I wrote this in my other blog, the-daily-Word.blogspot.com but I wanted to post it here too because I think that it is important. God is really showing me some new things and I am really excited about them. Comments are always welcome and much appreciated. :)
Genesis 2:21-22, 25
So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, He took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib He had taken out of the man, and He brought her to the man… The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
Okay, here we go. Let's think about this. Are we content in our relationships? Is there something missing in them? Do we find ourselves with more acquaintances than friends, and more friends than bestfriends? Obviously we are going to have fewer bestfriends but how deep are those bestfriend relationships? Could any of the other relationships become bestfriend relationships? What is keeping them from becoming closer, deeper, more sincere?
Here's what God has been teaching me. It is ultimately fear that limits the closeness of our relationships. What if they knew my past? What if they knew my struggles? What if I was honest about my feelings? We wear so many layers of superficiality that no one really knows who we are. They only see who we want them to see. But if we strip off these layers then we could experience true relational intimacy. Wouldn’t it be an amazing feeling to know that you can go to someone and be fully yourself, flaws and all, and yet still be fully accepted?
I love this quote from Shirley MacLaine, "Fear makes strangers of people who would be friends." Who do I, who do you need to be real with? How can we accomplish friendships without fear, open friendships that we can share anything and still be accepted? Perhaps doing this is harder in action than in word. To this I would agree.
1 comment:
Thanks for sharing. I had an opportunity to get a little bit deeper with one of my students. He is really a handful at times. Oddly enough he chose to follow me around all of yesterday afternoon during recess. He doesn't always social fit in. Rather than brushing him off I got to talk about what interests him and what we have in common. I found that we both really like pizza. He prefers pepperoni and I really like saugage. Neither of us like mushrooms, but he doesn't mind olives. I really do need to bond as much as possible with this student, because we will have many bumps along the school year. The more he trusts me, the more he will be able to calm down after over reacting.
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