This Week's Highlight:
They remind you that you are valuable and worth being pursued.
The one thing I've realized from all the God-centered marriages that I respect is that the man pursued the woman. Ok, ok so before you start barfing in your mouth and calling me a woman-hater, let me explain. I'm not talking about some sexist, misogynistic thing that says ladies need to play games and act uninterested or else someone might think they're hoochies. What I am saying is that we, as women, don't need to strive to demonstrate our worthiness to someone we're interested in. We don't need to strategically position ourselves at a certain event to grab someone's attention. We don't need to find an excuse to call the guy we're digging. We don't need to dumb down (or play up, for that matter) our relationship with God for the sake of someone else.
When I was single, I would consistently pray, "Lord, when I meet the man I'm supposed to marry, help him recognize me as someone he wants to get to know." I needed to pray this often because I struggled with feeling insecure in the Christian dating world. Why isn't anyone asking me out? Am I not "godly" enough? Are my jeans too tight? Maybe it's my hoop earrings. And on and on I went. Self analyzing. Self criticizing. Ruminating on ways I could position myself to be more attractive (in all senses of the word) to the opposite sex.
Now, in all of this, my girlfriends would help lead me back to the truth of God. Not only would they remind me of my value in God's eyes, but they also reminded me that I needed to look to Jesus to learn what my dating life should look like. In the same way that I don't need to convince God of my worthiness in order to be a part of His eternal family (an impossible feat btw!), neither do I have to convince a man of my worthiness to get him to date me. In fact, one of the most significant truths of the gospel is that the value Jesus places on us in his choice to pursue our hearts has absolutely nothing to do with our own greatness. On the contrary, His love is more beautiful when we really grasp that He chose us in spite of our own faults and failures.
I don't know about you, but that brought a lot of freedom and peace to my heart. And with that, I learned to embrace my hoop earrings. And my jeans. And the fact that my past is more than just a little messy. I love Jesus, but I'm still a work in progress, being refined day by day. I learned to trust that the Lord, in the right time, would provide the right man who would see all my beauty and all my issues and pursue me anyway. Just like He did.
Ecclesiastes 4: 9 - 10 - Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.
Proverbs 3: 5 - 6 - Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
Sharing is Caring: Post below what you are learning or have learned about this topic!
The one thing I've realized from all the God-centered marriages that I respect is that the man pursued the woman. Ok, ok so before you start barfing in your mouth and calling me a woman-hater, let me explain. I'm not talking about some sexist, misogynistic thing that says ladies need to play games and act uninterested or else someone might think they're hoochies. What I am saying is that we, as women, don't need to strive to demonstrate our worthiness to someone we're interested in. We don't need to strategically position ourselves at a certain event to grab someone's attention. We don't need to find an excuse to call the guy we're digging. We don't need to dumb down (or play up, for that matter) our relationship with God for the sake of someone else.
When I was single, I would consistently pray, "Lord, when I meet the man I'm supposed to marry, help him recognize me as someone he wants to get to know." I needed to pray this often because I struggled with feeling insecure in the Christian dating world. Why isn't anyone asking me out? Am I not "godly" enough? Are my jeans too tight? Maybe it's my hoop earrings. And on and on I went. Self analyzing. Self criticizing. Ruminating on ways I could position myself to be more attractive (in all senses of the word) to the opposite sex.
Now, in all of this, my girlfriends would help lead me back to the truth of God. Not only would they remind me of my value in God's eyes, but they also reminded me that I needed to look to Jesus to learn what my dating life should look like. In the same way that I don't need to convince God of my worthiness in order to be a part of His eternal family (an impossible feat btw!), neither do I have to convince a man of my worthiness to get him to date me. In fact, one of the most significant truths of the gospel is that the value Jesus places on us in his choice to pursue our hearts has absolutely nothing to do with our own greatness. On the contrary, His love is more beautiful when we really grasp that He chose us in spite of our own faults and failures.
I don't know about you, but that brought a lot of freedom and peace to my heart. And with that, I learned to embrace my hoop earrings. And my jeans. And the fact that my past is more than just a little messy. I love Jesus, but I'm still a work in progress, being refined day by day. I learned to trust that the Lord, in the right time, would provide the right man who would see all my beauty and all my issues and pursue me anyway. Just like He did.
Ecclesiastes 4: 9 - 10 - Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.
Proverbs 3: 5 - 6 - Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
Sharing is Caring: Post below what you are learning or have learned about this topic!
i always loved your jeans! i just quoted you to myself yesterday, "every woman needs a good pair of jeans." it was in lieu of recognizing that i am out of all my good pairs (they've developed holes and gotten baggy, not cause i'm thinner but because i stretched them when i was pregnant, so none fit right anymore!) anyway, good words and so glad you waited for Garry to "pursue you anyway."
ReplyDeleteHa! Yes Hope! Every woman does need a good pair of jeans. And a good pair of shoes! I'm glad I waited for him to pursue me anyway too. Thanks for encouraging me to wait for God's best! Love u!
DeleteI definitely laughed at "Maybe it's my hoop earrings". Totally right about the pursuit thing...throwing ourselves at men is also more likely to cause us to stumble in many ways.
ReplyDeleteGood point Katie! Definitely will cause us (and them!) to stumble. And all that just leads to heartache in the end!
DeleteI love this! Embrace the hoops! Gah I love Jesus!
ReplyDeleteYes, girl! Embrace those hoops! :D
Delete