Some of us have gone through so much of hurt/pain/anguish in our lives, we feel we are undeserving of EVERYTHING. Fair enough. What irks/irked me is/was when I hear the words "I don't deserve GOD" Who is ANYONE to tell you, you are undeserving of GOD? Who are WE to deem us undeserving of GOD?
Most of our parents teach/have taught us that we are undeserving. In the raising of children the word "No" is heard usually far more often than the word "Yes." This may be a natural consequence of raising a child and trying to teach the child what is right and what is wrong. But over time the "Nos" add up to such a great discrepancy against the "Yeses" that a child may develop low self-esteem. When one has low self-esteem, low confidence, vulnerable and down one does not feel deserving.
This is a general non-deserving feeling. With the "Nos" echoing in our head, everything we turned our desire upon, the first thing that came to mind consciously or unconsciously was a denial of that desire. This desire or holding off or away, came to feel like it was God holding us off or away.
And then some others who were/are in religious establishments that told/tell us that we were unworthy of God's love. We were to gain God's love by believing a certain way and or living a certain way. If we did not do this, we were outside of God's love. Being outside of God's love we began to feel as if we were undeserving. Obviously, this does not engender a close feeling with God.
You've got to come to realise that being a child of the Divine, a product of the Divine, you are always going to be accepted by God. And part of acceptance means that you are always loved by God. When you are loved by God as a daughter or son, then all that God has, is yours as well. And if you are loved by God as a daughter or son you are deserving. It cannot be any other way. You must decide to believe this. This decision to believe is an action step that you can and must take. You need to take back control of how you feel about yourself.
When you feel you are deserving, and you are, you will feel a closeness to God returning.
What can you do to demonstrate to yourself and that you are deserving? Simple - Working from the inside out. When you truly feel you are deserving on the inside, what would you do on the outside to demonstrate that to yourself? Certainly you can treat yourself to a special something. But don't overdo that and come to feel bad about yourself another way. Helping another person whom you know feels undeserving? Wouldn't that be a way to reinforce and demonstrate to yourself how deserving you are? Volunteering some time at a place where needy folks gathered? You are honouring other persons as deserving though they are down on their luck and this shows honour to yourself. Think about what you can do to honor the deservedness you find within yourself. Do it today. Do it now. And you will see that, as much as the next person deserves God, you do too!
Footprints
One Night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand; one belonged to him and the other to the Lord.
When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life.
This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it. "Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you you'd walk with me all the way, but I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me." The Lord replied, "My precious, precious child, I love you and would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."
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