Mastering YOU Monday...who's lovin' you?

In our quest to mastering ourselves and mastering life, we must learn to master our relationships with others!  

I have come to the conclusion that issues women have with other women and people in general for that matter, can be solved immediately.  How you ask? By following these two commandments…first: love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul, second: love your neighbors as yourself. Easy peasy right…hah, if only it could be!  We sometimes trip over that last one. Why? Because many of us do just that…we love our neighbors just as we love ourselves…we DON’T!  We treat others just like we treat ourselves…we beat each other up with our mouths(like we do ourselves),
we’re cynical towards one another(like we do ourselves), we put each other down(just like we do ourselves). Why can't we ever seem to consistently love ourselves, just as He made us and just as He sees us…in our finished state?! I guess it'll be one of those conundrums that will last til the end of time....

So I ask the question...who are we to not love ourselves unconditionally…He does! As a matter of fact we were worth dying for! There may be some things He doesn’t like about us (like our attitudes, the way we treat others, etc., etc.)  but don’t get it twisted…He loves us with an everlasting love! I mean I'm sure He would like to get a return on His investment, don't cha think?

It’s not a hard math equation. LOVE begets LOVE! You’re not ever going to get me to believe that a woman who really, truly loves herself, has a problem loving others.

There are many factors that go into us not loving ourselves. One that stands out most to me is the fact that we don’t think we’re worthy of His love because we've fallen short(as if God doesn't already know). Even after we've asked forgiveness, the enemy will come in and tell us that it's not enough. LIES he tells!! We must realize once and for all that when we've been engrafted into His Kingdom...the enemy IS A NON-FACTOR IN OUR LIVES! When we begin to operate in Godly wisdom, we'll begin to see the enemy for who he really is. We give him way too much credit....quite frankly, for absolutely nothing. All of this causes condemnation and when condemnation sets in, we're not able to receive, because we're incapable of believing. When we're incapable of believing, our faith is weak and when our faith is weak, we doubt God. That's when we start thinking we're unworthy! Do you see how devious his(the enemy's) plan is? Now do you see just how awful listening to him is ladies?! My husband said something in a message one Sunday that really caught my attention. It’s that when I doubt, I’m telling God He’s incapable...not so much that He won’t DO IT, but that I don’t think He’ll actually DO IT FOR ME...WOW, revelatory right! That's why I love that man so, lol! Okay, back to my point. All of us think that way at some time or another, which by the way…doesn’t make it right! We’ll say things like, “He’ll bless her” or “He’ll give them peace, joy or whatever…but not me”. His peace, joy, favor, love or whatever we need…is available to each and every one of us! Why...because.He.already.paid.the.price.for.it! The difference between you and the next person, is the fact they BELIEVE He DID all those things for them and they walk in it! 

All these things prevent us from receiving His love, when we can't receive His love, we can't love ourselves. I'm not talking about that fake, warped self-centered love we sometimes have for ourselves, BUT that GOOD LOVE that ONLY He gives!! 

Always remember this…whatever God is offering us must be given permission by us, to enter our hearts(this includes love ladies)! Remember, He’s a perfect gentleman…so it won’t be forced on us, we must allow it in! Listen y’all, we sometimes make things harder than they actually are. The work has already been done! Jesus took care of IT ALL at the cross…we just have a hard time accepting that it’s just that easy. Let me put it this way...how many of us would accept beautiful expensive diamond jewelry as a gift from our husbands/boyfriends? We would ooh and aah, thank him, be grateful and heck, some of us may flip and do a cartwheel. Our God has given us something MORE valuable than that...His everlasting LOVE! All I'm saying is just give Him the same respect and honor by fully receiving it.....

So, let's do ourselves a BIG favor and embrace the love Jesus so freely gave us! Our encouragement comes when we embrace this fact. It's an empowering thing to know that God knows every single sin we've committed and every dark area of our lives, nevertheless, He STILL OPENLY DECLARES His love for us! In return, all He asks is that we pass it forward! His love is too good and too big to keep it to ourselves! But, we can't ever pass it on ladies, until we fully receive it first!  
Romans 8:1, Jeremiah 31:3, 1 John 4:9-11, Romans 5:8, Ephesians 2:4-5

All Rights Reserved copyright© 2012-2013 Michell Pulliam “Prowess and Pearls” by Michell Pulliam

 

*Enter your email below to receive notifications of new post*
Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner