Loving through Christ

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

Today this scripture came alive to me. many of us take things for granted and beat ourselves and those around us due to lack of meeting certain credentials or criteria. Last night was a very stressful night for me. I was totally hungry and decided to get something to eat. I went out and finally got something really delicious to eat.  After eating i could not keep the food down, i was so nauseous and made several trips to the loo. I decided to try and sleep but my abdominal area was in so much pain probably due to the force of throwing up, eventually i fell asleep. 

Just before i fell asleep last night i sent Bae a message letting him know that i was not feeling all that well. I woke up to missed calls from him and my immediate response was to call  back. Unfortunately i caught him at a time of some spiritual assignment we are doing together and he dismissed me with an intention to call back later i guess although not mentioned. 

I cannot explain but a certain surge of anger came upon me and i immediately switched of my phone and coiled up into a ball and slept. All the while as i was waiting for sleep to take charge i was so annoyed. Then i remembered that God had been teaching me about our different languages due to our different life exposures and all. It eased me up a bit but i couldn't help but think that He held his spiritual growth more valuable than my life. I had actually called to gain some comfort from his talking to me. Anyway sleep did catch up with me helping me achieve some sense of relief. 

So when i woke up today morning for the second time to get ready for work i realized that i still had that lump in my throat/ uncomfortable feeling. I decided to ignore it and get ready for work , which i did, i prepared my breakfast and had it.  Thirty minutes had not passed when i felt so nauseous and rushed to the loo. I still could not keep anything down. Immediately from the loo, Bae called and as much as i wanted to let him know that i felt as though i had been hit by a bus i quickly answered his questions and said i was fine but was i really fine? i was not but i had just felt let down and by virtue of that, dismissed any hope of help coming from him at that moment concerning the particular situation.

So i left for work hungry as ever but with a resolve to not take anything therefore stay okay for the rest of the day. As i was going about my business in the office i was reminded that it is Chhrist who lives in me and not me, the old me has been crucified with Christ, but as is the tendency when we get on a diet to lose some weight, there are those days when we feel we cannot go on without that fried chicken or that pizza and need the help of our fitness trainer or our spouse to move on and keep on track. We have started a new, and we let out all those things that annoyed us and made us feel unwanted to each other, so we vowed to start a new and count on JESUS to see us  through. 

i have realized that our very nature is destructive and can lead us to hurt and disappointment. My thoughts towards him were not at all godly, in fact they were very selfish Yet i was encouraged that it is no longer i who live but Christ who lives inside of me, and He is the victory that overcame the world. He also says that He is able to keep that which we have committed to him until that day. So i felt the holy spirit restoring to me the peace, love and joy of having Bae in my life. We may not be one but he is making us one and i am happy to learn such as i move on in this life until He makes us beautiful in His time.

I cannot be that who i want to be for my Bae, but as i yield my life to the work of the spirit and let go so that Christ may live in me, he will quench the fires of our differences and give us grace upon grace as we grow in the fullness of the stature of our lord as promised in Acts.

Dealing with character flaws

Matthew 7:1-11

1 Don’t judge, so that you won’t be judged. 2 For the way you judge others is how you will be judged — the measure with which you measure out will be used to measure to you. 3 Why do you see the splinter in your brother’s eye but not notice the log in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the splinter out of your eye,’ when you have the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite! First, take the log out of your own eye; then you will see clearly, so that you can remove the splinter from your brother’s eye!

6 “Don’t give to dogs what is holy, and don’t throw your pearls to the pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, then turn and attack you.

7 “Keep asking, and it will be given to you; keep seeking, and you will find; keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who keeps asking receives; he who keeps seeking finds; and to him who keeps knocking, the door will be opened. 9 Is there anyone here who, if his son asks him for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone? 10 or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 So if you, even though you are bad, know how to give your children gifts that are good, how much more will your Father in heaven keep giving good things to those who keep asking him!

How sweet it is to trust in Jesus, i am so grateful for the Holy spirit. When Jesus was about to die He instructed the disciples to wait on the Holy spirit and he would be their comforter.

I am grateful for this gift, since last week i have been learning about character flaws. so many people have issues with character that is somewhat inbuilt because of their personality, their upbringing or their diverse life experiences. This is true for married, dating or courting individuals. I am a victim of this character flaws myself and some can be self-inflicting or damage our partners.

The spirit of God dropped this in my spirit several times this week when i felt justified to throw tantrums at my beloved; No greater love than this that a man should lay down his life for another, i often used this verse to demand certain things or attitudes from my bae, but God ministered to me that it also applies to me. No greater love than this, thai i should lay down my life for him. I started seeing my character flaws and the revelation that God loved me with all those. Romans 5:8 God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. God requires us to love even when in unpleasant situations. God's reason for love was that his eyes saw what we could become once we accepted His love into our lives and once it transformed us and for that he died. We also ought to adopt that. Love holds power to transform. Once we see through love what we can be and what our mates can be we are to pray for God to continue giving us love for one another and praying for transformation for each other. The God who called and placed you together has the ability to work all things out for good. That is why it is important to have God from the foundation and build with Him. He holds the master plan and can always be a point of reference.

So, how do we deal with character flaws? The Holy spirit reminded me of 4 basics that i would love to share with you from Matthew 7;

1 Do not Judge

Remember you also have flaws, do not be too hard on your partner when they forget something you have mentioned to them to either do or stop doing, give them love. Exercise patience. Do not take it as a defiance of your instructions or a lack of care for your feelings or emotions. Do not act out but be silent about it as you also look at your own flaws and understand that you are two different people working to be one.

2 Work on your own flaws

Instead of focusing on your partners flaws realize that you also have areas of shortcoming. Let your partners flaws prompt you to pray for your own flaws, and ask that God work on you and them.

3 Protect each other

Treat your relationship as sacred, special and valuable. Do not expose the things you are struggling about your partner with every other person. Firstly share it with God, if you have parents, pastors, best couple or friends that are prayerful and of sound judgement share with them for prayer and Godly counsel. Remember always share with the intention of helping and not making the other party look bad. Guard the relationship and each other. Be careful about your attitude when such flaws pop up

4 Keep Praying for change

The last part of the scripture says those who ask will receive, who seek will find and who knock will find the door opened. It also assures us that we being bad know how to give good gifts, how much more God to us? Do not get tired of asking for God to deal with the character flaws of your partner. This will be genuine ones and keep believing that He is able to do so. Do not get tired of praying for them, He is faithful and will do it.

I am also learning to do the same and for the time i have been doing this i have felt so liberated in my spirit. Do not be bound with chains and fetters in self-created prisons.

I leave us with this quote from Anni Franco

I know there is strength in the differences between us. I know there is comfort where we overlap.

May we find the strength

May we find the comfort