Can't Help Falling In Love...

The world loves to make us think that love is beyond control. The world tells us that we can't help who we fall in love with, just like in the song, "Can't Help Falling In Love".  But maybe we just like thinking that it is out of our control because then we don't have to take responsibility for our behavior, words and actions. Plus, if love is outside of our control then we have an excuse for when we "fall out of love" and abandon it all.

Maybe we like thinking of love as some magical gift from the Universe, God or the Fates that must be pursued. And in a way, I think this is true but only when referring to the Divine's version of love and not the world's.   

God is love and we are made in His image. We are called to do what He does and that is love without holding back, love when it isn't necessary, love when it isn't deserved. Just Love. So in a way, I don't think we have control over that but I do think Satan has twisted this natural thing created by God. He has skewed the definition by injecting it with lust, impatience, loneliness, selfishness and insecurity. He has put our natural instinct to love on steroids and instructed us on ways to show this love and he has lied to us.

But really... Love is sacrifice. Look at Christ, how he lived and how he died (all by choice). Really what we do with love is a choice. Loving should not be considered under our control. Love really is not a choice when you recognize who's image you bear. We were made to love but what we choose to do with love is a choice. How we choose to respond to love is a choice. We are responsible for our choices, actions and words. Maybe we can't help who we love but we can take responsibility for how we love and who's model we will follow; God's or the world's.

The Voices In Your Head

What do you tell yourself when you are lying in bed alone? Being left alone too long with your own thinking can be dangerous. If someone else walked up and said these things, how would you react? Would you be offended, get angry, just accept them or agree?  I tend to think we would get angry and offended so why do we allow ourselves to hurl these insults?

In The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe Edmund is put under a spell by The White Witch when he eats the Turkish Delight she gave him.  From that very moment, thoughts that are not his own begin to take root in his mind.  The thoughts are so deceptive and the roots so deep that Edmund is not even able to realize they are not his own.

Be sure you are guarding your heart, your mind and your thoughts. Meditate on the truth so that you will be able to recognize anything that is not. Don't allow your thoughts to become aligned with the enemy. Don't take even one bite of the Turkish Delight (actually don't even step foot in the sleigh). Start speaking truth and stating things that align with you REALLY are!

Challenge: Pick ten things that are great about you and start speaking them over your life daily.  If you are having trouble coming up with ideas, ask a friend or ask me! I think you are great!

Once Upon A Time...

The world keeps trying to sell me fairy tales. It used to just be the idea of a fairy tale but every now and then it actually tries to hand me one of my own. I'm not sure how I feel about that....

You see, the problem with fairy tales is that the only thing they are actually good for is telling really great stories. They aren't real and they always end way too soon. They don't give you the whole story or the whole picture. Fairy tales don't tell you about the "ever after". And what if the "ever after" doesn't look at all like you imagined?

What if "ever after" is actually late nights arguing about all the time your husband spends at work and not with you and your children? What if "ever after" is accompanied by a husband that falls into alcohol or drug addictions? What if "ever after" is an occasional night with your kids at the local Holiday Inn because you don't want to be around "Prince Charming" and his verbal abuse? What if "ever after" is boredom accompanied by a desire to gain affections from strangers and comfort from pornography?

They say love is blind but I just think it's selective. All the warning signs are usually there but we choose not to heed their warnings because we would rather enjoy the fairy tale. It isn't that we didn't see them. It's that we chose to sweep them under the carpet. We like to think things will change. We like to think we can fix things. We like to see the good in people and imagine the best. We like to pretend we can't see the truth. We like pretending we are blind because then we don't have to take responsibility.

But five, ten, thirty years from now when we are no longer in the "once upon a time" stage and instead in the midst of "ever after" will we wish we had taken some time to consider what our "ever after" would look like?