self
Accepted
I believe 2020 has the potential to be the year you’ll internally hear and believe that you’re ACCEPTED instead of rejected! 🙋🏼♀️
“Accepted” will be the soundtrack you walk to. Roots of rejection will be uprooted as you, by faith, receive the grace to walk free from people bondage and past wounds and into your identity in Jesus of being fully accepted - enfolded into the family of God:
“And you did not receive the “spirit of religious duty,” leading you back into the fear of never being good enough. But you have received the “Spirit of full acceptance,” enfolding you into the family of God” Romans 8:14-15 TPT.
To accept means to give consent, say yes to, approve of and to welcome.
How powerful to accept (give consent to, say yes to, approve of and welcome) the Holy Spirit’s stamp on you, His life in you, His breath in you. ✨
When you know you’re accepted, you can give consent to make God stretch you beyond what you’ve currently seen without looking to the left or right for approval of your every move. When you know you’re accepted, you can say yes to who you’ve been created to be.
When you know you’re accepted, you can approve of the gifts you’ve been given and not reject or neglect using them anymore.
When you know you’re accepted, you can welcome rather than abandon yourself - that is the redeemed, renewed self. The self which Christ shines through.
Christ in you is the hope of glory. We share in Jesus’ glory. What a grace and what a mystery. What an ACCEPTANCE.
So - welcome how Christ in you is expressed... Your personality, your gifts, your abilities, your quirks.
Challenge accepted? (no pun intended)
I know I want to receive this by faith and apply and align myself accordingly 🤗
Whether you’re carrying perceived rejection, internal self-rejection with a harsh inner critic or experienced an actual rejection in a relationship, from a job, a certain group etc., know that you can apply the Word of God to your mind. 📖
With the mind of Christ, you’ll believe you’re accepted even while being rejected on the outside.
As you accept the gift of you, you can give of yourself to others rather than neglect, abuse, despise and discard what you have to offer. ❤️
We’re accepted - in Jesus’ name. ✨
Picture by Sophie Vestergård (Instagram-handle: @sophvest)
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Dip your toe in the water
Me. Myself. I. Words that normally would equal selfish to me! But I think there is actually more than one side to these words! They might have gotten too bad of a rap.
This post is some thoughts on how it can be easy to neglect ourselves in the name of selflessness! Thus avoid all that has to do with self so we can be selfless people, living for others. I know at least this lie has lived inside of me!
But I want to learn from Jesus who is the perfect example of being truly connected to His true identity as the Son of God. In order for me to walk in His footsteps and look like Him more and more, I realise how okay it is to know myself - strengths and weaknesses - so that I can be loved and embraced, with flaws and all.
It is also great to be self-aware (without being consumed by self-consciousness) so I can see parts of me I have orphaned, parts that still need the healing touch of Christ, and also to the rejoice over the parts of my self that Jesus' love has transformed.
Me, myself and I are therefore not to be shameful words which need to be avoided in the pursuit of being selfless! I think Augustine had a good point when he wrote in Confessions:
“How can you draw close to God when you are far from your own self?”
My own self is what needs to be honestly engaged in my relationship with God and others. Otherwise the relationship is just hypocrisy. Without engaging my own - at times - selfish, fleshly self, I live without wholeheartedness, not fully alive and just numb. A way I have lived but refuse to live anymore.
Instead I am waking up and rising up to the challenge of becoming aware of where numbness creeps into my life.
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'Cause to live from the inside out, wholeheartedly, I need to be curious about the movements of my heart. My heart from where life flows. It is all about emotionally healthy spirituality. It's about truth and understanding. Of myself and others.
As I have begun dipping my toe in the water - into the depths of my own soul - I have found help in different tools.
First of all, community with fellow believers and seeing myself reflected in the pages of the bible, that's a no-brainer!
But tools like the Enneagram and Meyers Briggs (Use whatever tool you trust and unlock something in your heart) have also had impact on my ability to get aware of my own blind spots.
Used wisely, tools like these are not to put myself in a box but rather to help me break out of them. They can truly help turn blind spots into sweet spots. In cooperation with the Holy Spirit, they can serve as ways to get curious...
They can reveal how I go about a problem and why I go about a problem like I do.
What's my go-to defense mechanism?
What makes me tick?
What am I hiding behind?
We need to be willing to observe our resistance to reality and our attachment to our old self. It is all about taking off the old to lay hold of the new life Jesus has for us.
"We have to be whole to be wholehearted, and reclaim and reconnect with the parts of ourselves we have orphaned." (Brene Brown)
It is so sad to think about how we orphan parts of ourselves!
I have orphaned myself at times because I have been terrified of being a separate self, an individual who must assert myself against others. I would often rather melt and merge into someone else or quietly follow my idyllic daydreams. This default to hide is not awesome. Also, I can easily feel over responsible for others and under responsible for myself.
Therefore I have to be aware of this pattern that when orphaned turn into numbing out and people pleasing where I unconsciously communicate, "Sorry for taking up space! Sorry for breathing!"
Thankfully, I do not have to stay this way!
When I begin to have a grace culture for my own heart, everything has permission to rise to the surface! Also all the nasty stuff! When light invades in to the dark corners of my soul, I can then - and first then - fruitfully light up the darkness around me. Therefore we should not fear digging deep!
We do not look inside to be introspective or to overanalyse ourselves to pieces. That will just turn out to be super overwhelming! We cannot fix or heal ourselves. Instead, we engage the Spirit to do His work in us.
Step by step, little by little, I trust our love will overflow more and more, and that we will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. (Phil 1,9 NLT)
Getting to know ourselves that we might know God is the discipleship work of a lifetime!
So - dive in.
Explore.
Go ahead and dip a toe in the water! YOU are important.
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