My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love. This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality. It’s also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves.
How many times have you found yourself beating yourself up for past mistakes? I know I have. The problem with beating ourselves up is that it causes us to become discouraged and we continue to fail. We have a misconception that we will always be “that” person and never be anything but.
Early in my faith journey I wondered if keeping my focus on God meant reading the Bible and praying constantly. Besides that I couldn’t rationalize what focusing on Him really meant – until I discovered serving. I began serving at church. Throughout that service, I tried different areas based on what I believed I would enjoy, but I also felt perhaps that what I thought I would enjoy, wasn’t quite where God wanted me to be. There was a tugging at my heart to go in a different direction. Where was it? Serving three and four year olds in Kidzone! I really had to scratch my head at that tugging. But God had a direction he wanted me to go in and fortunately I opened my heart to His calling. Every Sunday I served for one crazy hour that was followed with an afternoon nap. However, despite the crazy, I found joy, love, laughter, and anticipation for the next Sunday.
Through that experience I realized something: for one hour on Sundays I wasn’t thinking about myself and my failures. In fact, I truly believe God showed His love for me through those little kiddos. I have continued to serve at church and committed to service in the community. God will shower His blessings on us when we serve others. He will heal our failures and reveal our abilities in a way we couldn’t have imagined.
