tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4543571234839860076.post2820728558791543301..comments2023-08-16T07:10:46.456-07:00Comments on The Quiet Protest: Don't Come Home from Drinking with Jesus on Your Mind, or Jesus Didn't Die So You Could Make a Real Ass of YourselfKen Piercehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03161121731160400592noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4543571234839860076.post-31741380900386323342009-02-23T07:07:00.000-08:002009-02-23T07:07:00.000-08:00WHOA! Why am I always surprised by my own loquaci...WHOA! Why am I always surprised by my own loquacity? I dunno. *sigh* It's definitely Monday...KTElltthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01407878783882226996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4543571234839860076.post-75650243403753107712009-02-23T07:06:00.000-08:002009-02-23T07:06:00.000-08:00Saw your fb status and figured you'd probably blog...Saw your fb status and figured you'd probably blogged... I have been cautioned to be mindful of what I put in print -- being that it sets me up to be judged, and sets others up to judge me. So I'll just say this: I can only speak for myself (I don't want to try to speak for anyone else because that's when I get in trouble). I had to quit drinking (and I mean DRINKING) at the end of November. It was very hard. For ten years, I've been a "social drinker". We've kept some in the house as well. It was in having dinner with friends from church where I knew I consumed WAY too much alcohol that I realized I had been over the line way too many times and was, as you say, "kidding myself" that I could handle it, that I wasn't drunk. It was a rude awakening (I think brought on by nothing other than the conviction of the Holy Spirit) and I didn't like it one bit. I have since at two special occasion dinners with Daniel had ONE glass of wine (I don't consider this drinking as much as I consider it enjoying a glass of wine). I can only do this with him because he knows my struggle and will hold me accountable. We don't keep it in the house anymore. I don't have a drink in groups at all because in a group, I am much more proned to excessive consumption. Those are the rules I now have for myself. It's not that I think these rules should apply to everyone but it's the only way I know to protect myself from this immature behavior...<BR/><BR/>That being said, I tend to view drunkenness as I view other "infantile" behaviors -- a symptom of a deeper problem. In instances where someone is judgmental (TRULY judgmental in using their words to cut others down and justify their own standards, not just taking a convicted stand on an issue), I tend to wonder what issues and actions they are trying to justify to themselves. I wonder the same for myself -- when I catch myself judging someone (which I'm sure I don't catch it as often as I do it), I have to ask myself what I'm hiding. It's the same with alcohol -- bad behavior to make one oblivious to a greater problem. Such is the nature of sin, in my opinion. Our sins help us "medicate" ourselves against our own sins... What an ugly cycle! Only the grace of God can open our eyes to this problem and help us out of the pit that we dig for ourselves.KTElltthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01407878783882226996noreply@blogger.com