What it Means to be a HOT Mama
I'm not one to openly share most of my feelings or ideas with anyone other than my husband and a select few women mentors of mine, but for one reason or another, God has prompted me to be in a position to share with you my testimony, revelations, and desires as I grow in my position in His Heavenly Kingdom. I'm not always the best at taking my thoughts and putting them into words, so I ask for grace as I take on this new challenge of expressing myself clearly.
I, by no means, think of myself as a "hot" woman as far as my looks are concerned. I know God calls us His masterpiece (Eph. 2:20), but I am not one to boast about my appearance. Let's face it, as a mother of two children under the age of 5 and an in-home childcare provider, I typically look like I crawled out of a garbage truck. HOT has no regards to looks or temperature, but is instead an acronym meaning humble, open, and transparent. I heard this acronym maybe just over a year ago while listening to a sermon on YouTube. Pastor Michael Todd of Transformation Church coined this phrase (I think..) and uses it regularly to describe the church. I knew as soon as I heard it, I would be using it regularly, too. I chose to use this phrase in my blog title because, well, I want to be HOT with y'all!
We all know the opposite of HOT is COLD. Closed-up, overbearing, lousy, and dense. I have no right to speak for every person on this earth, but I can assure you, I am not a fan of COLD people. They are difficult to have conversations with and even more difficult to love on. I will also admit, I used to be a COLD person before God melted me and set my soul on fire!
The tricky part of being HOT is that you can't just use one or two of the letters and it make sense. HT, OT, HO. Only one of those is a real word and not a very glamorous one. If we are not all parts of the acronym, it doesn't work. I have been guilty countless times of only operating in openness and transparency without ever humbling myself.
Being humble means putting someone else's importance before yours. It means listening to understand rather than listening to respond. It means operating in the power, love, and self-control delivered to us by our Heavenly Father (2 Tim. 1:7) rather than operating in our own feelings.
Being open, in my opinion, means having an open heart. Not judging or condemning. Someone told me shortly after I got married that I needed to relinquish my Holy Spirit badge. There is no condemnation in Christ, and it is not our job to convict. The word open literally means not being closed off. We cannot be closed off to forgiveness (asking or receiving), we cannot be closed off to the idea of understanding, and we certainly cannot be closed off to the idea of redemption.
Finally, transparency. I used to think being transparent meant something along the same lines as being open, but through divine revelation, God has shown me that being transparent means so much more than we might consider. Webster defines transparent as "a material that allows light to pass through". How profound! As Christians, we are told to be salt and light (Matt. 4:19). Jesus calls Himself "The Light of the world" (John 8:12). If we are to be light to those around us, and Jesus is THE light, isn't it obvious that being transparent in our relationships and conversations means we let Jesus shine through us? We let Him shine through our insecurities, our vulnerabilities, our fears and doubts, and we allow Him to use us as the givers of love (John 15:12), the ministers of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18), and the people of forgiveness (Matt. 6: 14-15) He has commanded us to be.
When we turn up the heat and get HOT, it doesn't mean we just blurt out our feelings and allow our emotions to lead us because we are being the world's definition of transparent. We shouldn't share all of our insecurities and give parts of our heart to the wrong people and call it openness. Getting HOT is being intentional. Being level-headed and utilizing self-control in our responses and reactions. Showing the love of Jesus to others even if we don't want to or we find it difficult. Listening even if it's hard because you are putting someone else's importance above your own just like Jesus did for you on Calvary.
I challenge you to be HOT in your friendships, your relationships inside the church, in your marriage, and even with non-believers. You may be the only example of Christ they are exposed to, so wouldn't you want to be a good one?
I, by no means, think of myself as a "hot" woman as far as my looks are concerned. I know God calls us His masterpiece (Eph. 2:20), but I am not one to boast about my appearance. Let's face it, as a mother of two children under the age of 5 and an in-home childcare provider, I typically look like I crawled out of a garbage truck. HOT has no regards to looks or temperature, but is instead an acronym meaning humble, open, and transparent. I heard this acronym maybe just over a year ago while listening to a sermon on YouTube. Pastor Michael Todd of Transformation Church coined this phrase (I think..) and uses it regularly to describe the church. I knew as soon as I heard it, I would be using it regularly, too. I chose to use this phrase in my blog title because, well, I want to be HOT with y'all!
We all know the opposite of HOT is COLD. Closed-up, overbearing, lousy, and dense. I have no right to speak for every person on this earth, but I can assure you, I am not a fan of COLD people. They are difficult to have conversations with and even more difficult to love on. I will also admit, I used to be a COLD person before God melted me and set my soul on fire!
The tricky part of being HOT is that you can't just use one or two of the letters and it make sense. HT, OT, HO. Only one of those is a real word and not a very glamorous one. If we are not all parts of the acronym, it doesn't work. I have been guilty countless times of only operating in openness and transparency without ever humbling myself.
Being humble means putting someone else's importance before yours. It means listening to understand rather than listening to respond. It means operating in the power, love, and self-control delivered to us by our Heavenly Father (2 Tim. 1:7) rather than operating in our own feelings.
Being open, in my opinion, means having an open heart. Not judging or condemning. Someone told me shortly after I got married that I needed to relinquish my Holy Spirit badge. There is no condemnation in Christ, and it is not our job to convict. The word open literally means not being closed off. We cannot be closed off to forgiveness (asking or receiving), we cannot be closed off to the idea of understanding, and we certainly cannot be closed off to the idea of redemption.
Finally, transparency. I used to think being transparent meant something along the same lines as being open, but through divine revelation, God has shown me that being transparent means so much more than we might consider. Webster defines transparent as "a material that allows light to pass through". How profound! As Christians, we are told to be salt and light (Matt. 4:19). Jesus calls Himself "The Light of the world" (John 8:12). If we are to be light to those around us, and Jesus is THE light, isn't it obvious that being transparent in our relationships and conversations means we let Jesus shine through us? We let Him shine through our insecurities, our vulnerabilities, our fears and doubts, and we allow Him to use us as the givers of love (John 15:12), the ministers of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18), and the people of forgiveness (Matt. 6: 14-15) He has commanded us to be.
When we turn up the heat and get HOT, it doesn't mean we just blurt out our feelings and allow our emotions to lead us because we are being the world's definition of transparent. We shouldn't share all of our insecurities and give parts of our heart to the wrong people and call it openness. Getting HOT is being intentional. Being level-headed and utilizing self-control in our responses and reactions. Showing the love of Jesus to others even if we don't want to or we find it difficult. Listening even if it's hard because you are putting someone else's importance above your own just like Jesus did for you on Calvary.
I challenge you to be HOT in your friendships, your relationships inside the church, in your marriage, and even with non-believers. You may be the only example of Christ they are exposed to, so wouldn't you want to be a good one?
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