Spiritual relationship help &
Building self esteem
Chicken Soup for the Soul cocreators Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen with Chris Karcher
ABC's Dr. Timothy Johnson,
Finding God in the Questions, and Chris
.
Lee Strobel, The Case for a Creator, and Chris Karcher
Spiritual relationship help &
Building self esteem
Spiritual relationship help &
Building self esteem
Knowing Through Relationship
Western culture perpetuates the idea of an external God out there somewhere. The Bible teaches otherwise. “The kingdom of God is within you.[i] “The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”[ii]
This does not mean we are little gods. God works within, but is also separate and distinct from us. God is greater. God is always more.
The spiritual journey is the process of moving deeper into the kingdom of God. The quest to find one’s self is really a journey to find God.
God provides refuge from the storm. Life’s burdens do not seem so heavy. God does not make us immune to pain, but helps us endure it. He does not promise a life without struggles, but offers comfort and peace in spite of them. He is the source of strength to help you face your struggles. Our hunger for security, love, and belonging is fed through God, not the world. As we trust and believe, we begin to heal.
God created us to be in relationship with Him. This means knowing God through relationship rather than knowledge. It means resting in His presence and communicating with Him moment to moment, throughout the day. A friend explains, “Watch a child. He says, ‘There is a God. I love God. God loves me. He and I are buddies.’ He prays, ‘Take care of my frog and my hamster. Bless Mommy and Daddy.’ Accepting the Lord is the beginning. Then you move into friendship, working together daily. When you love God, God pours love into you.”
You don’t have to be a scholar of the holy texts to know God. He is not concerned with how much scripture you can quote or whether you went to church last Sunday, although worship and reading scripture are meaningful activities.
Legalism and works-oriented religion substitute rules, dogma, knowledge, and judgment at the expense of a personal relationship with God. It is not uncommon to become consumed with activities of religious institutional life and miss the joy, peace, and transformation of knowing God.
God asks two things of us: “love God” and “love your neighbor as yourself.” Loving God is our only hope for loving our neighbors as ourselves.
We are wired to seek and must seek to find. “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.”[iii] The promise is when we earnestly seek, we will find.
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Copyright © 2003 by Christine N. Karcher. Chris Karcher is the author of Relationships of Grace, Amazing Things I Know About You, and Relationships of Grace Workbook. To order books and tapes, schedule Chris for speaking engagements, or subscribe to Chris’ newsletter, visit www.relationshipsofgrace.com, email order@relationshipsofgrace.com, or call 1-877-GET-GRACE (1-877-438-4722).