God Loves Me

I am reading a Brennan Manning book right now and really enjoying it.  It is a daily devotional called "The Rabbi's Heartbeat".  One of the first lessons is on our shame and God's love.  It really spoke to me.  Here is just one line from the book.
    "God loves who we really are - whether we like it or not, and calls us to come out of hiding into a safe place."

Last week I posted something on Facebook that shocked people.  I just wrote about poop.  To me it is no big deal and even funny.  I mean, we all poop.  But someone thought it was inappropriate and asked me to remove it.  I was a bit surprised at this and thought maybe she was joking in asking me to remove it.  But she was serious.  I didn't mind removing it because I don't want to offend people and it is really no big deal.  But I am surprised how it made me feel.  I felt shame.  Like I did something wrong.

Shame is a familiar feeling that raises it's head in my life over and over again.  I have gone to lots of counseling and have never figured out where it comes from and why it is there.  So instead of trying to figure out why I have shame I am trying to learn to not let it come out anymore.  Brennan Manning speaks a lot about this.

It is easy for me to try to be that perfect woman who does all the right things and says all the right things.  But that isn't the real me.  I am not perfect.  And I don't have to be perfect for God to accept me.  So if I am living my life for the purpose of pleasing others, I will fail.  But if I live my life to be accepted by God, I win.  And it is much easier.  I have already won.

Comments

Liz said…
I think this lady's thoughts on shame are quite interesting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psN1DORYYV0
January 25, 2014 at 11:06 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hot town!

Of course you have heard me complain about the heat lately. This will be a regular thing for the next couple of months. I looked on CNN weather page to see just how hot it was and it said at midnight that it was "99 and dreary". So true. We are thankful for electricity and air conditioners. When I do aerobics I turn the a/c on and it makes it bearable. You would think that the fat would just melt off. The problem is that ice cream is so cold and refreshing. Then there are mango shakes. yum.
Read more

Redeemed

Psalm 49:7-8 “No man can by any means redeem his brother.  Or give to God a ransom for him.  For the redemption of his soul is costly.” It is an amazing thing when someone comes to faith in God.  Last night I got to witness my brother in-law give his life to Jesus.  His life was redeemed.  The ransom for his soul was paid by Jesus long ago, but yesterday he was set free. My brother in-law was in darkness.  He knows his life was full of darkness and demonic presence.  He has been hearing about Jesus for years and knew that if he ever decided to become a follower that he would do it completely, not half heartedly.  He finally saw that he needed Jesus.  So yesterday he prayed a beautiful prayer acknowledging his need to get rid of the darkness in his life and knowing he can’t do it on his own.  Jesus filled his life.  My brother in-law said he felt something leave.  It was the darkness.  Jesus has filled his life...
Read more

The Party

Last night I went to Allison's (sis in-law) batchlorette party. It was at a mexican restaurant/bar. It was a very crowded place so we weren't able to get a big table all together. Allison and her girl friends were at one table and the old folks (me and others) were at our own table (feeling awkward). Allison showed up at the place drunk already, from a bit too many drinks in the limo. I thought it would be embarrassing to be around your mother in-law to-be and your grandmother in-law to-be, but she didn't seem too worried about it. Allison wasn't a bad drunk really. She was a little loud, but not obnoxious. I felt old. I had a new dress on, but I ended up looking like an old lady instead of a young thing. I had some nice shoes on too. But my purse, which looked fine at home, turned into an old lady purse. It was also cold out, so I had a shawl. I'm glad I had it but it just added to the old lady look. I don't drink for two reasons. First, I am che...
Read more