Stepping Stones: How Open Are You?

Transformational Tip
As a young adult, I was the greatest thing since sliced bread…in my eyes. When I met someone I was infatuated with, I tried so hard to hide the skeletons, hurts, defects, fears I had inside. I feared if they saw those things, they would reject me. That is the lesson I learned in childhood, conditional acceptance. It is a habit, pattern that continued into my spiritual world as well. For so long, I had closed off parts of my life from God. I believed I could only bring a “cleaned-up” version of myself to Him. How ignorant…how futile. Wounds and sins that we try to shut away from the light of His love will only fester, get worse, then infect other areas of our life. They rot and get wormy. Secret sins that we try to “hide” from our Lord can split off and develop lives of their own…controlling us without us even realizing it. Creating and building debilitating fear.
Today, open yourself completely to God. Open yourself to His transforming and healing presence. Let his brilliant love-light search out and destroy your hidden fears. Tell Him directly about one fear you struggled with today. Click here to share with the stepping stone community your thoughts on opening yourself fully to God.

Prayer
Dear Father,
You know me inside and out. I no longer want to hide things from You. I am tired of hiding my wounds from You, then having to bear them all myself. Thank you for taking my yoke, and bearing my pains. I pray that Your love-light will seep deeply into the inner recesses of my being. Help me to understand Your perfect love…and to believe that perfect love drives out fear. I pray this in the unconditional name of Jesus, and all God’s children said, – AMEN!

The Truth
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139:23-24
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
1 John 4:18