Connecting

“A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.” William Shakespeare.

As I was teaching my Bible study this morning we discussed the need to have someone in your life who knows everything about you. Someone who has seen you at your worst and loves you anyway. That is a tall order when we have some things in our past that cause us shame. In our shame and guilt we build walls of protection around ourselves brick by brick, hurt by hurt. Unfortunately the walls we build for protection become masks that keep us from being known, from loving and being loved. If I am hiding behind a mask I will not believe that I am truly loved. I will always fear that no one would truly love me if they really knew me. It is in confession of my sins to God and a trusted friend that I create a clean conscience and dismantle the wall that keeps me hiding away from intimate relationships.

"Disconnection can be regarded as a state of being, a condition of existence where the deepest part of who we are is vibrantly attached to no one, where we are profoundly unknown and therefore experience neither the thrill of being believed in nor the joy of loving or being loved. Disconnected people may often be unaware of the empty recesses in their souls that long to be filled. They often mistake lesser longings for greater ones and settle for the satisfaction of popularity, influence, success and intense but shallow relationships. Disconnected people are unaware of what God has placed within them that if poured into others could change lives." Connecting - Larry Crabb.

James 5:16 "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."