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You can’t give to others something that you don’t first possess yourself.
“ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matthew 22:37-39
This is a truth that I believe deeply in. A little over three years ago I began a journey into my own heart and pursuing the heart of God. Through divine connections with people who know the Father’s heart, God invited me into a season to step away from much of what was normal life for me in order to “reset”, connect more deeply with Him, and experience deep heart-healing for the first time.
The truth is, we have all endured pain, disappointment, and loss. We all carry wounds in our hearts that affect our relationships and, ultimately, how far we can step into our God-given purpose in life. God desires more for us in this life. Yes, He promises complete healing in eternity, and some things won’t be fully healed until heaven, but He also desires to heal us now. He’s a good Father who loves His children! He doesn’t desire for us to live our lives disconnected from Him believing that whatever evil we have suffered was willed by Him so we will have to carry it for the rest of our lives. No, friend. God did not cause that harm to come to you. But He is working what the enemy intended for evil for your good, if you love Him. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 He invites you and I to open our hearts up to Him and allow Him to guide us through a healing process.
If we shut our hearts down, refusing to touch those places that we keep locked away from ourselves and the rest of the world, we end up creating heavily armored walls. Not only are we saying, “Nope, God, you can’t have this part of me.” (“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Matthew 22:37) We are also carrying the baggage with us that God never intended for us to carry alone. It weighs us down and prevents us from thriving in every area of life. Whatever the wound is that we are carrying it will affect our relationships, our businesses, and our callings.
Looking back, four years ago I can see that I didn’t love myself. It’s no wonder why I couldn’t love others the way that I deeply desired to. I hadn’t ever experienced God’s love for me in a personal way in my life until then. What I found over the past three to four years is that as I’ve allowed God to heal areas of my heart, He’s redeeming my story. As I’m able to let go of old ways of thinking that aren’t in alignment with His character, I’m being set free from brokenness to pursue my dreams, work, and relationships with God. As I take the time to pursue deeper healing and depths of God’s love, I’m able to offer it to others. You can’t give to others something that you don’t first posses yourself. “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you don’t love yourself you CANNOT love others. It’s simply not possible. It is not a selfish thing to love yourself, Jesus commanded that we do so. This means taking the time and space to care for your heart. “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Proverbs 4:23
I know deep in my heart that God didn’t do this in my life just for me. He carried me through that process to claim my freedom that Jesus purchased for me so that I can lead others into their freedom. My story isn’t about me, it’s about The Father’s heart and His pursuit of you. Our Father desires to heal your heart to set you free to pursue your destiny!
We each posses an anointing, a call on our life from God to use the passions, gifts, talents, and resources to build His Kingdom. But wounds from our past and present, faulty beliefs about God and ourselves can be huge road blocks or even unbridgeable gaps to fulfilling our destiny. My heart for you, dear friend, is that you would be brave enough to welcome God into the areas of your heart, mind, and life that have been damaged and the places where you’ve built up walls so that you’ll never experience that pain again. I know that you desire to step into the calling that God has placed on your life. Just remember, you can’t give to others something that you don’t first possess yourself.
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