Consider the prostitute who washed the feet of Jesus with costly perfume mingled with her tears, and who dried his feet with the hair on her head. What desperate courage it must have taken for her to step into the house of a Pharisee (one of the self-righteous, judgmental pastors of Jesus’ day) and perform such an act. She saw a way out, a way to move from the life she had fallen into for whatever reason, and she took the risk of betting on Jesus.
Jesus recognized her love and received it openly. Peter, on the other hand, wasn’t about to let Jesus stoop to wash his feet. Peter hadn’t moved very far in three years from the man in the boat who told Jesus to “go away, I am a sinful man” (Luke 5:8). Peter still saw his worth as connected to what he had done, and what he had done to who he was (John 13:3–9). That is so easy to do. We believe God loves us or shuns us based on what we do—and so we believe lies about both him and ourselves.
Recognizing the lies you’ve believed about God will mark the turn of the tide in your becoming a Beloved Son. Once you uncover and unsubscribe to them, a main artery in the flow of God’s love to your heart gets unblocked. You can receive his love openly, freely—and so you can also openly and freely offer love from a whole and full heart.
Ask God right now, “Father, what lies have I been believing about you that are in the way of experiencing your love?” We know the truth in our head that God loves us and that nothing can separate us from that love; but after He reveals what lies and agreements are standing in the way of experiencing that love, confess and renounce them, and invite Holy Spirit to speak what is true instead.
An excerpt from The Heart of a Warrior Journal Workbook.
