Jesus is Asking: Will You Let Me In?
Just like we talked about last month in our discussion about community, many wounds affects our self-worth. These wounds come about when our mind is shaped by our own perceptions of ourselves in comparison to the rest of the world or as a result of the way that we are treated by others who do not view us in alignment with the truth.
And these are the places that the Lord is gently asking: will you let me in?
If you were bullied, if you were belittled, if you were called names, if you were made to feel less than the people around you, that was not just.
That was not necessarily put on you to teach you humility, it was a wound that hurt the heart of Jesus just as it hurt you. And Jesus would love nothing more in the whole world than for you to surrender that place to him, invite him in, and let him heal.
I think that’s what we get wrong as Christians sometimes. We know we are called to carry our crosses like Christ, but then we categorize things that Jesus wants to heal as our personal crosses, and so we never actually offer them for healing. We look at them as a part of what we're supposed to be struggling through, which God lets us do, but He would much rather invite us into His freedom if we let Him.
Now please don't misunderstand me - there are absolutely crosses in life and we are absolutely called to carry them - being a victim of a crime, the abuse of people who hate the Gospel, caring for loved ones with extensive needs, having an illness, living in poverty outside our control - the list goes on and on and on. We have to live through these things and we are invited to unite those sufferings to Jesus' on the cross.
However I don't believe it's ever your cross to hate yourself.
I don't believe it's your cross to feel constantly less than.
But it very well might be your cross to be in a situation where people do hate you or do make you feel less than, but that is a space God wants to speak life into - perhaps not by changing your circumstances, but by renewing your heart so that God's voice is the one that permeates, and the others fall away. The cross of their disapproval may remain, but peace and joy can still truly come in.
See the difference?
This turmoil and chaos within ourselves is not what God wants to give us.
And I think that's the main thing I want to say today that I wish someone had sat me down and told me 15 years ago: Defining yourself by your sin, hating who you are, feeling like there's nothing of value in you... that's not from God. God doesn't want that for you. Like a good parent God is dying to be let in, dying to help, dying for the opportunity to speak life into these wounded places so that we can see ourselves the way He sees us. (If you have kids I know you understand - seeing God as true Father has totally changed the way I interact with these topics.)
So if any of those thoughts resonate with you, if any of those things are things you've thought about yourself - cry out to God from that place. He would love to come and heal.
Struggling to connect with God so He can heal? Take our Hearing God's Voice Workshop.
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