- Abundant Life, emotional health, Emptiness, Fear, Self Awareness, self worth, Self-Acceptance, True self
The Five Wounds of a People Pleaser
I think most of us struggle with being a people pleaser at some point. Our development as adults requires that we let go of the fear of man as the Bible calls it. We first individuate from our parents, a task that takes decades. After that, we must carve out our identities, choosing what we will and will not stand for as a person. Often this process means eliminating friends along the way, determining which relationships are toxic and which are life-giving. C.S. Lewis famously said that man’s strongest drive was to belong to a group. In essence, humans are herd animals. And like sheep, each of us has gone…
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Five Predatory Forms of Manipulation to Cut Out of Your Life
Most of us are guilty of manipulation at times. We all want to have our own way and sometimes communicating our desires requires a skill set which we have not yet acquired. Or perhaps we have learned manipulation in our childhoods from parents who learned it from their parents. Manipulation in any form is an illegitimate way of getting what we want. Manipulation, at its ugly heart, is dishonest. The good news is that normal, well-intentioned people respond well to both honesty and genuine attempts at communication. After all, the main goal of real communication is to reach understanding, if not agree with another person. Learning to ask for what…
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How to Have Done with Wrath and Still Love Justice
My relationship with wrath is complicated, so when God asked me to tell a young woman I had never met that He was angry at those who had harmed her, I was a little nervous. I walked up to her and asked if I could tell her a message I had from the Lord. She looked at me with a little apprehension, quite rightly. After all, it isn’t every day a stranger walks up to you with a message from God. She nodded and agreed. Her friends looked at me as if I was absolutely crazy for which I couldn’t quite blame them. As I told her that God had…
Healing Through Art & Words
