Category: Words of Wisdom

Joy in Humility

joyinhumility

Abraham answered, “See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, although I am dust and ashes.” – Genesis 18:27, WEBBE

The life, strengths, and challenges God has given me, I’ve realized, were there to make me ever grateful and humble. To know how much I have received and how much I ought to give in return, and realize how little I am able to do so. To know how high a standard I must observe, and to constantly fall, unable to rise without holding on to His Hand. To be given a vision of what one can do, and to bear the inability to do them. To see others accomplish what I could never do. To be content with what little acts of love I am capable of. And to be the beloved of Him who is all perfect and pure despite my lowliness. Such great reasons for humility and for unutterable joy!

I confess I am much happier because of my weakness than if – sustained by grace – I had been a model of patience. It does me so much good to see that Jesus is always sweet and tender towards me. Truly it is enough to make me die of grateful love. – St. Therese of Lisieux

Words of Wisdom

Love Endures

loveendures

Love… bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never fails. – 1 Corinthians 13, WEBBE

To love another is not always to experience days of elation and happiness. It is not a constant feeling of romance, of starlit nights and roses, of endless sweet nothings, of chocolates and champagne and lovely sunsets spent in each other’s arms.

In this life, to love another is to be able to accept everything and bear everything for the sake of that love. It is both living in joy as well as living in sorrow. It is both in bearing the storm and in rejoicing as the sun shines again. It is sharing days filled with adventure as well as days filled only with silence. It is keeping that flame of love alive both in days with your beloved and in days of waiting while he or she is gone.

Love is in life, but it isn’t fearful of death. Love is in health, but it isn’t weakened by sickness. Love is in wealth, but it isn’t conquered by poverty.

For love is beyond death or sickness or poverty. Love has health and wealth and life of it’s own. It endures everything and triumphs always in the end. In truth, if love be true, there really is no end. Only times of waiting and of silence, until it comes and revives us all again.

“O my God, I ask Thee for myself and for those whom I hold dear, the grace to… accept for love of Thee the joys and sorrows of this passing life, so that we may one day be united together in Heaven, for all eternity.” – St. Therese of Lisieux

Poems Words of Wisdom

Receive His Love

receivehislove

“Dear God,
I am so afraid to open my clenched fists!
Who will I be when I have nothing left to hold on to?
Who will I be when I stand before you with empty hands?
Please help me to gradually open my hands
and to discover that I am not what I own,
but what you want to give me.”
– Henri J.M. Nouwen

Before you give, receive from Him who has every good thing to offer you. Before you love, allow yourself to be loved.

It is only by being loved first that our love can be grateful, humble and pure. For we do not love anymore in order to be loved. We do not love in order to boast of our righteousness. And we do not love merely because we have an obligation to do so.

We love because we have been loved. We give because we have been given much. We make others happy because we are filled with joy!

There Is No Greater Love

You’ve got to allow God to LOVE You
From the very core of you;
Not the form that everybody sees,
Not the mask that you want
Everybody else to see.
You’ve got to allow God to enter
The innermost chambers
Of who you are;
To taste and see the real essence
Of your being,
Not the strength that gets sapped up
In your difficulties,
Not the outer beauty that ages
And soon fades away.
For you are not your height
Nor your stature.
You are not the color of your skin.
You are not your capabilities
Or your disabilities.
You are not the tone of your voice,
Or the power of your stride.
You are not your health,
You are not your sickness.
You are not your wealth,
Or the greatness of your name.
You are not your good deeds,
You are not your sins.
You are not the fears
That cripple you,
Or the courage
That makes you win.
You are whom God made you to be.
You are a spark from that
Unquenchable Flame.
You are His,
You’ve always been and always shall be.
You are the apple of His eye,
You are His delight,
You are the vessel that catches
The great outpouring of His love.
You are His beloved,
The one He awaits and longs for,
The one He teaches,
The one He leads,
The one He watches over
As you slumber,
The one He rejoices over
As you awake.
What greater joy is there than to know
How marvelous you are
In His sight?
What greater peace than knowing
You will never be alone?
That you are pursued,
That you are most of all desired
By the One who changes not,
And fails not
With all the burning passion of His LOVE!

We love him, because he first loved us. – 1 John 4, WEBBE

Poems Words of Wisdom

Loving Too Much

loving2much

“Come to me, all you who labour and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.” – Matthew 11:28, WEBBE

There is a certain fear in trying to love too much. It is the fear of being rejected. The fear of not being good enough to be loved.

We do not always see it. We hardly realize it’s there.

But we feel it in the hurt when our love is not returned. We feel it in the exhaustion of giving everything and receiving too little, of doing everything and not having anyone to lean on to when we’re tired.

You know then that you have loved too much. Too much and too little. For though you have given much, you had so little left to withstand the pain.

For who has not loved and not touched pain? Knowing all the we shall ever love shall never be faultless, and not all shall return the love we have given them?

Loving Broken People

We cannot exempt ourselves from the world
while we are in the world,
and while we are in it
it is our lot to love broken men.
Yet how can we do it
when we are ourselves are broken,
and need to be assured
that we are loved
that we are accepted
for being the broken people that we are.
We cannot love a person
with an all accepting, transcending and encompassing love
without being hurt somewhat,
without being disappointed,
without being failed
of our expectations.
We cannot love
without being broken,
yet we cannot continue in love
without being stronger
than our brokenness.
It is only in Jesus
where we can find healing and strength
so as to continue in this love,
so as to continue suffering again and again
yet rise again and again
in a love that is far above
any expectations,
in a love that does not retreat
from any hurt
or any frustration,
but in a love that dares to dare
in a love that dares to dream
in a love
that never ever fails!

“The man who fears to be alone will never be anything but lonely, no matter how much he may surround himself with people. But the man who learns, in solitude and recollection, to be at peace with his own loneliness, and to prefer its reality to the illusion of merely natural companionship, comes to know the invisible companionship of God. Such a one is alone with God in all places, and he alone truly enjoys the companionship of other men, because he loves them in God in Whom their presence is not tiresome, and because of Whom his own love for them can never know satiety.” – Thomas Merton

Words of Wisdom

Loving Our Scars

lovingourscars

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because… He who fears is not made perfect in love. – 1 John 4:18, WEBBE

It is easy to be confident when one knows one is beautiful. It is easy then to believe one deserves to be loved. And maybe that’s why we often desire to present only our very best to others. Maybe that is also why we’re afraid to show the imperfections we try to hide.

For how could anyone love us once they see how broken we really are? How could anyone love us once they see the many faults we hide inside?

But Oh, how we need others just to do that! How we need to be loved not only for our best but even for our very worst.

We can disbelieve most people who claim they love us for our beauty. But how can we doubt them who love us despite all our scars?

me and YOU

I am so small,
and You’re so BIG,
how can I ever love YOU
the way You love me?

Sometimes I hate myself
for just being me,
yet how wrong am I
to think that way.

For I am me
because of You,
and You gave up part of You,
so I can be me.

Please help me Lord,
to live with gladness;
Knowing that I am me,
and believing that each moment,
I shall be more of You!

“…we need to fall, and we need to be aware of it; for if we did not fall, we should not know how weak and wretched we are of ourselves, nor should we know our Maker’s marvelous love so fully…” – Julian of Norwich