He is Jealous for me.
Hello all! Sorry it has been soo long! I know I promised more earlier, and that was my bad. Time got away from me a little bit, as you all know it tends to. I hope you all have been doing abundantly well, and had a great holiday season.
Part 2 of Finding Beauty is still coming. When that will happen I have no idea. But I did promise more writing on love. And here for your viewing pleasure is another segment on love. If I've written any of this before I apologize, but I really think that this needs to be said.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Accepting the Love of God
I know some of you may be thinking that this topic isn't even one that needs to be talked about. I mean it's common sense right? But with the distortion of sin in the world, even the most basic of truths needs to be highlighted from time to time to keep it from being forgotten. And so we go.
Remember when you were a kid and the monsters hid in the dark? All you needed was your mom or dad to scare them away and the monsters went away. As you grew up, the monsters came in the dark less and less. Instead they began to hide in even scarier places: in the bullies, in the things you couldn't control, the stuff of nightmares. But even those could be overcome by standing up to them, or accepting your lack of control. So then the monsters decided to hide in the scariest place of all: you. The monsters crawled into you. Making you believe that you were ugly. Worthless. Terrible. A bad friend, parent, brother, teacher, coworker, etc. Unlovable.
Maybe this hasn't happened to you, and if it hasn't, GOOD. Don't think that it needs to. It means that you have already surpassed this step. If it has, this post is for you. To sum it up in a nutshell I quote Veggietales: "God is bigger than the boogeyman." He is the one who can conquer your inner monsters. And yet as I have said so many times before, it has to be you who allow Him to.
The monsters represent our own fears and insecurities. I fed my own monsters for years. They're very easy to feed. And the more we feed them, the less they look like monsters to us, but as essential parts of who we are - indistinct and irremovable from our core. But the monsters ARE NOT us, and they can easily be defeated.
The more we feed the monsters, they harder they are to defeat. I know this is the case for me. Sometimes I continue to feed them. But God wants sooo much more for us than that. He calls us out, beckoning us to feed our souls with His very Body; His very Blood. And it's toxic to the monsters that claim our souls.
The only catch is that, I'll reiterate, WE HAVE TO ACCEPT IT. Guys I will be first to admit, this is one of the hardest lessons that I have EVER had to learn. And I've taken physics and calculus. See, I get into this rut where I know that God loves me and forgives me for what I've done wrong, but that doesn't matter to me. Because of false humility (just another side of pride), I decided that while God might say I'm good enough, I say I'm not. Of course that isn't true! In fact it's pretty darn proud, putting myself up on a pedestal like that. But what God has been beating into me lately (or at least trying to) is that it's not about deserving. It's about His gift. He didn't have to make us. Did we deserve that? Nope. He wanted to. He didn't have to redeem us. Did we deserve it? Nope. He wanted us to be with Him forever. He didn't have to give us grace in confession. Did we deserve that? Nope. He wanted us to be able to get closer and closer to Him.
You see? True love isn't about what we deserve. It's about what God has given us. Loving Him is accepting His gifts. MUCH easier said than done. Recently at adoration a nun taught me a prayer that can help though. You see, I didn't accept God's love and forgiveness for myself because I didn't want to be insincere, and I never thought I deserved it. So she told me this. Sometimes when we find it hard to do something, we can ask for it "In the name of Jesus." His name holds power, and so if we come to God asking for something in His son's name, He will grant it to us. I wanted to forgive myself, so I asked for the sincerity to do so. Ask God for the sincerity. Ask Him for the desire to let Him love you. That's what He's there for.
It's not what you deserve, nor is it about what you deserve. It's about what you are given. It's about you accepting a gift that your best friend just wants to give you. He's waiting for you. He just wants you to let Him love you. And then when you do, your world will change.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He is jealous for you. Never forget that you have a loving God.
The song for this time is Poison and Wine by The Civil Wars.
I don't love you
I always will
I don't love you but
I always will
I feel like these lyrics fit very well. The first and third lines often times describe us with ourselves, and God steps in with the second and fourth lines. He always will love us, regardless of what we think of ourselves. We need to just let Him. And we need to learn to love ourselves too.
Always remember that.
1 John 4:19.
Until Next Time!
~Wanted~
The more we feed the monsters, they harder they are to defeat. I know this is the case for me. Sometimes I continue to feed them. But God wants sooo much more for us than that. He calls us out, beckoning us to feed our souls with His very Body; His very Blood. And it's toxic to the monsters that claim our souls.
The only catch is that, I'll reiterate, WE HAVE TO ACCEPT IT. Guys I will be first to admit, this is one of the hardest lessons that I have EVER had to learn. And I've taken physics and calculus. See, I get into this rut where I know that God loves me and forgives me for what I've done wrong, but that doesn't matter to me. Because of false humility (just another side of pride), I decided that while God might say I'm good enough, I say I'm not. Of course that isn't true! In fact it's pretty darn proud, putting myself up on a pedestal like that. But what God has been beating into me lately (or at least trying to) is that it's not about deserving. It's about His gift. He didn't have to make us. Did we deserve that? Nope. He wanted to. He didn't have to redeem us. Did we deserve it? Nope. He wanted us to be with Him forever. He didn't have to give us grace in confession. Did we deserve that? Nope. He wanted us to be able to get closer and closer to Him.
You see? True love isn't about what we deserve. It's about what God has given us. Loving Him is accepting His gifts. MUCH easier said than done. Recently at adoration a nun taught me a prayer that can help though. You see, I didn't accept God's love and forgiveness for myself because I didn't want to be insincere, and I never thought I deserved it. So she told me this. Sometimes when we find it hard to do something, we can ask for it "In the name of Jesus." His name holds power, and so if we come to God asking for something in His son's name, He will grant it to us. I wanted to forgive myself, so I asked for the sincerity to do so. Ask God for the sincerity. Ask Him for the desire to let Him love you. That's what He's there for.
It's not what you deserve, nor is it about what you deserve. It's about what you are given. It's about you accepting a gift that your best friend just wants to give you. He's waiting for you. He just wants you to let Him love you. And then when you do, your world will change.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He is jealous for you. Never forget that you have a loving God.
The song for this time is Poison and Wine by The Civil Wars.
I don't love you
I always will
I don't love you but
I always will
I feel like these lyrics fit very well. The first and third lines often times describe us with ourselves, and God steps in with the second and fourth lines. He always will love us, regardless of what we think of ourselves. We need to just let Him. And we need to learn to love ourselves too.
Always remember that.
1 John 4:19.
Until Next Time!
~Wanted~
I just wanted to tell you that I truly needed to hear this tonight. You are a blessing to this world and I hope you continue to write because this has truly helped me tonight! So thank you!!! <3
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Personally, that song by the Civil Wars has always been associated with a sad memory. Now, it has been overwritten with a meaning of true love. Thank you for sharing that perspective!
ReplyDeleteLent is a perfect time to remember our need for God's grace and love. Let us become humble and fall into His loving arms. Humans, being weak and stubborn, need God's unconditional love. I pray for commitment and fidelity in our relationship with Him.