Vicariously

I've always heard it said that one person is living "vicariously" thru another person. I understand what's trying to be said, but I wanted the definition of vicariously (of course I did, you're probably thinking, if you read my blog very much)...so....where did I go????...Merriam-Webster on-line dictionary...where else??

Here's what I found:

Vicariously - performed or suffered by one person as a substitute for another, or to the benefit or advantage of another...or...experienced or realized through imaginative or sympathetic participation in the experience of another.

Now...you might be wondering why I have that on my mind. During our daily scripture reading this week, part of it was in Leviticus. I sometimes find it very difficult to understand a lot of what I read in the book of Leviticus because it is all the rules and regulations that were set forth to the children of Israel, and I guess I just don't see how some of that stuff applies to us today....but...one of the chapters we read was about....and I even hesitate to write this...but it was regulations as to who their sexual partners could not be. I asked Pappy why in the world did I even need to know that stuff...it was basically common sense to me. But...I should have known that God was preparing me for something. He's like that, you know!!! I'm not going into detail....but the very next day....yes, the very next day....I learned something that has really upset me about somebody who obviously was trying to live "vicariously" thru a child. I know...innocent until proven guilty...and "love the sinner, hate the sin"....but...it goes back to I Thessalonians 5:22 - Abstain from all appearance of evil. (KJV). We might think that we are only hurting ourselves, and that nobody will find out...(the last part of Numbers 32:23 states "be sure your sin will find you out". Even if other people don't know what we're doing wrong...God knows...and to me that is all I need to keep in mind!!! We have to stop and think about what we're doing to our families...the other person....their family...it has a huge trickle down affect...especially when there are children involved. I am not even related to anybody in this situation, but it has upset me deeply because I am acquainted with some of the people involved. I'm reminded of a lady I used to know. When her girls reached their teenage years, she started to dress like them, and in general doing things that were not appropriate for her age. I'm not sure that some people ever "grow up"....or ever mature. The main thing I'm concerned about is spiritual maturity, and I believe with that comes emotional maturity, too. A mature man, grounded in his faith will act like a grown man should ...and a mature lady will want to dress, act, and think her age. None of us want to grow old...older....but using others to make us feel better about ourselves is entirely wrong. Not only did I find out this about this person....I was also reminded by a friend that there are men out there who are very involved in pornography. I told Pappy what scares me about all of this is how do we really know somebody....people who we see and talk to...how do we know what is really going on in their hearts and minds. There is a song that plays on Love 89 that talks about asking God to let us see the world for just a second thru His eyes...to see hurting people. All of those who are trying to live "vicariously" thru others...they are trying to fill a void inside of them...a void that they think they can fill thru sex, intimacy, pornography, alcohol, drugs....even, food....but God is the Only One who can fill that void because it is a God-sized void and He fits into it perfectly!!!

So, in reading those verses in Leviticus, that I thought meant nothing to me....it was obviously the Lord's will that I read those on the very day that I did to prepare me for the next day!!!!

It's not odd, it's God!!!

I'm reminded of this verse of scripture:

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. I Corinthians 13:11 (this does not mean only "man"...but "woman", too!!!)