Our Entire Human Experience
My clumsy mistakes in life are redeemed by love. Learning to love my entire human experience is helping me develop gratefulness for how intricately I am made. A healthy view of myself is building a self-respect that protects me from the opinions, prejudices, and false notions of how life should look. The indwelling life of Christ is my hope for realizing dignity, hope, and attainable goals for my life. He is the key to focusing on that which is eternal instead of that which is temporal, and for acting in accordance with who I really (already) am.
If I am already where I want to be – raised up and seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 2:6) – then I don’t have to try to get there. This ends the struggle of trying to fix mistakes or the fear of feeling the need to reverse the damages. From God’s vantage point, everything in my life has produced results. It took it all to get me here. Yes, erroneous beliefs form imbalances but even the imbalances have taught me well. I can embrace it as the mentor it has been. Through it I have found my undeniable need for an awareness of His active presence; I have been leveled as I came face to face with my own humanity. Through it I have understood the struggle of others; I have been humbled. It has been my journey toward accepting who I am, who I am not, what I want, and what I don’t want. A cycle of failure led me to greater faith. It led me to a determination to view myself in union with His life, and to an absolute trust in His ability to work all things out for the good…His indwelling presence has always led me to peace.
Fighting addictive behavior (as though it were my enemy) only strengthened addictive behavior. To comprehend this principle frees me to love my enemy as that which has led me to faith. Here’s the paradox: It is the fight that kept me from the truth and it is the fight that led me to the truth. In the end, it is love that won the war. My Lord continues to carve the private spaces within me where He and I can discuss the freedom for which Christ has set me free. In this space I remember all that I know. It is in this secret chamber that I am stilled so that I can know that He is God. It is here that I catch glimpses of new ways of living, moving, and being.
For a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:6-9 (NIV)