focus from what we do to what God does, don't we cancel out all our careful keeping of the rules and ways God commanded? Not at all. What happens, in fact, is that by putting that entire way of life in its proper place, we confirm it." Romans 3:31, The Message
  • I have my own "saying".

    "Stop whining, and start Dinning!"

    It's taken me a while (still in progress actually), to realize the undeniable truth that God is in control of everything that comes our way.
    So when things appear to be going wrong, we have a choice to make.
    We can either, as the world says, sink or swim; Or we can do as the Lord says and trust Him at His Word.
    If we choose the third option, then we can Walk on the Water!
  • Here's a cliche that originated in the Bible itself "With God all things are possible." - Matthew 19:26

    I say that it's a cliche only because it's a phrase that is used over and over again.

    I bet most people that have used this phrase and are unfamiliar with the Bible don't even know that it comes from the Bible. The verse becomes more clear when you read the first part of it:

    "But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." —Matthew 19:26

    This phrase reminds us that even when something seems impossible to us, nothing is impossible for God. The evidence for God's limitlessness is in people's changed lives.

    Take Keith Green for example. He was a typical hippie of the 70's. But he found God (or rather, God found him) and his life turned around! I read about Keith's walk with God in the book "No Compromise" written by his wife Melody. It's a great book that I would highly recommend if you're looking for inspiration.
  • In my house, we have a phrase "yeah, and I want a boat". This adage was coined by my friend, an attorney, in response to another attorney asking for a number of ridiculous items in a settlement.

    When a family member or close friend asks for or makes a statement regarding something they want that seems completely unreasonable, one of us will usually respond with "yeah, and I want a boat".

    This phrase is a constant reminder that at the times when we have the least, we still have ENOUGH. God provides for all our needs, some of our wants and definitely blesses us in ways we could never imagine.

    It's ok to want a boat once in a while... even if it seems ridiculous at that moment. But we should always be thankful for each and every need God meets and every blessing he provides.
  • My dad used to say, "Do unto others as they do unto you." And, that is how we mostly live, or at least that is the normal, human response to challenges.

    This was one of the things that I said in my early days of being a Christian: I know that God is real -- because what He says to do is just not natural, like, "Love your enemies, do good for those who spitefully use you.' His ways are not 'natural', but they work - that is how I knew that God was real. It was because his principles work.
  • As an only child, my dad spent many hours doing *guy-stuff* with me: working on antique vechiles, hunting, shooting, watching ball games and FISHING! My favorite time of the year was when our family would vacation an hour a way at our favorite river for an entire week of fishing.

    My dad would often take me out early in the morning or late in the afternon, leaving mom to do what he called "mom stuff". In those times alone with me, he'd each me how "to fish with blood in your eyes".

    This was a phrase my dad used to express the passion that comes with the sport. Fishing with blood in your eyes, to him, meant to do whatever it takes, with whatever tools you have, and whatever time alloted, to not just reach, but surpass the desired results. He often commented that if something is worth doin', it's worth doin' right the first time.

    But this was different. This wasn't about obligation. It wasn't about task completion. Fishing with blood in your eyes was about embracing a passion that is at your core and using every physical, emotional, mental and spiritual resource to excel beyond any perceieved limits.

    Jesus has called us to be "fishers of men", so I would challenge anyone who chooses to follow Jesus "to fish with blood in your eyes". Not out of obligation, not out of commitment, not to complete some task, but because you have embraced the passion Jesus has to bring others to know him. Because you are in Christ (and he in you), that passion is also your passion and is part of your core.

    I pray you would use every physical, emotional, mental and spiritual resource to allow Him to move you beyond any preceieved limits and fish with blood in your eyes.
  • Attitude adjustments :) Did it work? Did you try to get glad all by yourself? I've never heard this phrase before. I think as a kid, I would have been dumbfounded about how to get glad. It's sooo easy to wallow in our anger or sorrow and build up our righteous justification for our negative emotions.

    Paige said:
    My Mom always said to anyone who was pouting and mad...."you can get glad the same way you got mad..all by yourself."
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