We’ve Been Talking About Sex
Over the last couple of weeks, I have been talking about lust & sex.
If you have any struggles in these areas, when it comes to going outside of God’s boundaries, you are not alone. It’s an area where I have many scars & bad habits that I have had since childhood, where God is helping to restore me & help me see the beautiful gift that sex was always meant to be for us.
God made sex AND He made us… & He alone knows exactly what will hurt us or bless us, so it’s SO important to seek to live His design in these areas, versus our own.
But, God forgives, God heals, & God redeems where we have already failed or missed the mark. He can help us rebuild back to His beautiful treasure of a design that He meant for our blessing in life. So, turn to Him always!
Breaking Harmful Family Cycles
This week, I want to talk about overcoming harmful family cycles & while this may seem unrelated, for many women, it is not.
When we’re little, we absorb so much information, & unfortunately, we absorb the good with the bad, the unintentional with the intentional.
Our parents are human, (ie. they’re imperfect)… just like you are… & just like every other person that has or will ever exist is.
As humans, we may have good intentions, but we fail often. We want to be intentional, but we get tired & sometimes just do what we need to survive through to the next day. And we all make mistakes daily, no matter what social media will lead us to believe.
Because of this reality about humanness, our also parents made mistakes, despite maybe their every effort to do their best for us. And, even if subconsciously, we often absorbed those mistakes as our reality.
“Lord, Search Me & Know Me… See If There Be Any Wicked Way in Me”
That is why it is monumentally important for us to pray this simple prayer that we can see in Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, & know my heart; test me & know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, & lead me in the way everlasting.” (emphasis mine)
We need to be praying this prayer, as modeled for us in the Psalms, because we are ALL imperfect! AND, we were ALL raised by imperfect people, in an imperfect culture.
Too often, because we adopt the ways of our parents as our own, we live our lives & raise our children based on our personal upbringing as truth, never stopping to consider if it should be done any differently.
In other words, we do what is expressed in Judges 17:6 & Judges 21:25, “… Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (emphasis mine) How convicting this is for me!
Or, in Proverbs 21:2, “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, But the Lord weighs the hearts.” (emphasis mine)
What We Think VS What He KNOWS
We need to be turning to God to help us know the line between what we THINK is true, based on how we were raised, & what is ACTUALLY TRUE based on the full knowledge, understanding, & wisdom of our Sovereign, Eternal, LOVING LORD.
There are so many things in my life that I had taken as truth, even unintentionally taught to me just by my immature young eyes observing my parents in their own human weaknesses. I was too young to distinguish between acting in humanness versus acting in Truth.
Parents will never be perfect. They CAN’T be perfect.
But God IS perfect… in literally EVERYTHING… & He offers His help to us.
Intentionally Feeding Myself Truth
So, I have learned some things around this fact:
- I need to be learning God’s Word, so that I am training my heart & mind with discernment about Truth.
- I need to be praying that God help me not rely on my own understanding, but to turn to Him in & for & through everything.
- I need to give grace to myself & others, because we were not made to be perfect… we were made to need God’s help
Parenting with Purpose, Grace, & a Whole Lot of God’s Help
These realizations are things I am tucking away in my heart, in case God blesses us with children someday. A reminder to not act on emotions or fears/anxieties, but to lean into Him in everything & to demonstrate that necessity to my children.
I would want them to know I am not perfect & that I am not their answer… I would want to teach them how to go to Him for the real Truth.
All That He Is
Because I will fail, but He cannot fail.
Because I am weak, but He is strong.
Because I don’t know everything, even in the areas I think I do, but He does know everything & has infallible wisdom & understanding in all things.
Because I won’t always be able to be there for them, but He will never leave them nor forsake them.
And the same goes for a life without children: I won’t always get it right, I fail sometimes, I am weak, I don’t know everything (even when I think I do in some areas), & someone won’t always be around when I need them (But God will be).
Cling to Him
I need to learn to not rely on my own understanding, but to ask Him to reveal to me where I am believing in & living based on lies or even human understanding.
He never fails.
He is always strong.
He never gets it wrong.
He alone knows EVERYTHING with perfect understanding & wisdom.
He is always with me (& you) as our Comforter, Healer, Friend, Counselor, Father, & Almighty, Loving GOD.
God Sees Our Blind Spots
You & I may not see where we have misinterpreted truth based on our upbringing. We may not recognize where we’re believing wrongly about something.
But God sees & God knows.
And God has the power & wisdom to help us recognize it, to redirect us to truth, & to help us move forward the way He designed.
So, turn to Him in the big & small, turn to Him when emotions threaten to make your decisions & guide your actions for you, & turn to Him to help you see where you’re stuck believing wrongly.
He holds the answers that you seek… ALL of them… So, shine HOPE by going to Him for EVERYTHING… & break harmful family cycles for the generation to come.
Coming Next Week
Join me every Monday morning, EST, for more encouragement.
As God grows me, may it encourage you to seek Him & know Him & love Him more every day.
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A Note from Michelle:
This blog/website has been running for over TWO years now! THANK YOU for your continued support & encouragement. <3
If you would like to hear more of my story, check out the “About Me” page. And if you would like to hear how I found my lasting source of HOPE, read the “Hope Is Found” page, on this site. I hope they are an encouragement to you! <3
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Fashion as a Force for GOOD:
Each week, I feature an item that is changing lives for women around the world. These hand-crafted pieces are offering job creation opportunities for women artisans in impoverished nations all around the world! Check out this week’s featured beauty!!
Amie Bracelet (Haiti)
This elegant charm bracelet from Haiti will add a splash of color to any outfit with its multicolored hand-rolled paper beads dangling from an adjustable chain.
Artisan Information:
Haiti is home to almost 500,000 orphans. Many children are “poverty orphans” with loving parents who want to keep them. Your purchase provides sustainable income, so mothers can keep their babies.
Purchase this piece & empower a woman in Haiti!
Also Shown: Sunrise Bracelet (pinkish-Thailand), Rani Bracelet (blue/orange-India), & Moonstone Hoops (India)
How You Can Help:
SHOP Here, OR, Email me at michellehyde.tradesofhope@gmail.com with any questions, & I will message you personally with more information!! Thank you for inspiring HOPE around the world, Lovely!
Your purchases not only help these women, but my commissions help me to continue supporting them as well as continuing this website/blog, encouraging women all around the world with the HOPE we have in Jesus. Win win!
