As I said in my previous post, your healing begins and ends with love. The things you believe about it will either hinder or help your healing. And at the core of love is GOD. For God is love.
Ponder these verses and quotes…
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
[1 John 4:8 ESV]Even Kings and emperors with heaps of wealth and vast dominion cannot compare with an ant filled with the love of God.
[Guru Nanak]Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
[1 John 4:7 ESV]But the man who is not afraid to admit everything that he sees to be wrong with himself, and yet recognizes that he may be the object of God’s love precisely because of his shortcomings, can begin to be sincere. His sincerity is based on confidence, not in his own illusions about himself, but in the endless, unfailing mercy of God.
[Thomas Merton]Riches take wings, comforts vanish, hope withers away,but love stays with us. Love is God.
Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is illusion.
[Brennan Manning]
The God of the Universe loves you with an unending love. No matter what you’ve been through or what you’ve done, no matter what others have done to you, I want you to remember this truth:
You are LOVED.
Does this shock you? Surprise you? If you were honest with yourself, do you even believe in love? I’d encourage you to begin exploring this concept of love. The concept that the universe begins and ends in love–and you CAN tap into that love and begin to live in it–is crucial to healing.
When we begin to dwell in love–in the Source of Love, which is God–that’s when we begin to heal. This is the foundation for healing.
As pain comes up, as you face yourself, as wounds from others surface–you must go back to the truth that you are LOVED. God is love. And God’s love is enough to get you through whatever life has thrown your way.
So how can you start living in this truth of God’s love? One of the most amazing ways to begin exploring truth and letting it sink into your soul is through meditation. I dare you to try the following contemplative prayer meditation. Do it several times a week in February. Do it every day. (In fact, it’s recommended that you dwell and meditate on a truth for 30-40 days for it to truly sink into your soul.)
Contemplative Prayer Meditation on the Love of God
In this meditation, we will focus on the phrases below:
God is love.
I am loved.
God loves me.
After you do this meditation, please think through the following questions. Write about the things you observed during the meditation. Observe the thoughts or memories or pains that surfaced in your heart. Jot down answers to these…
Do you believe that God is love?
Do you believe you are loved by God?
Do you believe that you are valuable?
Do you believe that you are worthy of love?
Why or why not?
(This question is crucial. Spend some time here. We will be exploring this more in depth in later weeks).
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
[1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV]
Thank you for reading! If you have any questions along the way, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Photo © Masson from Adobe Stock
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[…] thinking through these things, now may be a good time to do my mediation on God’s love. Stay rooted in God’s love for you no matter what kind of pains you have endured. Healing is […]