Tag Archives: Bitterness

Self-loathers don’t know what love is (Pt 1)

She claims to be a seeker of Christ, but there is no light in her. She claims to live according to God’s law, but she has no understanding or expression of love. She has studied the Bible for years but only focuses on text supporting her worldview – any passage on hate and condemnation to shore up her belief in a vengeful God who only loves vengeful children.

People who hide themselves are impossible to know.

She can’t trust me to know what she likes because she has never really shared any of her true self with me. At least not in recent memory. She has hidden away in anger and hatefulness for so long, no one can see anything else.

Know whose you are.

Part of checking myself consisted of asking myself two telling questions. (1) What am I really upset about? (2) What do I have to prove to the people I was engaging with? The answer to the first question had nothing to do with the petty issues pelting me. The answer to the second question was: absolutely nothing. The enemy was attacking me through very accommodating vessels, but it was up to me if and how I allowed the attacks to affect me. {Click the link to read the full post.}

Where my help truly comes from…

In the same way, trust comes by seeing someone do what they said they would do. With each action that follows a word/declaration/promise, trust increases. The third woman I spoke to last week complained bitterly about being unable to trust anyone, having no one to turn to for assistance with her children and being weary of inviting anyone into her home for fear of how they would take advantage of her situation. In exasperation, I told her, “At some point, you’re going to have to just decide to trust someone. Before you get to that point, you have to trust yourself. Do you trust yourself?”

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Women in the Bible: RUTH

Ruth is the leading character in this book, which is named after her. The name Ruth means “mercy.” The story shows that God’s grace and mercy extend beyond Israel to include all peoples.

The religious truths found in this book relate more to practical life than to abstract theology. Loyalty, love, kindness, the value of persons, and the need to understand one another stand out. In the midst of the chaos then in the land, meaning could be found by returning to the first principles of simple truth. The book of Ruth tells us that no matter how bad things may be, goodness can exist, if we are willing to make the effort. [Follow the link to read the full article.]

How do you celebrate a life that was not appreciated during its lifetime?

My main goal for my visit was to sit and speak to my grandmother. And to pray over her. I wanted to hear in her own words what was going on with her. During the thirty-six hours between hearing of this traumatic incident and getting to her bedside, all I could think of was her life and the very real possibility of her death. What type of eulogy could she honestly receive? My heart grew heavier by the moment, not because of the circumstances leading to her hospital stay this time. No, what weighed on my heart like a stone and dragged me down into a sadness that was incredibly difficult to face is the knowledge that my Grandma Bessie has not enjoyed her life. There is no joy to be found in her.

Trains, Planes & Automobiles!

She didn’t see or appreciate any of that. I briefly thought of how controlling, manipulative and tyrannical she was being. I also focused on how she repeatedly claimed to be the head of the family, and thought that one belief could’ve led to the destruction of her marriage more so than all the wrong-doings she’s accused Granddaddy of throughout the years. (Click link or View Original Post to read full post.)