One of the greatest dangers in the spiritual life is self-rejection. When we say, "if people really knew me, they wouldn't love me," we choose the road toward darkness. Often we are made to believe that self-deprecation is a virtue, called humility. But humility is in reality the opposite of self-deprecation. It is the grateful recognition that we are precious in God's eyes and that all we are is pure gift. To grow beyond self-rejection we must have the courage to listen to the voice calling us God's beloved sons and daughters, and the determination always to live our lives according to this truth.
Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey
6 comments:
the pics are awesome!!! Love that quote as well. one of the greatest gifts God gives us is He loves us as we are warts and all. I think the enemy likes to distort that on us and make us think if we screw up somehow it changes. never enough expressions of His stubborn grace and love for us even at our worst!!!
Beautiful photo and quote. Good reminder that we should not diminish ourselves, but be grateful for our gifts and talents, and recognize that they are part of a greater force.
Much peace & love, JP
I sometimes forget what humility is, but I ALWAYS know when I've been humbled...
Enjoyed your post and pics.
Beautiful words, and images to match.
Beating up on oneself, and wishing something would have been done differently is indeed not helpful. I have been doing this a bit to myself these days, and have decided, that it is enough, to stop. Then, I turn it over to G-d, and know I am in good hands.
hi there.
We are our own worst enemy most times, aren't we, believing that self-deprecation is a virtue, thereby rejecting who we really are. I could relate to Nouwen's words and to his message that we are all gifts.
We are all beautiful. And if the Big Guy thinks so, who are we to dismiss that? :)
Time to listen.......time to stop beating ourselves up......too much energy wasted when we have such BIG issues to tackle out there!!
BTW....the photo? If you havent double clicked on it to see it envelope your screen in large wet snow globes.....I'd recommend.....see if you can find the little lights tucked in between the snow.....tiny rays of light even in the dead of night.
Excellent quote. Thanks for this.
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