Is the love you think you share pure?

I have lived and loved I believe and have at times compromised myself and the things I value the most thinking that's how love should be...but after a lot of reflection, I have come to realise that truelove would not require you to give up any part of you nor would require of you to change your values for the benefit of the other person-if that's what you have to do then you are in the wrong kind of love. Jesus did not compromise, he simply loved us enough to act out of love- we were not worth it, but because His kind of love is pure, sincere, faithful and unconditional, he found it fitting to descend from His throne so we could be redeemed and deemed worthy to be called God’s children. What am I saying? it is about time the youth changed its perception of love-move from the worldly definition towards the Godly kind- truelove is the kind that brings you closer to God; the kind that makes you a better person -not better for him/her, but better for God and if you are better for God first, people will soon grasp that your kind of love is the most fulfilling, complete and satisfying and will therefore love you without requiring you to compromise any of yourself or values.

‪# ‎now‬ let your minds be renewed unto the likeness of Christ

He knows you better

I grew up with a strict father and only saw my mother for a few weeks during holidays (they were not yet married) and as a result I am close to neither of them and do not have that mother-daughter or father-daughter bond that most children would tell you about. As I grew older I got introduced to other things that eventually moved me further away from who my parents were raising me to be. I still remember the day I did something so sinful that I realized just how far things had gone and at that time, all I could see whenever I looked into the mirror was disgrace, shame and failure; as the year progressed, I grew to resent my childhood and not being close to my mother because I was convinced that if only we had been close and I could confide in her then I wouldn’t be where I was or a sinner that I am and soon  that became the only thing that kept me going-I atleast had something to blame for my transgressions. But of course, this is just me laying a foundation so you may have an idea of where I come from…so I am in matric and have learnt to live with it and out of nowhere things change-I get saved! My salvation was none like others I believe, it was by force because I first had to choose life in a dream and woke up screaming the name of Jesus before I stood at church and confirmed it (some people make a joke of this when I share my story but I do not mind because that joke saved my life) but that is a story for another day…so my journey with God began and I could feel the burden having been lifted off-I could breathe! Moreover, as we walked together, more things were revealed and I realized that all along my parents, even though having not yet received  the grace of salvation, they had always warned and advised me against all the things I had ended up doing but I had been disobedient and was so wrapped around the ‘unfairness’ of my childhood that I failed to realize just how privileged I am to have them as my parents; He chastened me with the truth and showed me everything I had done wrong and where my weaknesses were- we were best friends- a well-oiled-machine kind of a team I would say. Unfortunately, I eventually back-slided and allowed my weaknesses to take over and moved from Him, but never once did He remove his eyes from me, instead He remained faithful, forgave me and brought me back up and never counted my failure or weakness against me. Times like these seemed to have become a habit and they made me feel like a failure because the harder I tried not to fall it seemed the easier my fall was and the harder I prayed the more I seemed to get tempted and fasting was even harder since avoiding food felt way more like torture than when I simply did not eat.

What is my point?  The family you were born into and the parents you have are not by mistake- they are not out to get you nor are they to make your life a misery- embrace them and allow them to love you with you loving them back. God trusted them to bring you up into that which He wants you to be for His own plan- let His plan play out by allowing Him to order your steps and Him to mold you every day.  From all this, I realized just what a Mighty God I serve- in the things that others regard as small, I have found my redeemer; I have found my strength and have learnt to surrender all to Him- my weaknesses, my strengths, battles, challenges and even temptation- He deals with all of them for me for He says in Matthew 11: 28-Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  That's all you have to do-come to Him!

There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ

Many of us walk through out life with a burden of guilt and shame even after we have confessed our sins and have accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior which is something that was not in God's plan when he gave His only son in our place. When Jesus died, His purpose was to redeem us and reconcile us with the Father- He died in our place so we wouldn't have to carry the burden of sin and condemnation. That is why Paul writes in Romans 8:1- There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. This is because when He was crucified, all that had been ours was His, The yoke that had been ours He took as His own and freed us- where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. There is therefore no reason for you to walk around with the guilt and shame that you used to carry before you were in Christ for the old has passed, behold the new has come! God does not only forgive our trespasses, He forgets them and are never remembered- so stop condemning yourself and press on to what is before you!