Self Care part 5
The best way--perhaps the only way--to truly take care of yourself is to let your heavenly Father take care of you. And you let God take care of you, by taking care of others. By receiving and releasing the gift of God that He gave to you 2,000 years ago on an old rugged cross. By letting God love the hell out of you, and then loving the people that you come into contact with, with that same love. Receiving and releasing. Receiving AND releasing. We receive self care by releasing care. We receive forgiveness by forgiving others. We receive love by loving others. I know it sounds backwards and upside down. But that's how the Kingdom of God (the Kingdom of LOVE) operates. Its not supposed to make sense to the carnal mind. If we could "figure it out" we wouldn't need faith. And the best part about faith is that faith is not a blind leap--into the dark OR the light. Faith is trusting God because He has proven Himself trustworthy. Faith isn't hope. Both of those are great things, but they aren't the same thing. Faith is the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for. Hope deferred makes the heart sick. But when you see--because seeing is believing--God's love in action (charity) that's when you can fill yourself to overflowing with what you've already been filled with. That's when you can let what's inside come out; when you know and believe that its in there. And, again, that's how you take care of yourself. You let God take care of you. You let Him love you, and then you simply love others with that love. That selfless, sacrificial, agape, God love. That love where you give everything you have and everything you are. But here's the key: Once you've given your all its either enough... or its not. And either way, you've done what you can do. Don't try to do things that you weren't created to do. Don't try to be someone you're not. Walk worthy of YOUR calling. Stay in your lane. Be who you are. Who you are in Christ. Which is who Christ is in you. Doing that thing that makes you... you. But doing it in love. Doing it for love. By love. Because of love. For me, its writing. But it wasn't until I started writing about Jesus--writing about love--that I was anymore more than just banging cymbols. Making noise. It wasn't until I started doing what I do from a love perspective that what I was doing started to matter. And I gotta tell you, just being transparent, sometimes it feels like what I'm doing DOESN'T matter. Sometimes it feels like I'm NOT making a difference. But you know what I do in those times? I strengthen myself in the Lord. When you don't know what to do... do what you know. Love. This little light of mine, right? I'm gonna let it shine. Because even the smallest amount of light makes a difference when its dark out. You don't always know the impact you have on people. But I'm telling you... you matter. You make a difference. So don't stop being who you are. Don't be afraid to reach out. Even if your hand gets slapped away. Its worth it. You might plant a seed, and someone else might water it. You might never see the fruit that comes from it. But if you're spreading love, you're making the world a better place. Period. Taking care of people. Seeing a need and meeting it. And that's a life worth living. That's how you take care of yourself--by not worrying about yourself. By taking care of others. By loving people...!