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I used to be the same way. In fact, I fell into the "let's just be friends" category so many times it became a curse. While I am still a nice guy, in fact, many will say I am even nicer, I have learned that there is always something behind the unhealthy behaviors. Whether I give to people who only want to take from me, or to people who want to give back, if I am doing it in order to receive affirmation, or something else for my self, it is unhealthy. When I was in seventh grade, I made a vow that I didn't want to feel like an outsider. The fact that God made me to be an outsider was lost on me at the time and it hurt too much to feel that way, especially when I saw all the "insiders" having so much "fun. " While I couldn't control whether or not I was an outsider, if I began to feel like one, I would act in very unhealthy ways, some would say sinful, in order not to feel like it. Once I Once God showed me the source of the unhealthy behavior, since I was hurting others through it, as well as my self, I renounced the vow, confessed the ways I had hurt people, and tried to control my circumstances, and He led me back to the memory where I made the vow, helped me grieve the pain, which served to irrigate the emotional wound, and began healing the wound. Whenever we are hurting, or recognize we have hurt someone, we need to confess what we know to God, and let Him begin the process of cleansing us. In this manner, He has taken so many emotional lies and burdens off me, that I can't count them. Some lies are simple, like the lie that I need to protect my self, or that it is possible in the first place, since God is our protector. Other lies are more virulent, like the process I went through when I felt my father's emotions, when he found out my mom was pregnant with me. I felt unwanted, which I received as a wound, through the following process. First I identified the object of the painful emotion as "me. " Then I identified the source of the pain as "him. " Next came the identification of the form of pain as "hate. " This led to the emotional conclusion that "he hates me because of 'me. '" This led to the decision that "I shouldn't exist because of 'me. '" God took me back there a couple of months ago and had me grieve the wound I received in my soul, then He showed me that, even though my dad was a member of MENSA, he didn't know what he was doing, because God wanted me, created me; yes He picked the sperm that fertilized the egg and invested my soul in me during the process; and that He never stopped wanting and loving me. As God cleans us up, we grow into the likeness of Jesus Christ, who knew who He was made to be and lived a fulfilling life of peace with everyone, except those who claimed to represent God, while neglecting the very people God loves. Read Psalm 51 considering the fact David had committed adultery and murder when he wrote it. Also read 1John. God loves us, even when we are disobedient, hurting others
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