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How Our Relational Style Affects Our Faith
I find that if I have a misconception of love and thus of God, that is, one that does not align fully with scripture, I need look no further than my relational style. Because we are in a genuine relationship with the Lord, we will often have similar hang-ups to those we have in our human relationships. All of us have a relational style, learned from parents and friends that we bring to our marriages and parenting. It should then come as no surprise that those relational styles affect our connection with God. A misconception of love, too, is common. As a naïve seventeen-year-old, I took my first husband’s overwhelming…
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The Happiness Manipulator: Codependent Christianity
One of my greatest strengths lies in my ability to lay down my own desires in order to make someone else happy. One of my greatest weaknesses lies in the fact that I am willing to give up my desires in order to make someone else happy. A bit of a paradox, that. You see, I am a happiness manipulator. We are used to seeing manipulation in a particularly virulent form on the dramas on television. Characters lie and set up situations in order to gain power, wealth, whatever. But me, I just want you to be happy. And if you are not happy, then I will go to great…