No, that’s fine :)

Firstly I want to say, I’ve in many ways led a sheltered life for the past 16 years of it. My parents don’t really drink and the social life I’ve had has never properly exposed me to drink, smoking or sex. That’s just the way it’s been :) So I’m not the most qualified and experienced person on this topic :/

But I do know what I’m gonna do, think and say when these three things present themselves in my life….

One thing I want to make clear though, is that what I believe isn’t a religion. A religion would be following a set of rules and traditions to achieve something, like say an equal status with God. And some of those rules could be things like “Thou shalt not drink..” But it’s not a religion it’s a relationship, God loves me and I love him and we talk and interact. And God is the creator and has a full and perfect perspective of life, so what he says I want to obey because I love him and believe that by doing this I am going to live life to the full. 

So drinking, as far as I’m aware nowhere in the Bible does it make it clear that because we are Christians we must not drink. In fact Jesus’ first miracle was to turn water into wine, not just any wine but really good wine, at his friends’ wedding party. Also at the last supper, his last meal, he drank wine. So if Jesus drinks then I’m pretty sure I can. Generally the Christians I know, who don’t drink, have personal reasons for not doing so. What the Bible is clear on though, is that we shouldn’t get drunk. Sure, people have fun when drunk but from what I’ve seen and perceive I kind of understand why God thinks this isn’t living life to the full or to his glory. ‘Cause when you’re drunk you’re lose control of your mind and actions, you can make a fool of yourself and end up in situations you wouldn’t normally want to be in.  I was talking to a Christian guy friend of mine the other day and he has experience of this kind of life, he has been drunk, he’s genuinely a massively fun person yet he feels that he has way more fun when he’s not drunk and when he’s with other sober people…

Then with smoking, I think even if I wasn’t a Christian I’d go with what it says on the packets ie. the health warnings and choose not to. Also the Bible says that if we’re Christians our body is a temple for the Holy Spirit, probably sounds really strange (I’m sure an older and wiser christian could explain this more properly), basically it means that our body is a place where God dwells so I really wouldn’t want to pollute or be destructive with it, I guess this could also extend to things like eating disorders and drinking.

And finally sex. God created sex, for our enjoyment and also our reproduction… I’m pretty sure the Bible encourages us to have sex, but God has set some boundaries for it.  It’s to be kept within marriage so until I’m married, obeying God, I’m going to say no. Then, once, if, I am married the only person I’ll be having sex with will be my husband and I am hugely excited for this. See some of the posts from this blog http://unkaglen.tumblr.com/ if you want to know more :) Again I can see God’s reasons for these boundaries so I’m happy to keep within them.

I’m not saying though that at some point in the future I’m not going to screw up in any one of these areas, like sex I can definitely see as being massively tempting.. and if I do I might suffer some of the earthly consequences but I’ll definitely be letting my heavenly father down and that’s awful. The wonderful thing is that every time I do fail him I can turn back to him, and it happens a lot, and say I’m sorry (and mean it) and he welcomes me with open arms, forgives me and rejoices over me! This doesn’t entitle me to mess up more, just shows me that I shouldn’t be hurting this amazing, loving, forgiving God. I truly hope though that when faced with crossing the boundaries with these things I will be able to say God is worth far more than this and obey him. And, lovely anonymous, you should know Christianity is about so, so much more than these things…

This is such a long answer! I guess I have a lot to say but also I’m not great at condensing my thoughts. Sorry, if you weren’t expecting it, hope it’s helpful :)