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| When we hide behind our baggage we limit ourselves, our relationships and our future. |
How much baggage do you have? Can you carry it with one hand or do you need a handler to assist you? Either way you've come to the right place!
This month we've been dealing with a lot of tough issues. We started by working Step 5 Admitting to God, ourselves and another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. Next we reviewed Anne Paulk's book Restoring Sexual Identity. In week three we focused on the Christian Virtue of Integrity, pressing against the hypocrisies that creep into our lives. And last week we learned how to overcome Identity Crisis.
Today's topic relates to all the above issues. If we: can't confess our wrongs to another person, aren't confident in our sexuality, walk with hypocrisy in our daily life, have doubts about who we are or why we're in this world, then we're probably carrying some seriously heavy baggage!
What are you carrying in your baggage?
- Childhood hurts and wounds
- Addictions overcome or recurring
- Poor choices with painful consequences
- Failed relationships
- Beliefs of inadequacies, insufficiency, entitlement
- Hurt feelings, loneliness, anger, resentment, disappointments
- Unhealthy coping skills, etc, ad infinitum...
How are you handling your baggage?
Hiding it in the closet, hoping it will disappear on its own?
Buried and smashed by the weight to the point of severe depression?
A few tips for baggage handling...
- Face it. By accepting the truth of the past, we take away its power over us.
- Call a trusted friend or family member. Talking it out relieves much stress and pressure.
- Turn to Jesus. There's no one more qualified to carry our burdens than Jesus Christ.
If you're tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to me and I will give you rest. ~ Matthew 11:28
Our past and its baggage has made us who we are today. So we mustn't live with total regret. We can choose to have a new perspective on our past. Rather than focusing on the negative, identifying ourselves with our shameful mistakes, we can look and see where God was at work.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. ~ Psalm 23:6
God was there. Even though we might have made terrible mistakes that forced us and our family into bad consequences; even in our darkest days of sin, God was watching us. He knew our heart's deepest desires before we did. He knew that one day we would want out of that mess. So He gave us His Grace and Mercy. When we look back and see Grace, God's goodness and mercy instead of the darkness, pain and mistakes, we're able to see God's Presence in all things.
So where do we go from here? Let's choose to...
Live a life of greatness not mediocrity!
1. Step Out. Don't make God have to drag you out. Receive what He has for your life!
2. Step Up. Encourage yourself in the Lord. Choose to believe in yourself!
3. Step In. Don't wait for something to seem official. Destiny calls for faith!
When you look at your past where do you see God? Can you see His mercy at work?
See God's goodness in your life. Enjoy @Israel Houghton's video: http://youtu.be/OKs0aPWGTVk
Photos courtesy 123rf.com