With in me lives a spirit that is to be honored and glorified. To honor Him only in church isn’t enough. He dwells within me. To truly honor Him I must cherish where He chooses to dwell.
We have been told to honor God and honor our parents. What has been overlooked, is honoring ourselves. Until we honor ourselves we never truly glorify Christ. Until we truly know ourselves we never truly know Him. Within each of us is a voice. A voice that only can be head by others after we have found it and cherished it ourselves. Internally it tells us we are treasures. Externally we use it to tell the world we are.
In the past my voice was shackled down by the pain. But through growth and healing I found and released it. By acknowledging my own voice, I acknowledged I have worth. I became aware that I was alive and that I existed as a human being and as a child of God. I was not just someone’s daughter, someone’s friend, or someone’s employee. I had woken up to life. I had woken up to be heard.
By finding my voice I found treasures that are necessary to appreciate and guard. My mind, my body, and my soul were among these treasures. To like myself I must believe in and honor who I am. My mind possesses wisdom and must be allowed to have an opinion. It has value not because it is wise but because it is part of a human life and every human life has knowledge of Christ. The wisdom it holds seeks awareness of the Father which far outweighs the education of the world. My body possesses beauty because it was molded by Christ’s hands. It is a beauty of the heavens that is inescapable to the eye of angels, but a times forgotten by man. My soul is in awe of Christ and that is the true treasure. For Christ gives this body and mind worth. With all my heart I believe in Christ. I love myself more each day because of Him. I see His beauty in me and can’t avoid the knowledge of my immense value.
Some days, however, it is easy to cast these things aside. These are the days when I am engulfed in the world and have tuned out both my internal and external voice.
Christ dwells with in us, but He can be forgotten at times when our guard is down. Boundaries were built internally so we do not become emotionally abusive to ourselves. The boundaries helped us to appreciate the beauty inside us. They allow us to grow and give self-criticism without neglecting praise. To guard and cherish Christ within ourselves requires building external boundaries. These external boundaries prevent abuse from outsiders because attacks from outsiders don’t just harm us but Christ as well.
Boundaries put limits on how familiar we allow others to be with us. They prevent people from feeding on our insecurities. They are hard to make but once we have built them we become stronger. By building them we are taking responsibility for ourselves. We can no longer hide behind walls and not experience life. It is important to understand that walls and boundaries are two different things. Walls are built out of fear that others may jeopardize our happiness, because we have given them control of it. Boundaries are built because we are taking responsibility for that happiness. It is a verbal and conscious stand for ourselves. With walls we expect people to hear our silent cries. With boundaries we allow our voices to be heard.
Boundaries are not meant to confine us from the rest of the world. They are a means of keeping our own identity and allowing ourselves to be who we are. A boundary cherishes what is within it. At first, we are unsure exactly where they should be. However, it is not important whether we put it in the right spot, for time will soon adjust them. The importance lies in building them because once we have built them we become strong…we become whole. The boundaries will not be built overnight. Some may take longer than others. Even after they have been built we may find ourselves jumping over them in moments of regression.
At times I have found myself outside my boundaries and don’t recognize the stranger I have become. When I become aware that I have taken one to many steps backwards fear tends to set in. I become afraid that it will be hard to get back to where I was. The truth is I will never go back to where I was because this experience will call me to grow past where I am. The distance I will need to travel to get back on track, the next time I detour, will not be as far because I have already covered much ground. The old tracks have been removed with growth, and healing has taken their place. If we find ourselves traveling down old roads it is for a purpose. Maybe previously we only cleared the area for construction and now it is time to pour the foundation. Some growing experiences will happen over and over, and others will simply occur and pass us by. Eventually our minds will grasp the lessons our souls our trying to teach them. When this happens, we will move towards loving ourselves and others more. The journey will continue to show us new pains that need to be healed and attitudes that need to be changed. But don’t get discouraged. The journey does have other things in store, for with each new road and every turn lies the beauty and joy of life.
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