Devotion: Music Tour

Recently, I went on my music tour with 25 other performs from my school. A lot of them I have been on tour with before and others it was their first time so they did not know exactly how to act or what to expect on tour. Our directors ask us to put on the mindset that we are playing for God’s glory and to entertain the children. Some people only cared about themselves, and often there was a lot of complaining and it drove me insane. I didn’t understand how they could act like they are better than these children who live in poverty and abuse, and be perfectly okay with it. I immediately started to judge them and was completely repulsive towards them because I felt that I had a better attitude and heart for these children. 

By the end of the week, I was counting down the hours until I didn’t have to see them. I had been with them all week and everything they did tick me off. It was like they had no respect for our directors or anyone for that matter. Ultimately, I thought that I was better and I didn’t deserve to be around them, which was pretty selfish and arrogant. When I got home that night, I opened my Bible and read 1st, 2nd and 3rd John and there was one theme that was continually repeated throughout those chapters, and it was love. 1 John 4: 16-17 says, “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.” What really opened my eyes was that a few chapters down it says that if you love God but hate your brother, then you are a liar. It is easy for me to say that I love God, because I do. If I hate someone who is on tour with me though, then actually I am lying to God. God made each one of those kids on tour with me and I hated them. I am not saying that people who do wrong are always right and shouldn’t be hated, but it says throughout the Bible to pray for your enemies, to ask God to help them. Not for you to take control and try to fix them. 

I also realized that every sin is the same, so why am I judging my friends for being rude to poor children when I have done just as bad but in a different situation. I continually get annoyed with people that I don’t like, or I judge them just by the way they act and I never once looked at myself and say, “hey, why are you so much better then everybody else?” I think we tend to convince ourselves subconsciously that we are better than others without actually examining ourselves. We feel that it is not as bad if we don’t tell ourselves that it is. Hating someone is exactly the same as hating God. So the next time you tell God that you love him, you must also love the person that makes you so frustrated or angry. Those are temptations that God puts in our life to test our faith. In 1 John it talks about testing your faith, so instead of thinking you are better then people, examine your faith and actually see if you are where you should be in your walk with Christ. So I encourage you to pray for the people that annoy you and let God do the rest.

Written by Emily Conger
I am Emily Conger and am just starting college at Westminster. I am currently focusing on living the life of a college kid and putting God at the center of all things. What I have learned so far is to live life to the fullest and laugh whenever possible!