In the book, Abba’s Child,
Brennan Manning says, “ God loves us as we are, not as we should be.”
Don’t we all long to be loved just as we are?
We all long for intimacy. I think we all want to “know and be known” so to speak.
The only true love is loving someone the way they are right now and when it comes right down to it, God is the only one who can truly do this.
The rest of us are flawed, but we can all probably do a better job as we mature in Christ.
Counselor, Les Parrot says, “If you try to build intimacy with another person before you have done the hard work of getting whole on your own, all of your relationships become an attempt to complete yourself and they will fall disappointingly flat.”
So, let’s chose to work on ourselves, and become as whole of a person as we can, so we can love others the way they should be loved.
In the process of learning to love and be loved,
Thora
This post truly strikes a chord in my heart and mind. We recently moved to the Phoenix area and to know and be known has become very important in a place where we have no friends and family. We hoped to make connections at VCNP, but as a family of introverts, we easily fell in to our quiet in and out of church Sunday routine. I definitely need to learn how to better love and allow others to love me, and, as you and Brian shared a couple weeks ago, make my church experience less about myself.
Thank you for sharing this.
Les parrots quote is awesome. But because becoming whole is a life long process- the only thing we are left to do is try asbest we can and have mercy on each other as we fail.
Good thoughts.