Tag: love

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Longing for recognition

Lesedauer 3 Minuten

Recognition is one of the basic human needs. Everyone wants to be seen, “recognized” just as he is. The search for recognition is the search for appreciation, respect and love. In the word recognition we find the word “know or recognize”.
Who can satisfy this longing in us?

If we search for recognition from people, it will always happen that we will be disappointed. This recognition is often not unconditionally.

I will be considered if:

    I behave in a certain way
    I do what is expected of me
    if i adjust
    the more I do
    the more i own

Today’s society works according to the performance principle. People are valued based on their performance and that at school. That’s why the children are asking themselves: What do I have to do to be seen?

The need to belong somewhere means that we often have to disguise ourselves, wear masks and cannot be what we really are. This whole system leads to performance thinking, to do more and more to get recognition. We compare ourselves to others.

The striving to be seen can also lead us to perfectionism. Then we are driven, we want to make everything perfect, we always want to be better and we don’t want to make mistakes anymore.

This is how we make our self-image, our self-worth dependent on people’s opinions and assessments. We become a game ball, are manipulable and easily vulnerable.

I know performance thinking and perfectionism very well. For many years in my life, I worked according to this principle. I always wanted to please everyone and it was hard for me to say “no”.

Over time I became more and more dissatisfied and internally empty and trapped because I realized that it is never enough and it will never be enough.

When I came to faith and got to know Jesus, I realized that I was looking for recognition in the wrong place all the time.
What God thinks about you is much more important than what others think about you-

God leads me to freedom, God’s love for me is unconditional. I am valuable, unique and do not need to compare myself with anyone. I am a child of God, created in his image. God loves me the way I am, regardless of what I do or do. God never leaves me alone, he is always with me. He is there, under all circumstances I can come to him. He looks at me with a loving look, even if I make mistakes.

God is the one who “knows” me best because he is my creator. In his presence I can be who I really am. He sees me and knows everything about me. He loves me with my mistakes and weaknesses.

“

“Lord, you see me,
    you know me through and through.
2 Whether I’m sitting or standing – you know
    from afar you can see what I think.
3 Whether I go or lie – you see me
    my whole life is known to you
4 Even before I start talking
    you know what i want to say
5 You surround me from all sides
    and hold your protective hand over me
6 That you know me so well is beyond my understanding;
    it is too high for me, I can not understand it! Psalm 139: 1-6

“You created me with my innermost,
    You formed me in my mother’s womb.
14 Lord, thank you for that
    that you made me so wonderful and unique!
Everything you created is great –
    I recognize that!
15 As soon as I took cover in secret,
still invisible, artfully formed in my mother’s womb [b],
    I wasn’t hidden from you anyway.
16 When I was just starting
    have you already seen me Psalm 139: 13-16

“How overwhelming are your thoughts for me, oh God,
    there are so many!
18 They are more numerous than the sand by the sea;
    if I wanted to count them all, I would never come to an end ”Psalm 139: 17-18

With God, my need for recognition, appreciation, love is fulfilled in a way that no one could ever fulfill.

This knowledge of being accepted unconditionally with him, having everything I need in him, strengthens my self-esteem and my self-image. With this certainty I want to go out into the world, take off my masks and live in the identity as a child of God. I no longer have to adapt, do everything and everywhere, just to be recognized, I can authentically stand by my values ​​regardless of what other people say or think.

I no longer want to live to please people, but to please God. Thereby perfectionism and performance thinking have to go away and therefore serenity and peace come into my life.

“I and God” – we are always the majority

Quotation from Debora Sommer: “I am grateful to learn that I am not defined by my performance, but by my relationship with the Creator”

“What can you say about that? If God is for us, who can still be against us? “Romans 8.31

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Blessed Christmas

Lesedauer < 1 Minute

Dear readers and friends

I wish everyone a merry, happy Christmas.

Jesus is born, the Savior and Redeemer of the world, for every person who accepts this gift in his heart for himself

I wish all of us that we can be amazed at the miracle of the birth of Jesus and that we give him room in our hearts, that we recognize the impact his coming has for the world and for us personally. May Jesus find a place in our heart to live in it and to enlighten us with his light

” I came into the world as light so that anyone who believes in me will not remain in darkness. “

I wish that we could be happy about the gift of his love, his grace, his peace. Joy should fill us up because God loves us so much.

“And the angel said to them: Do not be afraid! Behold, I proclaim to you great joy that will befall all people ” Luke 2,10

“Because a child was born to us, a son given to us, and the rule rests on his shoulder, and his name is called : Wonderful Counselor, Strong God, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace”

I hope that our faith will become stronger and stronger and we grow in the knowledge of God’s love for us.

“Because God loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten son so that everyone who believes in him would not lose goes, but has eternal life” John 3,16

Zitat von Angelus Silesius

Angelus Siselius „ And would Christ be born a thousand times Born in Bethlehem, and not in you: you were lost forever.

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God does extraordinary things through ordinary people

Lesedauer 6 Minuten

Reading the Christmas story in the Bible, this year especially Mary, the mother of Jesus, moved me and I thought about her person and her role in God’s great plan.

What do we read about Mary in the Bible?

Maria was an ordinary young girl from Nazareth. She was a housewife and was engaged to the carpenter Josef. She had grown up in poor conditions. She had dreams and plans like many other girls of that age. One day the angel of the Lord appeared to her with a greeting and told her that she would get pregnant and give birth to a son to whom she should give the name Jesus. This Jesus will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High and his kingdom will never perish. We can imagine how scared Maria must have been. She was probably very scared. The angel said to her:

“Do not be afraid, because you have found grace in God.” Luke 1:30

Since Mary was still a virgin, she asked the angel how all this could happen. The angel answered

“The Holy Spirit will come on you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child you will give birth to will be holy and will be called the Son of God ”Luke 1,35

He told her about Elisabeth, who was pregnant in her old age and was now in the 6th month.

“Because with God nothing is impossible” Luke 1.37

When reading the story, I am particularly moved by Maria’s answer. She answered:

“I am the servant of the Lord and I bow to His will. May everything you said come true and happen to me. ”Luke 1:38

Mary was chosen by God, although she had nothing special to show, in the eyes of society at that time she certainly seemed unsuitable for carrying out an important task for God. She was young, poor and a woman.

What are the characteristics of Mary that have led God to implement His plan through her?

    Mary was a believer, knew and lived the Old Testament scriptures, and knew about the prophets’ predictions about the birth of Jesus.

“Therefore the LORD himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin is pregnant and will give birth to a son, whom she will call Immanuel. “Isaiah 7.14

When Jesus was born in the Bethlehem stable and the shepherds came to Mary and Joseph and told that they had received the message from the angel that this child was the promised Savior and Messiah, there was no doubt in Mary’s mind.

“But Maria kept all these things in her heart and often thought about them” Luke 2:19

    Maria trusted God
    Maria was willing to make herself available to God
    Maria had love for God
    Maria was obedient
    Maria had a yes to God’s plan for her life
    Maria was a servant of God
    Maria was full of sacrifice and devotion
    Maria was loyal
    Maria was fearful of God
    Maria was humble

Maria realized that God would do great things through her life, yet she was not proud or arrogant. Maria knew that this story was not about her, but something much bigger. She did not consider herself special, she had no special honorary position, she was aware that she too was a person who needed a Redeemer. Mary herself gives all honor, adoration, admiration, praise, worship to her God. This is expressed in her song of praise to God:

“My soul praises the greatness of the Lord / and my spirit rejoices over God my Savior. / Because he looked at the lowness of his maid. / Behold, from now on all genders blessedly praise me. / Because the mighty has done great things to me and his name is sacred. / He has compassion from gender to gender for all who fear him. / He performs powerful deeds with his arm: / He scatters who are arrogant in the heart; / he overthrows the mighty and heightens the low. / He gives gifts to the hungry and leaves the rich empty-handed. / He takes care of his servant Israel and thinks of his mercy / / which he has promised to our fathers, Abraham and his descendants forever. “Luke 1, 46-55

I can learn from Mary that God wants to use each of us and has a special task for everyone. Maria was a person like us, she heard God’s speech and acted accordingly. Your willingness was important to make God’s calling come true for your life. Besides her, God has called many ordinary people to make extraordinary things come true. Maria was important, but everyone is important to God.

“While he was still speaking, a woman in the crowd shouted:” Happy is your mother who gave birth to you and nourished your breasts! “But he replied:” Yes, but happy are all who hear an do the word of god “

“When he was still talking to the people, behold, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to talk to him. Then one said to him, Behold, your mother and your brothers stand outside and want to speak to you. But he answered and said to him who told him: Who is my mother and who are my brothers? And he stretched out his hand over his disciples and said: Behold, this is my mother and these are my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother. Matthew 12.46-50

What we can still learn from Mary is prayer. In the story of the wedding at Canaa. When the wine ran out, Mary turned to Jesus because she knew that he could help.

“Jesus replied to her: Woman, this is MY thing, not yours. MY hour has not yet come ”John 2: 4

Mary herself could not do miracles, it was God’s business, but Mary expected the miracle from Jesus:

“She speaks to the servants: What He tells you does” John 2: 5

For me, Mary is a role model in her faith, her humility, her devotion, her loyalty, her sacrifice, in her trust, in her obedience, in her love, in her willingness, in her humility, in her fear of God and in her yes to God. No more and no less. It shows me that God alone deserves all worship and honor for what he can do in us humans. That is why I do not worship her and for me she is not an intermediary or advocate with God. My mediator and advocate with the Father is only Jesus.

“Because there is a God and an intermediary between God and man, namely the man Christ Jesus” 1 Timothy 2: 5

We can ask ourselves today:

    Are we ready to listen to God’s speech, give ourselves to him, do we have a yes to HIS plan in our lives?
    Do we also believe that God can do great things in our lives?
    Are we ready to make ourselves available to God and to be obedient?
    Do we also believe and trust in God’s miracles?
    Is our heart also open to the love of God?
    Are we also humble to make sacrifices for God?
    Are we willing to serve faithfully?
    Are we ready to submit to God, to worship and praise Him for what He is and does?

God wants to use you and me to make His glory visible in the world.

Finally, a text by Peter Reid:

Every time I say, “Jesus, I can’t do that,” Jesus says, “I know, but I can.” Every time I say, “Jesus, I am not capable”, he says: “So what? I am capable. “And every time you say:” Jesus, it is not me “, then Jesus says:” Don’t worry! I am “. It doesn’t depend on you. It all comes down to Jesus! And the next time you think you have an excuse for why God can’t use you, think of the following people I’m listing now: Noah got drunk. Abraham was too old. Isaac was a day dreamer. Jakob was a liar. Lea was ugly. Josef was mistreated. Moses was a murderer – like David and Paul. Deborah was a female judge. Gideon was scared. Samson even had long hair. Rahab was a prostitute. David was too young – by the way, like Jeremiah and Timothy. David pretended to be insane – had an affair and ran away from his son; Elia was a suicide candidate. Jeremiah was depressed. Isaiah preached naked. Jonah ran away from God and Naomi was a widow. Job lost everything. John the Baptist ate grasshoppers. Peter was angry. Johannes was self righteous. The disciples slept while praying. Matthew was a thief. Simeon was fanatical. Martha took care of everything. Maria was lazy; Maria Magdalena was demon-obsessed. The boy with the fish and bread was unknown – until today. The Samaritan slept with several men. Zacchaeus was too small. Paul was alone. Markus gave up. Timothy had an ulcer and Lazarus was dead. What is your excuse? Please give me one more reason why God can’t use you? God wants and can use you! Certainly not because you are so great. But because he gave you a new life: And that is Christ in you. And from his strength you can learn to live.