Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
- 1 Corinthians 13:12
We are known (and loved) completely, and unto completeness! With Christ dwelling in us we "have something deeper. Something whole. Something so infinitely healthy that, if it would but invade the rest of us, we would be healed." What an encouragement! We don't get the whole picture at the moment, and what we do see is puzzling, often disappointing to our eyes, but a time will come when we will get it. Get how much we are loved and valued. Get Who it is that loves and knows us so amazingly. Trusting God to invade every part of us with His presence in this in-between time of not quite getting it is the challenge.
Lovelies, this certainly isn't a pity party. We confess our struggle with insecurity to one another with the sole purpose that we may be healed (James 5:16).As Jessika declared in last week's session, we don't share 'with feelings of despair or pessimism, but rather the opposite. [We're] excited and optimistic for change, because [we] know that my God is strong... His strength is made perfect in our weaknesses.
Back to work. Beth asks...
Week 3 (Chapters 5-6)
1. After reading these two chapters, what do you believe to be the TWO primary roots of your struggle with insecurity? Keep in mind that more may apply but try to lock in on two that you believe to be most impactful.
2. What, if any, insight did you gain about the roots of insecurity and did you sense that God was trying to speak to you in any specific way through it? (This answer does not need to be limited to the two roots you identified in the previous response.)
2 comments:
Well, I've been dithering about, but I think I need to just get on with responding...
1) Seriously?! Just two? OK then. Dramatic (and frequent!) Change and Personal Disposition... and Pride is wrapped up in there too.
2) Insights? I think in reaction to the constant change of the last 20+ years, I've gotten stuck, so it was helpful to be reminded that God uses change to change us. He doesn't use it to destroy or to distract us but to coax us to the next level of character, experience, compassion and destiny.
Other points that really struck: He knows it's scary to be us
and
Pride lives on the defensive against anyone and anything that tries to subtract from its self-sustained worth. Confidence, on the other hand, is driven by the certainty of God-given identitiy and the conviction that nothing can take that identity away.
1. Home and personal disposition.
2. Recognition is the first step and yeah, that "God uses change to change us... to coax us to the next level of character, experience, compassion, and destiny". It is good to know that "we are not just flailing aimlessly in a universal black hole. There is a purpose. There is order- because there is God."
"We no longer need pride to drive us, because we've found something infinitely more fulfilling: purpose."
Purpose. The fulfillment of God's purpose in our life surpasses any other possible achievements that bring about a sense of (temporary/ illusory) security. Pride, in that context, then is not the driving force but the result and we can boast- in His name.
Lastly, even though one may not know what love is, they would certainly know what it is not.
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