The truth is I didn’t care what the “Denomination” said but I did care about what my daddy thought, I loved my daddy so much I never wanted to do anything to hurt him and I knew it would kill my daddy if I ever did anything like that. But that didn’t stop the yearning I had to want to be accepted by my peers.

So I plotted out what I thought was the perfect plan to get me in the cool kids club, but at the same time, making sure not to disappoint my daddy. The plan was,  I would get an IBC Root-beer and stand in the “inner circle” where all the cool kids hung out in hopes that would somehow convince them I was as cool as them and then they would be my friends. While the brown bottle of the root-beer would make it a appear I was drinking, I wouldn’t actually be drinking so I knew my daddy wouldn’t be upset.

I don’t know what it was, but there was something about the connection I had with my daddy. I knew he loved me no matter what. I knew I could tell him anything and he would still love me. Oh!  Don’t get me wrong, we had our disagreements. But I always knew, not matter what,  I was safe, cared for and love by my daddy.

It was the love and respect I had for my daddy that kept me out of trouble as a teenager. I didn’t want to do anything to ever hurt him or his reputation.  I never did really fit into that group of friends, so I never drank anything harder than that root-beer. I never did any drugs, or smoked anything and I think that is also what kept me from not having sex before marriage. It’s what kept me out of jail. I love my daddy so much and I knew my daddy loved me, he had proven his love for me time and time again. It would of literally killed me to hurt my daddy.

In fact I remember a time when Jeff and I were dating, my dad and Jeff’s dad were not getting along. So much so, that Jeff’s father told Jeff that he needed to break up with me. When Jeff told me this, I became concern that perhaps my dad was thinking the same thing, and not wanting to hurt either of the men I loved. I went to my father. Because I have always been an up front, out spoken, independent kind of child and simply told my daddy. “I love you and I never want to do anything to hurt you. So please don’t ask me to stop seeing Jeff.  Because I don’t want to have to disobey you” My dad never asked and I am not certain he ever intended to but I loved him so much I didn’t want to have to make that choice.

I was a lucky girl because my daddy wasn’t just a good man, but was a man that followed after God. See he didn’t just encourage me not to smoke, drink, or wait till I had sex till after marriage.  Because he wanted to be mean or he was following what the “Denomination said”. He did it because of what the bible says. He taught me to take the bible at it’s word. He taught me that the Bible was the ultimate authority on the truth. Not to long ago Oprah made a speech and told the audience it was time to tell “Your Truth” well the fact is there is no such thing as “Your Truth”. If that was the case, when you got pulled over for speeding you could just decide that isn’t “Your Truth” because you didn’t see it as speeding. See if we believe the idea that there is “Your Truth” then there will be as many truths as there are people. That means that we all become god because we as human being tend to justify whatever we want.   If someone came up and asked for your wallet and if you then refused to give it to them, they then  could decided to shoot you for that because “Their Truth” was that they needed your wallet so they should be allowed to have it and if you refused “Their Truth”  said that they had that right to kill you.  To be God requires intelligence and knowledge of the future, it requires someone who can handle great responsibility for everyone in the universe.

That’s why the only God, tells us the “Real Truth” we can find it in His word the bible, and God tells us not to become addicted to substances because he knows they can harm us. 1 Peter 4:3 “For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry”. The bible also tells us that sex should be saved for marriage Heb 13:4 “Let marriage be held in honor above all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.”

So no matter what “Your Truth” Might be, God’s truth is the one that prevails. 1 Cor 10: 23 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. ” See the bible tells us that Jesus said ““I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 We can’t get to Him unless we follow what He tells us to do. But He doesn’t want us to just “Follow the rules” because we are afraid of Him. It is the exact opposite, He wants us to know how much He loves us. Just like I knew my daddy loved me and my decision for following what he said was not because I was afraid of punishment but it was my overwhelming desire to want to please him. In this day and age we are all to often more concerned with pleasing ourselves, more than anyone else.