Sunday, December 4, 2016

the love series: loving ourselves

You'll Be Amazed at These Reflection Photography Ideas ...:
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˙ʎןɹɐǝןɔ sǝʌןǝsɹno ǝǝs ʇ,uop ǝʍ

I see it all the time: I see it in the beautiful girl who throws herself at men because she's secretly hurting. I see it in the insecure boy who lashes out at others so they won't see his pain. I see it in Instagram smiles and my own destructive thought patterns. I see it in the girl who feels like no one notices her and the teen whose parents aren't around.

I'm convinced that we don't know our worth.


If we did, perhaps we could see beyond bodies and beauty and boys and all the things that seemingly divide us, and just laugh together.

We are human, are we not? We are flesh and blood and soul and spine.
And not a one of us has it all together. We've all cursed and glared and hated in our hearts, even as we slide into our pews on Sunday morning. 


"Only the dead don't bleed when they're cut."
~ Beth Moore

I know this. Yet how often do I find myself wishing that I was different, that I was "perfect" like her, or at least more sociable? How often do I throw my energies into desiring to be something other than what I already am - wishing desperately that I was fitter, or a better guitar player, or that I actually pushed myself to write some of my novel once in a while?

Close your eyes, then you will find the way. ~ from a Puyallup Indian myth(  never go here ):
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Don't get me wrong, these are all wonderful goals. But when I try to find my identity or worth or security or value in something external, something shifting, something so very temporary...I lose myself. 

I lose the beauty of loving the girl that occupies this body I call home.
I lose the gratitude that should brim forth from my lips in praise to my God.
I lose the joy of being a one-of-a-kind masterpiece. 

Do you love yourself?


We are all selfish and fixate on ourselves more than we should, so loving yourself may sound counterproductive. I find myself thinking:

Love myself? Wouldn't that just mean I fixate even more and more on me? HOW BIG DO YOU WANT MY HEAD TO BE?

I'm not sure if I'm depressed. I mean, I'm not sad, but I'm not exactly happy either. I can laugh and joke and smile during the day, but sometimes when I'm alone at night I forget how to feel.:
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But I'm starting to think that the beauty of loving yourself has more to do with a proper view of God than anything else. Loving yourself isn't a selfish act. It's not a prideful, "Oh, look how great I am" mentality. 


Instead, it's waking up every morning and realizing that, just like the mountains and the moon and your mother, you are a beautiful creation of Christ. A fearful thing to behold. One of a kind. Art. You have infinite worth because you are a child of His


Think about this: A lot of us here in the blogging community are writers. We write like our lives depend on it. It consumes us. We love it! And we get a tremendous amount of joy from that act of creating, of making art.

But now imagine that one of the characters you hand-designed, that you dreampt up in your heart, that you poured love and forethought and intelligent design into, hated the way they were made.

Katia Chausheva:
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Imagine if your character hated those blue eyes you gave them, the ones that remind you so much of that boy you like. What if they hated their laugh that is always just a little too loud, even though it's endearing to you and it makes your heart happy? What if they started to wish they were another character?


It seems to me that so much of what we do stems from how we think, or who we think we are. 


I was thinking the other day about my kids. No, I don't have kids yet, but one day I hope to, and I was thinking about what I want to tell them. How I want them to see themselves. What kind of example would I be setting for my kids if I had them right now? They would notice that I'm too frequently fixated on myself in a negative way. And they would start to imitate that.

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You see, when we don't love ourselves, when we don't wrinkle our noses in joy at our oddities, our fun fashion sense, our quirky abilities, and even those little so-called "flaws," we fail to see ourselves as God does.

And I wonder, how can I say that I love God and others if I don't show myself that same love? That doesn't seem right to me.

I would never dream of talking to others the way I do to myself in my mind. It's appalling. Something's got to give.

“I’m thinking that all it takes to make fantasy become a reality are two words: yes, please.” ~Maya Stein:
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"So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."
~ Genesis 1:27

We have to learn to see ourselves the way God sees us. To hate ourselves is to not have a proper view of the person of Christ. We need to learn to believe that what HE says is paramount to anything this culture will scream.

I wanted to start off this series with "loving God" but somehow "loving ourselves" came first. I'm not saying that loving ourselves is going to fix everything. And I certainly don't advocate becoming full of yourself.


But coming to Christ with your self-image and identity struggles is the key. The more I come to God and read the Bible and cry out to Him, the more I see Him, others, and myself the way that I ought to. 


Today, Lord, help me to be grateful to be this particular human, not focusing on myself, but on who You are. Help me show deep love for You, others, and myself. Help me find joy and security in You alone. Help me to celebrate with those who celebrate, and cheer on those who are troubled. 

We are not mistakes.

We are vastly loved. 

17 comments:

  1. "We are vastly loved."

    That last line literally gave me chills. I'm very excited for more of "The Love Series". Your writing is incredible. It's lyrical and smooth. It sings with meaning and a depth that is hard to find. Bravo. :)

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    1. This comment...gosh, you are the best! Thank you so much for the encouragement. It is so very appreciated. :D GAH *hugs*

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  2. I love this. I love this so, so, much. You are amazing and thank you for writing this. More people need to hear your words -- they're so important. <3

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    1. Aw, thank you Katie! That means a lot :-) Thank you for commenting! I'm so glad God was able to use me to write it. It's something I've still struggling with/learning myself.

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    2. *I'm

      GAH can I even write lawl

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  3. This was such a good post--I think you made some really important points. Especially the idea that loving yourself can sound sort of arrogant, but it really comes down to loving God, and being thankful for the way he designed us.

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    1. Thank you so much! I know, it's such an odd concept. Because it really does feel like it's counterproductive...but when we see God and how He sees us, it turns into worship of Him. I'm still learning this but I think that's what the goal is - to get close to Him and have our perspectives of everything shift to His. :) Thanks for commenting!

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  4. Oh my goodness, Erin, you always seems to share exactly what I need to hear. I've really been loving this series of yours, no pun intended, haha.

    Your analogy about our written characters really hit me. Because when I started actually thinking about it, it honestly made me want to cry. Thinking about how much that I love my characters, and how upset I'd be if they wanted to change or be someone else, and then thinking about how God must feel that way, multiplied by about a trillion. Wow. I've actually never thought about it that way before, and I don't think that that analogy is going to be leaving me any time soon.

    Every line that you write is filled with so much beauty and truth, Erin. I love it more than I can possibly say. <3

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    1. Grace Anne, you are the bomb!! I'm so glad that we're both learning this. I prayed that God would use it, so I'm so glad to hear that He did :D Thank you so much for your encouragement!

      I'm so glad it resonated with you! I love my characters so deeply, too, it's such an amazing thing to be able to create...and it's those little differences and oddities in them that makes me love them all the more. I want to celebrate those quirks in others and myself because that is how we were made! :)

      Thank you so much! This comment made my heart full. Thanks for reading! <3

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  5. THIS WHOLE POST OMG. <3 ERIN. HELP ME. I AM D R O W N I N G IN THE BEAUTY OF YOUR WORDS. This post hit home soooo hard. Like...I can't even construct words right now becaUSE I CAN RELATE TO THIS SO HARD. PREACH THIS. SCREAM IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS BECAUSE I KNOW NEED TO HEAR IT JUST AS MUCH AS 7 BILLION OTHER PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD AND THANK YOU FOR THIS. "I would never dream of talking to others the way I do to myself in my mind. It's appalling. Something's got to give." <<< ouch. I FEEL THIS IN MY HEART AND IT HURTS BECAUSE IT'S SO TRUE.

    I'm pinning this thing so hard and reading like 481453696164 times over ok bye <3

    lotsalove,
    abbiee

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    1. Aw, you are so sweet! This was inspired a lot by your podcast on self-care, girl! :-) So thank YOU! :D <3

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  6. Loving my myself is a tough thing for me to do. I get afraid that means I'm vain and I'm also the best person at finding faults in myself. I'm slowly learning to love myself though even if it is difficult.

    storitorigrace.blogspot.com

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    1. I'm right there with ya! The vanity/pride struggle is definitely something I relate to with the loving yourself issue. Because so often I feel like I'm really vain/prideful or super insecure. It's an odd fluctuation. I'm glad you're learning to love yourself. You are awesome! :)

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  7. This is very good. I think that the key to loving properly is not loving. Like does that even make sense? But I mean less thought, not thinking about us, or even thinking about others, so much. Less thinking and just doing. Looking up and standing tall, not because of us but because of Him. And at the same time as we are pointing towards God like sunflowers to the sun, we will look beautifully right. How He wants us. I don't know if I'm conveying what I mean, ugh. Anyways :)

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    1. Aw, thanks, Nina! :) Yes, I get you! Like reacting naturally with an impulse of love, rather than focusing so much on ourselves and how we're going to love? Actually acting! I think you're totally right about fixing ourselves on Him, because when we do that, everything seems to be set straight. I love the sunflower illustration! You are the best :)

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  8. I've never been to your blog before, but oh my YES. I love this so much! So much truth here. :)

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    1. Aw, thank you! I really appreciate that. :) Thanks so much for commenting!

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Go with grace.