When this particular boy was not fighting with this particular girl, they seemed to be living in some sort of alternate universe of sheer joy and complete self-confidence. On these good days this girl would float through the hallways with a huge grin on her face, oblivious to the gossip going on all around her predicting the time and place of their next huge meltdown. . .
You see, when that boy loved her, it seemed to me like she was invincible! So long as she felt confident in his feelings for her and her status as his girlfriend, all of the negativity around her seemed completely irrelevant. It was like watching a scary movie; totally horrific but completely addicting.
The other day I wrote about how important it is for us to understand our princess status as children of God. I wasn't referring to some superficial confidence, or poofy dresses and tiaras. I was talking about seeing ourselves as God sees us in Christ. I was alluding to the alternate universe that we actually belong to where we are loved beyond measure and accepted just as we are.
You see, when we understand our "princess status" as believers, then we get to walk through this life filled with the sheer joy and complete confidence of knowing that we belong to God. We can slap a big, silly grin on our faces and become invincible to the gossip and negativity around us. We can love others without the fear of them one day refusing to return our love because we've received all the love we'll ever need in Jesus.
I think understanding this reality is especially important for girls because we tend to struggle way more with feelings of insecurity and unlove. Maybe that isn't always true, but it seems to be the trend in my life.
Lets take, for example, the 4 month period when Matt and I were engaged and living 3 hours apart. We would talk on the phone most evenings, and when it came time to say goodbye the awful cycle would begin. I would feel sad that we had to say goodbye, and I would try to prolong it. Matt would get frustrated that I was prolonging it because he had to go work on a paper, so he would just get a brief "talk to you later" in there and be on his way. I would shut my phone and cry for 3 minutes, feeling completely abandoned and unloved and then I would called Matt back. . . He would then assure me of his love and we would begin the whole hanging up routine again.
My word. I really was insane.
So maybe you aren't that crazy - but for me feeling completely secure and confident in the way someone else feels about me is difficult. I tend to compare myself with others and often find myself wanting. I don't always feel like I deserve the love of the people in my life, so I try my very hardest to earn it.
Do you want to know something amazing? That isn't how God's love works. There isn't some way that we have to earn our princess status in Christ. Here's what we do: we admit that we are broken; we confess that we have sinned; we believe - not just with our minds, but with our hearts, hands & feet that Jesus can wash us clean. . . and we rest in the knowledge that His love is enough!
I don't have to worry about earning His love any more than I need to try and make you like me. I can walk through this hallway of life focused on the alternate universe that will one day be my home. . . smiling because His love for me is not explosive and unpredictable. It is never changing, never fading, always present love. And it is all I will ever need in this life and the next.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2:9-10
There you go friends; Princess 101.
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