Meet today’s EJC Writing Contributor, Brooke Cashion! Brooke was a guest panelist speaker at a recent Echo Gathering, and we are thrilled to share her voice again. She is a full-time Realtor of 24 years and the proprietor of the newly opened "Busy As A Bee", a chef-inspired fresh and frozen food shop in Kernersville. Brooke has a heart for serving young women in faith and is an active member at Reynolda Church in Kernersville.
“Once you lose your reputation, you can never get it back.” My mom spoke these words to me countless times, innocently hoping it would encourage me to make good decisions during my teen years. However, poor choices are inevitable during this formidable time. These words echoed back to me each time a questionable choice was made and further enforced my immature belief that I had in fact, lost my reputation and there was no coming back from that abyss.
Meanwhile, my relationship with Christ was still in its infancy. Though I had been raised in church, the well was not deep. I certainly had not embraced Christ’s grace and forgiveness. The God I had learned about could be angry, punishing, disappointed, and elusive. All of this combined to riddle me with a lot of shame, guilt, and confusion.
I now understand that Christ covers our sins. Regardless of our choices, Christ loves, forgives, encourages, and does not condemn His people. This provides a freedom that allows us to embrace who we are, how we value ourselves, and how we begin to change habits and actions that don’t glorify Him.
So, the question that I wrestle with is how do we share this good news with others?
To answer this, I consider what did NOT work for my younger self. Shame, guilt, and more preaching did not work. Warnings of fiery consequences of “backsliding” didn’t work either.
LOVE is the only thing that does work. Meeting people where they are, letting them know that their past does NOT define them, but that it provides an opportunity to understand themselves and others better. Love shares the reminder that no one is perfect and mistakes are only human.
Life is an adventure to becoming who Christ intended you to be, an unveiling of your true self — as a vessel to create beauty, hope, and joy for others. Let’s remind our youth and others that we need them, their ideas, their voices, their creativity, and their hearts. Through connection, we create space for others to express their fears and their dreams.
I’ve found that reflecting on my younger self and her needs reveals ways I can share the love of Jesus with others. I encourage you to do likewise! Who do you know that needs to hear the good news of Christ? How can you creatively and boldly share Him? He will equip us to show His love, grace, and mercy to others. Let’s get excited about revealing Christ to others. Let’s have FUN with God as he intended us to. Our time here on Earth is not just a “layover” until we reach Heaven’s gates, it is our time to transfigure into His image through being loved by Him and sharing that pure love with those He places in front of us.
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