Don’t Be Unfaithful to You (devotional)
Inspiration: So, I’m about two pages further in this Parker Palmer (2000) book than the last time I shared. He made a statement that led me to another “aha” moment. He said, “…self-care is never a selfish act — it is simply good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on earth to offer to others” (p. 30).
Isn’t that powerful?! Feel free to read it again. I did! This got me to thinking about what Palmer called “the link between selfhood and service” (p. 31). Here is what I want to share with you —
“If we are unfaithful to true self, we will extract a price from others. We will make promises we cannot keep, build houses from flimsy stuff, conjure dreams that devolve into nightmares, and other people will suffer — if we are unfaithful to true self.”
Reflection Questions: Have you ever bought into a vision that never realized (e.g., a man who was more talker than doer, an organization that did not produce what its motto promised, etc.)? Have you ever served in a ministry area so long that you became identified with it, only to discover God has more or that this is not you? Have you encountered the freedom of breaking out of that box? Or, are you now excited about who you are becoming but tired from the resistance of those who want to keep you where they know you? Have you ever been the unstable, unreliable person described in the above quote because of identity crisis?
Bottom Line: Before He formed you in the belly, our God knew you. And before you came out of the womb, He sanctified you and gave you as He made you to the place you would reign with Him. We quote Jeremiah 1:5 a lot. Today, read it again, but through the “true self lenses”. Are you living as the person He gave you to be? If not, shake yourself, and start being faithful to you. Amen? Amen.
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
Reference: Palmer, P. F. (2000). Let your life speak: Listening for the voice of vocation. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Blogs I Follow
The Bereans' Commentary with Shaunta D. Scroggins, Ed.D. 