Awkward.
A word that we use often, I'm guilty of it too; and yet it is a word whose meaning has lost its power.
Awkward means a few things, and we know (from English class) that those listed first in the dictionary are the terms most often used for that word. Well awkward means: clumsy, lacking grace or manners.

Manners.
Something we have since forgotten to teach our children. Something our parents learned, their grandparents enforced and nothing we've come to care about.

However the most important (or recently the most important) meaning for the word awkward would be: requiring caution.

We have things like the "awkward game" and do things to try and make others feel awkward. Sometimes we get a perverse sense of humour in making another feel strange, outcast or (to use an old term) 'chicken.'
But really, we've trained out our sense of awkward. We no longer have the feeling of CAUTION.

I am guilty of this myself, guilty of a low sense of caution, a high tolerance to things awkward. Sadly I feel that our sense of "the awkward" is a gift from God that we have stopped using. And once you stop it is hard to retain that sense once again.

God has been teaching me so much in the past few months. One of those things is that our sense of what is awkward goes along with our sense of feeling. When we no longer find things awkward we are that much closer to apathy. Those who are apathetic feel nothing, they sense no caution. There is nothing considered awkward for them. When nothing is considered awkward, when there is no caution, that is where the devil can come in and mess us up. He can come in and fiddle with our perspective.

The Devil knows scripture and he sure can use is against us. He uses a verse of scripture on us, he will tell us  "the Bible says that everything is permissible." What we don't hear is the second part of the verse. The part where God tells us
Everything is permissible, BUT NOT EVERYTHING IS BENEFICIAL.


We often forget the power we have over others and as such we abuse this power. We abuse the power to make them feel awkward, the power to make ourselves feel awkward.

Everyday I am constantly reminded of this verse. Maybe it is when I walk into Ludwig and seeing the food that never looks appetizing, maybe it is when a cute guy walks past and I find myself saying 'well he's aesthetically pleasing', or maybe it is when I want to skip homework for ice cream. In all these times I am reminded "Everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial." (1 Corinthians 6:12)

For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. - 1 Corinthians 1:25 It is through God we can overcome the apathy and lack of awkward. We can, no I can earn back my sense of caution and protect the innocence I was gifted through God.

~Carollela~