20. God’s love for me is not dependent on my self-awareness.

(Before looking at the questions below, take a few minutes to think about this statement. Invite Jesus to speak to you about what He would like you to notice.)

RECOGNIZING THAT EVERYONE HAS AREAS OF THEIR LIFE THAT ARE HIDDEN, HOW DO YOU IMAGINE THAT WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOURSELF AFFECTS YOU?

WHY WOULD GOD WANT YOU TO GROW IN SELF-AWARENESS?

DO YOU BELIEVE THAT GOD’S GRACE AND FORGIVENESS INCLUDE THE THINGS YOU ARE NOT AWARE OF?

Our true self is the person God imagined when He created us. Unfortunately, long before our true self had a chance to emerge, we substituted elements that were inconsistent with our true self. Some call this original sin, some simply notice that our human nature is prone to decay, decline, and disease.

Regardless of the explanation, we all fail to consistently live in our true self. Knowing this, we may be led to believe that God’s posture toward us will be conditioned by how well we are doing at becoming our true self. This is simply not true. God’s love for us has no conditions. The unhealth of our real self and the shallowness of our pretend self does not cause God to turn away from us or withhold His love. It may be that God doesn’t even see our real or pretend self but rather sees our true self, the person He created. God’s deepest desire is that there be a connection between Him and each person He has created, and that this connection is growing deeper and more intimate.

When we are stuck in our real self or when we pretend, it limits the quality of our relationship with God and limits our ability to experience the abundance of life that He desires for us. Since God’s desire is for our good and for the relationship we share with Him, He longs for us to grow into our true self so that we can experience what He desires for us. But it doesn’t cause God to love us any less, nor do less to seek us and work to connect with us.

God is willing to enter into relationship with us wherever we are on our journey of self-awareness and will make the best of what we bring to the relationship. Self-awareness is essential for us to become our true self, but God is more interested in a shared relationship with us than holding us to a journey of self-awareness.