She made this one statement at the end, a statement that shows more courage in her than i do have in myself, which i would make below with some alterations:
"I am not afraid of being hurt. I fear more that pride will harden my heart such that I think I cannot be hurt."
I AM afraid of being hurt. But i pray that the fear of being unable to love will be far greater than the fear of being hurt. Since God is the embodiment of love and is love, then being unable to love is the equivalent of being unable to dwell with Him. THAT, is a thought i cannot take.. it would be a terrible terrible place to be. No more place of comfort, refuge and rest!
It's such a divine mystery that true love given freely and unconditionally, cannot be devoid of the risk of being hurt.
I wonder, if it's not so much that pride has hardened my heart such that i think i cannot be hurt, because i know i can be hurt. But rather, it is the fear of hurt and pain again, that may drive me to behave in prideful ways. But that's not an excuse for prideful ways, for whatever motivation caused it.. or perhaps it is just pride itself. PRIDE, that ugly thing in my soul that rears its head up every so once in awhile! *sigh*
Lord, let your perfect love continue to drive out all fear in me, and in all those that have been hurt. I thank you for all the healing You've already done, continue to make us perfect in your love.
Hurting the ones you love
By animann‘The only people who can hurt you are the people you truly love.
The only people whom you can hurt are the people who really love you.’
That’s what my friend Duanneng commented on Yinwei’s blog. I think she is right on.
If ever you loved deeply, you would also have been hurt deeply. But if you truly loved, such hurt would only till the soil of your heart to make it even more fertile.
And if you have experienced love that is true, you would know that no sin against family or friend is graver than the depth of love’s forgiveness.
It takes time for wounds to heal. But it takes just an instant to decide to forgive. It is a decision that must be renewed again and again as unresolved emotions from the hurt surface from time to time, but with each renewal, forgiveness becomes easier because we learn to let go of our ego and our pride.
None of this comes easily, even to the most loving and forgiving of individuals, for it is not within human capacity to love or forgive unconditionally. But with God’s grace, everything is possible.
*************
I am not afraid of being hurt. I fear more that pride will harden my heart such that I think I cannot be hurt.
Hi dear! Wow so honoured that my post is featured on your blog! ha ha...
ReplyDeleteA little further elaboration about that rather abstract statement I made at the end... I meant "think" in a more subconscious rather than conscious manner. I.e. consciously I know I can always be hurt, but because of pride and unforgiveness, as well as fear and a growing forgetfulness of God's almighty love in my life, I often find myself behaving in a way AS IF I cannot be hurt. By distancing myself from others...
The 'subconscious' way i mean it is similar to the way Henri Nouwen writes about how human beings live as if they are immortal. He says that we consciously know that we will die one day, but we live as if we are immortal and we cling to objects and people as if they were eternal. I found that statement very profound and also very, very true. At least for me!
Thankfully, God is ever giving me reminders of His presence in my life. What you wrote is how I feel too... what I fear most is losing the ability to love, because God IS LOVE. And if we cannot love, we can have no part in Him. Abide in Him we must... and though the road is narrow and winding, God's grace can give us all that we need to learn His lessons on love!
haha... thanks ann for the response! I'm glad we can share our journeys with God together :)
ReplyDelete