Love covers all our flaws

Have you spent the last couple of years making concessions so you would fit in? A lot of us have. And while these circumstances were a trigger of fit-in behavior, we should take this opportunity to better understand why we gave in.

For what reasons, and for how long are we willing to dissolve ourselves and lose our own identities in order to be a ‘part’ of a world that does not love us? A world that will drop us if we fail?

The answer is: not too long until we become deeply frustrated, angry and bitter. And what will really haunt us is not our difficulty to forgive others, but to forgive ourselves as we live with the consequences of our own decisions knowing that we could have made better ones had we not given in to the fear of not fitting in.

We should all know by now that whenever we try to live by strict rules, we are bound to fail at some point. We are human, and thus we are inherently flawed. We are living the life that others expect us to live when we make an effort everyday to be the perfect people that we are not.

When we accept that we are not in control, and that we never were or ever will be, that frees us from living under unfair expectations and introduces us to the real life we never had before.

This real life is the one we are all called to live. And it is only when we surrender to Love that we start living it.

Because Love covers all our flaws.

And when we put Love first in life, and allow it to guide us, we do not experience regrets. With Love, life no longer feels like a countdown, because we know Love transcends space and time.

Love allows us to transcend the world and start living without fear, especially the fear of death that drives many of us to make hasty decisions thinking we are running out of time.

But so what if we are running out of time? Love makes a day feel like a year, and a year feel like a day. It gives us a conscience that is no longer bound by feelings of who we are not, or not being good enough, and takes us on a journey of who we were always meant to be.

With Love, we live what we can, how we can, when we can.

I had no trouble being myself in the last couple of years and lived a relatively normal life. And the secret is simple: I know how to be subtle about my different outlook in life. Instead of using these differences to confront others, I focus on similarities that can unite us.

Remember: we need to be patient with those who think differently.

We are not called to turn our differences into instruments of divisiveness. When we keep Love in the foreground of how we treat each other, these differences become secondary and often don’t even come up.

At the same time, we are also not called to be perfect, but to be loving. And to love each other regardless of our different choices in life, and our shortcomings.

When we live this way, we do not feel the need to fit in. Putting Love first in our lives gives us this confidence and allows us to enjoy the peace, joy and hope that come when we confidently know why we don’t fit in this world.

Loving people we dislike

Many of us don’t know the difference between loving and liking one another. Keeping people close that we don’t genuinely like doesn’t work and can wreak havoc in our lives.

We can love everyone spiritually. But liking anyone depends on compatibility and is for select people who, through their actions, have earned our appreciation and company.

When someone treats people (including ourselves) in hurtful ways, we are perfectly able to love them – if we genuinely have a relationship with God. But we will not be able to like them. They don’t deserve us, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

After all, not all company edifies us. We seek good company that we like: peaceful, joyful, loving, forgiving, thoughtful. And, yes, interesting and fun.

Company that makes us feel uncomfortable, judged, hurt, offended, manipulated, insulted or even just bored and disinterested is therefore not likeable. It is a blessing to love these people, but we don’t have to seek their company or force ourselves to like them.

We need to learn to gracefully handle people whose presence doesn’t edify us. They don’t need to be active participants in our lives.

Our calling is to love them. Pray for them. Help them. And wish for their hearts to be transformed so they can enjoy a love that will enable them to treat us as we expect to be treated.

We can bring them back into our lives as friends, family or partners if they demonstrate a change of attitude with actions (not words) for a significant amount of time, so we see consistency.

Remember: We are called to love one another, not to like everyone.

Anything beyond that is self-righteous and will destroy us.

The Love imprint that heals

When our minds and hearts are set in forgiveness, mercy and love, we have found the way. It leads to a life that death has no power over.

Yet if we still spend time judging others and withholding our forgiveness, because we don’t believe certain people deserve it, we haven’t really found the way. These are all signs of brokenness.

Only a forgiving, merciful heart that is always ready to love everyone, particularly those that haven’t earned it, reflects a genuine spiritual calling and transformation.

Our surrender and humble willingness to depend on the One who made us is all it takes. Usually this happens when we hit rock bottom and, in our brokenness, realize we can’t do it anymore.

That’s what it takes for us to understand that only he can heal our wounds and replace them with his powerful joy.

When we let his peace arbitrate in our hearts we experience peace that exceeds all understanding, regardless of circumstances.

Only he can take what this world meant for evil and turn it for good. By making all things work for our good as we rely on him, he gives us a new life to enjoy, full of divine love, joy and peace.

A lesson on resilience

I watched Schindler’s List for the first time a few weeks ago. The resilience of those people while facing the absolute worst of humanity could only have come from God. They would have never made it without him, and neither would we.

I believe all our sufferings are relevant. But watching a movie on such a horrific story really puts things into perspective. It is a tough watch, but a humbling experience. Our sufferings look so small compared to these dehumanizing events.

Another key aspect of our dark history is how often it takes a monster to defeat another monster. We know God has used ruthless characters to defeat oppressors of his people.

Although it might look like these ruthless individuals are doing what’s right, we are not in a position to justify them or rely on them. Their cruel actions have good outcomes exclusively because God can bring good out of any situation.

We should always remind ourselves that we can only trust and rely on God

It is God who gives us the resilience to walk through the most terrifying moments with the confidence that they will yield good outcomes of a spiritual nature in our lives.

Holding on to his love saves us from losing our ability to be grateful, loving and forgiving in the cruelest of circumstances.

As we walk with God, we know everything is going to pass. At the end of the tunnel, there is light, goodness and unfailing love.

Finding cure in divine forgiveness and Love

When I was an atheist, two psychologists helped me navigate and cope with a series of life events that crushed me. But they never healed me. I never healed until I surrendered to Love.

To say that I was hanging by a thread would be an understatement. And although I have a lot of appreciation for deeply humane and loving psychologists like the ones who helped me, there’s only so much they can do. 

I couldn’t imagine myself going one week without therapy. At that point I felt emotionally crippled. My life was a full-time burden.

That’s when I did the unimaginable. One night I surrendered and asked God for help. Being an atheist, I had no idea what I was doing. But I had a crushed, humble heart as I called him. And God listened.

God healed overnight what two different psychologists couldn’t heal in years.

For the first time in my life I knew that there was one who loved me just the way I always wanted to be loved. And his divine love set me free.

God’s love worked in me to forgive others who had been the root cause of a lot of emotional turmoil in my life. And he also taught me to forgive myself.

Without God’s love, I could never have healed. 

It is his divine and eternal love in me that makes it possible to forgive everyone and the world everyday, regardless of merit. And heal.

Love blossoms in weakness

Being weak reminds us that no matter how hard we try to be strong and stay strong, we still crash and burn. Because we are only truly strong when we rely on God’s love for strength.

While we live the illusion that we got it, we close ourselves to the infinite possibilities of his loving power. We can drive ourselves crazy strategizing solutions for our failures, or trust that he makes the impossible happen when we seek him.

God’s loving power is perfected in our weakness. When we humbly acknowledge how limited and powerless we are, he steps in to teach us how to navigate life under his grace.

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Paul

He teaches us to give it all to him to live better: our worries, our pains, our frustrations and failures. Then we can enjoy this peace that only the One who made us can give us.

With a grateful heart, we are able to see his blessings in our lives and the many times he rescued us from our hopelessness. He knows what we need and always gives more than what we ask for.

He is the way maker, our strength and path to eternal life.

Speaking up about Love to heal our fears and division

I’ve been writing about rampant judgment in our communities since we found ourselves in these circumstances we’re now. Far from being humanitarian, many of us have turned to attack one another as we react to fear of death enhanced by mass hysteria.

Some even say that anyone who does not comply with the new rules should be denied help if they become sick. And this, my friends, is how we become so blinded by our self-righteousness that we start doing what’s evil in the name of doing what’s good.

We have to be very, very careful at all times, but these times are particular treacherous. There are many trials we are facing, but the main one is our ability to love one another.

When so many people start preaching violence, neglect and exclusion as means to do what is good or build a peaceful community, the darkness of this world is in full effect.

We are not loving one another by keeping silent to avoid conflict, when our hearts feel strongly against what is being said or done. We can, and should, show our love by speaking peacefully and firmly as we assert our values founded on Love.

We are not called to be silent and live in a spiritual cave, but to use every opportunity to be agents of peace.

We don’t pick sides, but we must take a stand. Love is our stand.

We are not called to oppress, but to speak up for Love, forgiveness, compassion, peace – and this not at the expense of others.

We don’t have to speak against anything or anyone. Let’s raise our voices to speak only about the Love that can unite us and not join any other conversation that is focused on dividing us.

Jewish conversion stories

After seeing the One for Israel ads on YouTube, a friend from a group of believers shared how touching these video testimonies were and I finally watched them.

It’s so inspiring to hear the stories of people whose lives were changed literally forever the moment they asked for help and received far more than just help. They received eternal life.

I hope you will be touched and encouraged by how the One who made us transformed these lives. What a blessing it is to know him and follow his gracious way!

Always be the good company that others are grateful for

Being good company is about loving our company – something that the coaches, books or articles of this world cannot teach.

Like me, you’ve probably experienced your share of company that is unhelpful in the course of your life. What we can do is forgive those who hurt us and be more selective about the people who we allow to come closer to us moving forward.

When we let go of what doesn’t do us good, we make space for what brings good to our lives.

We should never, ever be too busy when others that we know need us. And when we make ourselves available, there is yet another stepping stone: being good company.

This world might have forgotten what being good company is like, but we should not.

We laugh with those who laugh, and cry with those who cry.

We don’t ridicule others.

We don’t look down on or judge others we don’t like, but pray for them.

We encourage each other with hopeful, peaceful and loving words.

We don’t oppress one another with the expectations of this world, but listen to what we need and what is good for our spirit.

We remind each other that everything is possible for the One who made us when something seems impossible.

We rejoice in the fact that all things contribute to our good, and that the struggles of this world can’t crush us.

We happily offer practical help and not simply wait until there is an urgency or emergency to step up.

We make sure our “yes” is a “yes” and our “no” is a “no”, because we won’t be good company to someone when we say the opposite of what’s in our hearts.

Setting boundaries is important, so we know what and how much we can give. This way, we won’t raise false expectations in others that we know we can’t meet.

Good company makes us grateful because they are available, helpful and a joy to be around thanks to their noticeable appreciation for us.

Our love for one another should be felt in our words, but most importantly in our actions. These actions could be as simple as a heartfelt hug, or taking a real interest in how someone is doing instead of just asking and letting it be.

I’d like to encourage all of us to put in more love in our interactions with others. Let’s take the time to let them know what we appreciate about them whenever there is an opportunity and not just leave it on that note.

Let’s remain a constant presence in their lives in loving ways and show we are grateful for each other’s lives.

Love gives us eternal life in a world full of deadly fears

Have we finally given in to the world and its fear of death? So many have started using worldly language and imposing limits on our lives. Most look for answers in the media and start relying on what governments can or cannot do.

But what can governments do? What can I? What can you?

We know there is very little that any of us can do in a world that is dominated by darkness. We know only an almighty power can overcome this world and, in fact, it has already overcome it. 

This isn’t a time to figure out creative (and profitable) ways of connecting with the aid of technology. It is a time to face our difficulty to rely exclusively on the One who made us.

We experience his power when we seek him. And his power is love. Not what the world thinks love is. Divine love. The world only knows a shadow of it, yet love already shows an unmistakable power to change our lives for the better.

Love is the power that made and moves the universe.

What is expected from us is that we love one another. It is through this love that we have eternal life and that the poisonous death that consumes this world is defeated. 

When we love one another and rely on his power, he makes the impossible possible. Because nothing is impossible for the One who made everything and conquered death with love.