Living Life Lessons – Page 5 – REACHING HURTING WOMEN MINISTRIES

Some people think it’s wrong to love yourself. Aren’t we supposed to put others first? Are we being selfish when we love ourselves? Let’s talk about true love.

In the Living Life Lessons column, I’m sharing various lessons God has taught me.

A couple of years ago I was introduced to a little book that has changed my life and continues to change the lives of those in my circle of influence.

This wonderfully powerful book is Loving Yourself for God’s Sake by Adolfo Quezada.

Don’t let its size (only 83 pages) or its simple message fool you; it is chocked full of nugget after nugget of wisdom. Reading it now for the third time, I can barely get through a paragraph before I must stop and meditate on another healing truth.

When under the influence of my addiction, I spent many years hurting myself and others around me, especially those I was supposed to love the most! I’m ashamed to think about the horrible things I did to my family and friends. But does that mean I didn’t really love them?

Do not owe anyone anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments: Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not covet; and whatever other commandment—all are summed up by this: Love your neighbor as yourself. ~ Romans 13:8-10

When we look at the scripture above, we often focus on the commandments or the laws of God, seeing them as hard and fast rules that mustn’t be broken, possibly difficult habits to break.

Perhaps if we will change our perspective and put our focus on the results rather than the rules it will be easier to swallow.

The summary statement at the end: Love your neighbor as yourself sounds like it’s just telling us only to love someone else. We are supposed to love our neighbor but that’s only one part. The critical, and often overlooked piece, is the very end: …as yourself.

God knows that we will love others AS we love ourselves–whether we do it right or wrong-that’s how love works. But before we can love ourselves, we must first love God.

HOW we love God = How we love ourselves = HOW we love others!

Does your life reflect your love of God or the lack thereof?

How are your treating yourself? What about those you love?

“Pray that God will fire your soul with a love so real and encompassing that your life becomes a bright and steady reflection of God’s unconditional love for you.” ~ Adolfo Quezada

Click here for an awesome song by Israel Houghton. Turn up your speakers!!

RESOURCES:

Loving Yourself for God’s Sake by Adolfo Quezada
Life Recovery Devotional

Photo Courtesy 123rf.com

Where do you run when trouble comes?

Food? Alcohol? Drugs? Shopping?

These all have been my trouble escapes in the past. Let’s look for a better way to press through our troubled times.

In the Living Life Lessons column each month I am highlighting specific lessons God has taught me since I turned my life back over to Him in 2004. Over the last eight years I’ve watched, read and listened to countless messages by Joyce Meyer. Without a doubt her ministry has been one of the most important influences on my life and has shaped who I am today.

One of the best lessons I learned was from Joyce’s sermon titled “Double for Your Trouble.” When I watched this video the first time in 2006 our life was in turmoil. I was in the early stages of addiction recovery, my husband and I were trying to repair our marriage, two of our three grown children were estranged from us, and my husband was between jobs. We were having trouble most every day.

Here are the 5 steps I’ve learned to apply when trouble comes:

1. Stay Emotionally Stable ~ Our first reaction when trouble comes is usually an emotional one. If you’re like me screaming and crying were at the top of the list. On top of that after all the screaming and crying was over I’d have a neck-ache, a backache, a headache and worst of all nothing had changed! Getting emotional in times of trouble only makes things worse. The best thing we can do, for ourselves and those around us, is to remain calm.
2. Trust God ~ One of the reasons we freak out when trouble comes is we’ve lost our sense of control. This sense of control is just an illusion because there is little in life that we really can control. It’s amazing how much better life is when we let go of that obsession and give all the control to God.
3. Pray Immediately to Avoid Fear ~ Closely linked to our lack of control is fear. We must remember that fear activates the enemy’s power. So it’s critical that we pray right away for God to give us the faith we need to walk through the trouble we face.
4. Keep Doing Good ~ When times get rough it’s easy to bail out of everything and just hibernate in our pity party. Whatever we were doing before the trouble began, we must keep doing it. We need to stay on a schedule and faithful to our commitments if possible.
5. Expect a Reward ~ God often allows trouble in our lives to stretch and grow our faith. But in the midst of the trials we must be on the look out for His goodness. It’s all around us but we will miss it if we stay consumed with emotionally driven fear and worry.

My husband and I have lived according to these principles for the last eight years. We’ve been through several job changes with moves back and forth across America and worked through family fallout and the consequences of my addictions. Life hasn’t always been easy, but by staying faithful to the steps above God has blessed us with many good things!

Every good thing comes from the Father who created all the lights in the heavens. ~James 1:17