Religiosity....

This is a term that bites at me. Especially in the South. "Religion" assumes you are 'expected' to do certain things: go to church; read the Bible; pray; be a great spuse; ask for a blessing before a meal......

Sure we do those things, but should we be bound by those things? Do those very things define who we are as a person....or more importantly as a person of God?

As I learn more and more about a) my own self and my own faith, and b) about the culture of the south (and to an extent the rural midwest where I was raised) these are the questions I continue to ask myself and those around me.

As we strive to become men and women who truly and throughly believe that Jesus came so that we "may have life and have it to the full," (John 10:10) I belive it's important that we first answer this question of religiousity.

I'm reading a great book currently that has served as the inspiration behind the blog title, et al. In "Spiritually Fit to Run the Race," Bishop Ken Ulmer describes lays out what Godly living looks like. He describes it in a way that I hadn't quite thought of before.

I have thought for quite some time that the phrases 'he's religious' or 'she's spiritual' just don't cut it for me anymore. Because everyone - it seems in the South especially - is 'religious' and many people call themselves 'spiritual.'

But how many of us are truly Godly? And what does Godliness look like in our lives?

Check back for more as I learn more.