(If you’ve stumbled across this post, let me explain where you are. You have landed smack in the middle of one of my favorite series ever. We started some time ago by learning that God expects us to love ourselves. Now, we’re going through the definition of love in I Corinthians 13:4-7 to help us understand how we can love ourselves in a healthy way so can love others better. Go back to that first post to read the series from the beginning and to find an index of all the posts available. Enjoy today’s post as well.)
Bear and Endure All Things
Life is tough. We go through hard times. Things don’t always go the way we want. We don’t always go the way we want. A healthy love of self understands that we aren’t the sum total of what happens to us. We understand that we aren’t our circumstances. We don’t rest our value on what happens to us or what hand of cards life seems to have dealt us. Rather, we understand that whatever is happening today is something that God has prepared us for and will graciously carry us through.
When we don’t love ourselves properly, we may get so discouraged by where we are or what we’ve done that we decide to give up. This might be simply an emotional decision that simply causes us to check out emotionally and mentally, giving up on life and simply drifting along in varying states of despair or elation depending on whatever is going on at the moment. However, this can also take a more horrific turn. Some have so finally given up that they even ended their own lives. This is definitely not loving ourselves healthfully and clearly isn’t loving anyone else properly either.
When we love ourselves in a godly way, we recognize that whatever is going on, we can bear and endure. We can live with the motto, this too shall pass. And we can keep resolutely walking with our hand in God’s.
Think about Peter as he was sinking beneath the waves. He could have given up in despair, looking at the hopelessness of his situation. Or he could put his faith in Jesus and cry out to Him. We know what Peter did. We can do the same no matter what happens to us or what mistakes we’ve made. We can bear up and endure crying out to God for the help we need to make it.
Always remember the words of Paul in Philippians 4:13. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. We can, therefore, bear and endure all things through Christ who strengthens us. We do need to give up. We don’t need to check out. We don’t need to end it all. We can love ourselves by putting one foot in front of the other and continuing to glorify God.
——————————————————————-
Come back next week for our final installment in this series. When we love ourselves in a godly way, we will believe and hope for all things.
[…] Bear and Endure All Things […]