Hey friends,
It is amazing how much waste we create a day, without even thinking about it! It has been in the media very often lately, too. Honestly, we could look at all the news and articles and think, “Oh, this is just another worldly topic.” However, if you go outside, you can see the truth. Its probably even more evident for me, since I live on an island with unkept natural beaches. I see first hand how plastic and other human waste has littered our world. Unfortunately, some of this pollution is intentional, and some of it is unintentional. Therefore, I am here to tell you that we should try to prevent the intentional and unintentional from happening so that we can be good stewards of this earth that God has given us.
Why Christians should care about pollution
First, I would like to debunk a widespread belief that I hear from the Christian community. Some want to have this response when talking about pollution or being low waste or eco-friendly, “Oh, the earth is dying anyway because Christ is coming.” To me, this is an excuse that some give so they can avoid these type of topics. We shouldn’t stop trying to honor God because we believe that Christ will come again. We believe that BECAUSE Christ is coming again, that we should try our best to love, honor and show appreciation to God for His wonderful and everlasting sacrifice! Well, for those who agree with me, I would like to tell you that being “environmentally friendly” falls into the category of honoring God!
Note: Examples of pollution are:
- plastic pollution
- air pollution
- radioactive pollution
- etc
Here’s why…
1. The earth is not ours; it is the Lord’s
Psalm 24:1 (NIV)
First and foremost, we have to understand that we do not own the earth. Instead, God has gifted us with using it for our benefit. Like every gift or item that we borrow, we try to take extra care to keep it in good condition. We do this so that we do not hurt the gift giver or lender and show them that we appreciate this gift. Therefore, we are called to be caretakers for this earth that God has given us. He blessed us with such a beautiful and self-sufficient home. We should want to try our best to take care of it so that we show God that we appreciate and love His gift. Also, we should not want to hurt God, so by keeping the earth clean and well, we would make God happy to see His children honoring Him!
This also includes how we treat His children and animals. There are many verses in the Bible, teaching us how to live God-honoring lives. These lessons involve treating God’s children with love and respect and taking care of God’s creatures properly. Two verses that come to mind are:
Proverbs 12:10(NIV):
2. We should be intentional to clean up after ourselves
Think about it this way; we are taught to clean our rooms, pick up our toys, throw our trash in the bins, and overall to live a life of intentional and diligent behavior. Our parents clean our homes, and we have people who clean our schools, offices, restaurants, etc. So, why is it that we take so much effort to clean our personal surroundings but do not think twice about the bigger picture, the whole world. God blessed humankind with an outstanding amount of intelligence to create the societies that we live in. Therefore, we are the only contributor to the waste that is also produced. We should learn to clean up after ourselves not only in our physical houses but in our earthly home too.
I challenge you to go somewhere that isn’t monitored by city clean up services and see how our behavior has littered the earth. You would be surprised at the amount of trash you find on your beaches or in your woods. Now, like I said some of that trash isn’t intentional, meaning someone might not have placed it there. However, our extreme consumerism behavior has made such a large amount of pollution that it is hard to monitor.
Therefore, we should try our best to clean up the mess that we already created. This can mean going out and picking up trash, reducing the amount of waste you create or buy and asking the rest of society to work together to find better ways to live and reduce the pollution that we create.
3. Everything we do should be honoring to God
This is an obvious point; we want to honor God through everything that we do. Long ago, families knew precisely where their food, clothes, and other belongings came from. Today, it is much harder to understand this clearly. Sometimes, we are promoting acts that are unpleasing to God. Now, I believe that if you accidentally support something without knowing, you are not to blame. However, it is getting more and more evident that some companies that we all buy from and promote are committing some ungodly acts, such as; underpaid employment, harsh working conditions, child labor and so on.
Therefore, I would like to encourage you all to research how your favorite companies conduct business. No, you are not responsible for those individuals that run the business. However, by continuing to buy from them, you are giving them the means to continue there ungodly behavior. By finding companies that have better ways of conducting business, you will force those bad companies to change for the better.
Final thoughts
As Christians, we should be the first ones to fight for taking care of this earth. While we wait for Christ to come again, we should try our best to love and honor the home that God blessed us with. If you want more tips and inspiration on what you can do to help our planet, check out these links:
- Our planet documentary: Beautiful documentary on the different areas of the earth and the amazing animals that live in them. It also shares some of the things that we are doing that is harmful to the planet and what we can do to help. Be sure to check out their website to see how you can do your part!
- Zero-waste essentials
- Six tips to declutter your life
- Simple waste-free laundry routine
If you have any more advice or tips to help us all to live a greener lifestyle, please leave them in the comments below. We can all learn from each other!
Until next time,
yasmin rose xoxo
