A number of years ago, I felt the Lord making this a lesson for me - that my tendency toward being a “people pleaser” was not healthy and I needed to establish boundaries. I had to learn that just because someone is hurting it does not give them the right to hurt me in return. As a follower of Jesus and a woman, there is this tendency to lay down your rights for another - to think more highly of others than yourself. But there’s a right way of doing so and it involves the practice of humility while at the same time we are to guard our hearts. You see, He has given me a new heart, a heart in which His Spirit dwells. It is very precious and needs to be cherished and protected.
I remember a picture which demonstrates what I’m trying to say. There’s a person, on a hill, reaching down to help someone in a pit. Unless that person who is reaching down is holding onto something (or Someone) the person in the pit will just pull them down with them.
There is this tension that exists and learning how to live in that tension is why I so desperately cling to Jesus. He took on human flesh, became like us. Perfect in His humanity because He never let go of the Father. His will, His purpose was that of the Father’s. He reached out, continues to reach out, but never lets go of His identity with the Father. His heart was always the Father’s heart. And this is my desire - that the Father's heart would continue to dwell in me.
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