Tag: Comparison

Bekah's Heart, Devotional

Freedom in the Father’s Love

Rebekah Freed

Wednesday night the new LifeMatters Lifegroup started at First Trinity geared towards those in the 18-35 range. We started a series looking at who God is in our lives specifically through some examples and stories in the Old Testament. Our study on Wednesday focused in on Psalm 103.
I encourage you to read the whole thing because it is AWESOME, but for the sake of this post I want to focus in on verse 13 which says

As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him

Now I realize that for some reading this, it may be difficult to understand from your personal experience a father having compassion on his children. It’s perhaps hard to see God in a Fatherly role and not cringe. But in His fatherly role, God is anything but harsh or demanding. Sure, discipline is a part of being a father (see Hebrews 12:3-11), but more than anything it’s a loving, compassionate role. So, if you don’t have the best example of a caring, gracious father, I ask you to try to set that aside and stick with me for a moment.

As we went through the study, the author shared the following concept that really stuck with me:

“Fatherly love has a God-given ability to create a sense of security in children. Children who feel safe are more confident and move about more freely. On the other hand, fear and insecurity create paralysis. As God’s children, trusting His love completely can give us the freedom and confidence we need to live by faith.”

I think this is something any of us can understand no matter how amazing or not our own earthly father was. When we feel safe, we are confident and free. When we live in an environment of fear and insecurity, well, we don’t truly live at all.

This really caught my attention and stuck with me because of how true I see it in my life. When I let myself get caught in Satan’s lies of comparison and insecurity, I hide. I’m paralyzed. I’m stuck. BUT when I remember who I really am and how much my Heavenly Father loves and cares for me, I breathe more freely. I stand up boldly. I communicate more clearly. I live more passionately.

This is the Father we are called to trust in… one who “forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion” (Psalm 103:3-4) A Father who “is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love.” (vs 8) “From everlasting to everlasting” is this Father’s love! (vs 17)

Now that’s a love worth trusting in! May you find freedom today in Our Father’s love to be exactly who He created you to be!

31 Days of Imperfection

Fake Imperfection {31 Days of Imperfection – Day 6}

Rebekah Freed

One of the things I’ve found I love about doing a series like this is learning new things about whatever is the focal point.  Both in this series and the one focused on hope, I set out with a few ideas of things I’ve been shown that I feel compelled to share.  However, the greatest joy comes in walking into each day with open eyes.  Some days, God blows me away with a new ways of looking at the topic. Today is one of those days.

 

So far, most of the posts in some way have danced around the idea of accepting our imperfection… of being okay with it… of living in it so that we might live also in God’s grace.  Today, though, God’s convicted me of an imperfection He never wants me to be okay with… one I struggle with a lot: the FAKE imperfection we imagine and create through comparison.

 

From the time we are kids, our sinful nature tells us to compare people:

Look at that guy, he’s so weak! Why’d coach even let him on the team?!?

You better work harder if you’re going to get good grades like your sister!

Why can’t you be more like Jack?  He gets his projects in to his boss earlier.

Even worse, in my opinion, is the comparison that takes place in our own minds:

I’m better than her because I have 48 crayons and she only has 24. 

Hannah wears a size 3 and I wear a 13.

I wish my house was always clean like Jill’s.

 

Whether the comparison is put upon us by others or ourselves, it’s all around us and it creates a sense of imperfection.  The other imperfection we’ve talked about in the blog has been true imperfection, times when we sin… when we don’t live up to GOD’S standards for our lives.  That is true imperfection for which God said, “I’m perfect, I’ll step in and make you perfect again.  However, not living up to our standards or the standards of people around us creates a false sense of imperfection that is harder for our souls to battle with.

I’ve found that when I’m simply living in the gifts, talents, passions, and experiences God’s given me, I feel complete… I feel whole.  I feel anything BUT imperfect.   Only when I begin comparing myself to others or seeking their approval do I start dwelling in imperfection.  That’s because we weren’t created to be able to do what Jack, Hannah, and Jill were created to do.  It’s like comparing apples and oranges. It seems that a great deal of anxiety, stress, pain and hurt could be avoided if we’d just remember this truth:

We’ve been created perfect by a perfect God.  He loves and accepts us just as we are and expects nothing more, nothing less, nothing else

Chris Seay, author of A Place at the Table, says it this way in his book:

The Scriptures declare that my value comes from my Creator, not my love of self or accomplishments. … when our actions are motivated by this truth, we can finally breathe.  Can you imagine a life without the continual comparison to one another?

I know it’s difficult to imagine that kind of life, but I challenge myself, and all of you, to just dream for a minute… and then do it… breathe… give up false imperfection… give up comparison.  Remember, you are created in God’s perfection and deeply loved JUST AS YOU ARE!   Now if that doesn’t bring a smile to your face, I don’t know what will.