2Co 9:7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

1Pe 3:4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

Pro 18:12 Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility.

Mar 10:44 And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.

I have met so many encouraging, uplifting and Godly people on Holy Worlds. I have been awed by how much you all have encouraged me: from the smallest things like humbly pointing out my grammar mistakes to me, to the greater things as in reading my Bible more daily, and spending more time with Him. I am pretty sure I fail daily in each and every aspect of these things, but that there are other people, my fellow Brothers and Sisters in the Lord, who are there to encourage me, it is indeed a gift that I thank the Lord for.

Anyhow, I wanted to say a few words to my fellow Holy Worlders on the subject of ‘being promoted.’ I hope what I say doesn't sound arrogant or proud, that is not my intention. I hope that I can encourage some of you as you have uplifted me. I want to encourage everyone to remember that God doesn’t look on our outward appearance, He can see into our heart. It is not the colour of your name or your status that defines who you are. God defines that, working in each and every life separately. We are all at different stages, striving to glorify God in our different walks.

If we seek after the right things, then the others will be second place; they will not be as important. I am not saying that we shouldn’t strive to do better or to try harder, but our motives should be to glorify God and Him alone, not anyone else or even ourselves. To please God and to do things that He would look upon as a great price, what could be a better gift or a more fitting honour and role?

Thank you, Elanor. I think this is a good place to bring out another of my poems... I never was quite happy with it, it's not one of my best, but ya'll should get to read it.

An ode to the Unringed

In a world full of purple and green and of gold
It is easy to feel all alone
When most of your friends have a ring of some kind
It is easy to feel out of line

Oh sing for the ranks of the uncolored ones.
A song for the uncolored ranks!
No ring for the most of the members we see
For most of the forum no thanks!

But wait, is that true? That the uncolored ones
Do not carry a purpose, a plan?
Can it be, if like me, you don’t carry a ring
You’re lesser than all those who can?

Oh sing for the ranks of the uncolored ones.
A song for the uncolored friends!
No ring for the most of the members we see
For most of the forum no end!

This we must change, and your purpose be known
In this song the truth will be told
The uncolored ones are the best of us all
Without them there would be no gold.

The highest of us serve the lowest of you
A song for the uncolored ranks!
Those who bear no rings are the once who we sing
A song, and an ode, and our thanks!

Thank you for posting, Ela and Vanya; I full heartedly agree.

The ones without rings are the very members which this forum was built on and to them we owe our thanks. All of us should be proud, though, despite our rank because all of us are special and unique, striving to glorify God in our writings and adding life to the lovely forums of Holy Worlds.

Thanks for the reminder that "being promoted" shouldn't be a primary goal (probably not even a goal at all!) but that serving God and others should be first. It was very encouraging.

*nods* Thank you for this message. I think it is prudent to say that the color of your name does not carry your voice to the far reaches of the world. You can be a Marcher Lord, but be little known across the forums. Yet, as a user, your activities may very well be shouted to the nations for all to hear and honor. The color of your name is not a place of solace. . . if anything, the uncolored names represent voices of freedom.

Your passion and your hearts laid bare across the expanses of Holy Worlds is what makes this place even worthwhile to be on. Sure, the leadership help keep it operational, but it is those who post with a vigor often redirected among leadership that fill these forums with the wisdom so many people are here to read. Promotion should not be your goal so much as pushing your hearts and minds to serve others right where you are at should be.

Holy Worlds isn't about promotion; it is a collection of believers seeking to glorify Him with everything they have. And. . . being a certain color cannot ever take the place of that mission.

This is beautiful. Thanks, ladies!

It's a simple fact that a forum team would be pointless if there wasn't a forum membership!

Without non-moderators, the moderators would have nothing to moderate! Without non-HRM members, the HRMs would have nobody to be an example for. Without non-editors, there might not be anything to edit! Whatever color you are, you should be grateful for that. God wants you to be grateful for whatever color you are. If you're promoted, that's excellent! But if not, He wants you to practice contentment! We love all of our members. *huggles*

*can add nothing more than what has already been said, so simply applauds loudly*

*agrees and applauds as well*

God bless you lady E and everyone else! Thank you very much for that!

Same here! *simply applauds loudly*

I can't say I am always extremely happy to be "just a member" but it is definitely an exercise of contentment ( one that I am very sad to say I fail at constantly). The hard part is constantly wondering if I have done something to make myself "un-promotable" but I know I do have my uses as just a member and I am very glad I am part of the Holy Worlds community.
Your black colored user,
Ana

Just being a member is a nice thing to be.

It is good! I don't mind being a grey-name! Being colored is the showing that you have worked hard, not the reason to.

Thanks, Hannah!

Vanya, I love that poem. Thank you for sharing.

God bless you too, Sven. I am glad this encouraged people!

Ana, each member makes up a great part of holy worlds, I am so happy to have met you! Remember what the Bible says about each member having a big part to do in the Body of Christ, we can't do without each and every person and gift. I can't find the scripture right now as I haven't got my own computer with my Bible search but I will post the scripture reference later when I have it back.

Ana, you are very special to all of us.

*does the same*

Thanks Hannah, and Ela!

I would truly love being an editor, but not just for the colored name or the "respect", but to serve the forums in something I am very good at, correcting mistakes

Mylia, if you would like to help with editing, you can PM Inesdar. He is the head of the editors at the moment.

*Loves this thread*

I have told new members a few times who ask me about applying for bluedom to serve the forum that the best way to do so is to be yourself. Personally, I think there is no better way to serve the forum. Having a ring isn't everything. I try to encourage new members just to be who they are, because that is the way God made them, and that way is just perfect, colored name or not.

Well said, Azlyn!

*Applauds* Agreed, heartily! Very well put!

You have a very good point of view Azlyn. And why did you call me Mylia, Raven?

It's confusing to read a thread like this, since there is so much stock put into the whole color thing around here.
Tell me if I'm wrong, but this is the impression I got just browsing the forum.
Bryce

I'm not sure what exactly you are asking, Various.

Yes, we do put a lot of stock into our colored people. They do a lot of work around here, help keep the forums running, and they answer people's questions when they have them.

However, we also stress that our uncolored members are NOT less important.

Can you tell me what is confusing?

Sorry, if I was being confusing about being confused.

I am glad to hear that the forum stresses that everyone is equal.

Although, could you give me an example about "how" you make everyone feel equal?
Maybe I'm missing something, but I just haven't seen that from the posts I've read.
Bryce

Well, why don't you tell me why you feel like members are not viewed equally. What posts give this feeling?

I know I am not the only HW member who has told an unringed person about how important their job is on the forum. I also know that some of the unringed are not left unringed because they don't deserve a promotion. If we don't need a job filled, we don't promote. See, those who are colored work on HW. It's not just a color and a ring. It's a whole list of job descriptions, how tos, and how not tos.

And it is exhausting, believe me. I think back to the days when I had no responsibilities around here, and believe me, I could read whatever I wanted to (I still try to, but sometimes I must forgo pleasure for work).

So if there is not a need, we shouldn't be promoting.

*Nods* I know what you mean there. I read my editing areas first because, well, they are my editing areas! It's my personal responsibly to keep those parts of the forum typo-free.

A quick suggestion: Should we make threads like this on SF and HF?

Do we not have them on HF and SF?

*Double-checks* No, we don't. Not in the announcements area, anyway, since that's where I was looking. I could take it over there if no one else does.

You don't have the capabilities to alter the poster's name, though, do you?

I'll move it over there; thanks for offering though, Mae! I don't think you can change the username.

Thank you both for being willing.

Thank you for mentioning that, Azlyn, and thank you for handling it, Lady Elanor.

No, I don't, I would probably just do the quote such person thing. But I'm glad it's there now.

Well thank you!