We, the Prodigal Children

"If we feel hateful towards ourselves, we assume God feels hateful towards us. But we cannot assume that He feels about us the way we feel about ourselves—unless we love ourselves compassionately, intensely, and freely. It takes a profound conversion to accept that God is relentlessly tender and compassionate toward us just as we are—not in spite of our sins and faults, but with them. Though God does not condone or sanction evil, He does not withhold his love because there is evil in us." Brennan Manning ~ Abba's Child

And it really does seem that love ties everything together and that it is all interconnected: love, forgiveness, His heart, grace, mercy... everything

And in this, motive. The motivation to not sin is not to stay in good graces, it is not to avoid punishment or being cast aside or to earn something for noting worth having can be earned, only given and received. The motivation is with regards to self. For if we do that which we know we ought not to, is it not our view of self which changes? Does not our own heart feel heavy, does not guilt weigh us down or thoughts of "what if" plague our minds - shifting our view of ourselves to something very far removed from what God sees us as. Our motivation to not do wrong is with regards to our view of ourselves seen thru the lens of our own sin.

We must learn to truly forgive ourselves - not ignore things done or undone, nor justify them, but acknowledge those things, own them and actually truly forgive ourselves. Then we can actually accept how God sees us, receive the overwhelming love He has for us - for we shall have seen the depths of His grace first hand - and then share that love with the world around us. Not because we are told to do so, not because we must "or else", but because we ache to do so.

And it's Monday again

Not quite worthless...

https://youtu.be/cyb8OiuwjXM

Divine Hitman

Love Live Forgive

Having a day?

On a Personal Note

"My beautiful child, do you not realize you are the apple of my eye? Do you not realize that I do not think of you as a mere servant or employee, but as my precious, incredible child? You do not have to earn my love nor prove you are worthy of it - I love you because you are you and nothing can change that. I do not desire some arms' reach, formal relationship with you, I yearn to have you crawl up on my lap and just chat or vent or share whatever is on your heart - I already know what is there so do not think you are going to shock me. Come, my child, come hang out with Dad and let Me love you."

~ God

Just Don't...

A note with regards to judging others: Don't.



The fact that you are saved - not by anything you did but by grace, at that - does not give you the right to judge another person. "But we will judge angels", you say. Taking 1 Cor 6:3 out of context (the verse is about resolving arguments between believers) does not give you the right to do so either. There is only One Judge (James 4:12) and only He can judge the hearts and motives behind the actions (1 Cor 4:5), the best you can do is compare another against yourself with an uneven scale which ignores your own faults and failings. So, choose to love instead of judge for there is fear and punishment in judgment but there is no fear in love (1 John 4:18).