So I haven't written in a few days and wanted to but also keep it a little shorter as well (some have called me long winded, not sure why lol!) On a serious note I will tell yall what has been on my mind the last few days, and that is how we are made for relationships. Now when some read "relationships", they go right to thinking about dating or spouse thoughts and of course thats part of it but there is more...way more than that. Meaning that if we take a close look at our lives we see just how many relationships we have, almost everything that goes on envolves some sort of relationship: friendships, co-worker-ships, fellow student-ships, family (including parent-off-spring, siblings, cousins, etc.), heck even the relationship you have with your bank teller or grocery store cashier is something to be thought of in this discussion (I could go on all day about just how many relationships we are in but I think yall are smart enough get my point.)
There is a few that I would like to adresss in detail, and they are: between you and God, you and others, and last but the one that may get lost in the shuffle is the one between you and yourself. These three come out of the "Greatest Commandment" by Jesus, that says this from The Gospel of St. Mark 12:30-31 (emphasis mine), " 'And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'...'You shall love your neighbor as YOURSELF.' " So the first half talks about loving God with all you have, and the second have ties it together two-fold because in loving God you have to love his people a.k.a. "neighbors" also within that you have to love yourself for without which all else will be harder and in some cases will never come about at all. Now I don't mean loving yourself as in your worship yourself or whatever, but loving the real you; the one that looks you back in the mirror in the morning and the one who shows up in the quiet times. To love anything you have to get to know, so that is my goal for myself and you; to grow deeper in each of these three parts and see what comes out of it. Become a person who seeks after these meaningful relationships in life, but always remember that whatever your realtionship with yourself is, it will more than likely be how all other relationships go. I could go deeper with this but wanted to start more of a discussion on this because its more than what I think, its about stirring up the pot together and seeing what we come up with in the end. So whats your thoughts? You can ethier leave a comment or email me at wadepfloyd@gmail.com.
much peace and love of the Lord to you indeed,
WP
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
in response to your quest on learning to love yourself, i was reading "The Gospel Primer" by Milton Vincent and came across the following quote. Much of modern psychology is filled with the philosophy and training of getting people to love themselves, self empowerment, etc. I'm pretty sure that's not what your advocating here but I'm not sure what you mean by loving the "real you" but give this quote read and tell me what you think.
ReplyDeleteBegin Quote -
Liberation from Self-Love
Compared to greater endeavors, self-love is mundane and tiresome. Consequently, the more thoroughly I can be done with such tedium, the freer my soul will be to soar at its God-intended heights.
One of the leading causes of my natural tendency to self-love is fear. I fear that if I do not love myself there would be no one left to love me quite so well as I do. An even more significant cause of self-love is lack of persuasion that there is someone out there who is worthy to be loved more than I. Arrogance lies underneath both these causes: I love myself supremely because I think I can do a better job at it than anyone else. Such arrogance makes me dangerous(2 Tim 3:1-2) yet it is deeply ingrained in my sinful flesh.
Thankfully, the gospel frees me from the shackles of self-love by addressing both these causes. First, the gospel assures me that the love of God is infinitely superior to any love that I could ever give to myself. "Great love has no on than this," says Jesus while speaking of His love. And the deeper I go into the gospel, the more I experience the truth of His claim and thereby know how far His love for me surpasses even my own.(Rom 8:32) His astonishing love for me renders self-absorption moot and frees me up to move on the causes and interests far greater than myself. (2 Cor 5:14,15)
Second, the gospel reveals to me the breathtaking glory and loveliness of God, and in so doing, it lures my heart away from love of self and leaves me enthralled by Him instead. The more i behold God's glory in the gospel, the more lovely He appears to me. And the more lovely He appears, the more self fades into the background like a former love interest who can no longer compete for my affections.
Preaching the gospel to myself every day reminds me of God's astounding love for me and also of His infinite worthiness to be loved by me above all else. These reminders deliver a one-two punch to my innate self-absorption ultimate ion and leave me increasingly absorbed in Christ, and with God's plan te to gather all heavenly and earthly things in Him.
end quote
wow, i get encouraged reading that everytime. i think it ties a lot into your thoughts in your blog post here.