No Strings Attached

The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and abounding in mercy and loving-kindness. ~ Psalm 145:8 AMP

Conditional, covered-in-strings love reminds me of the “Bye Bye Bye” music video by *NSYNC.  Throughout, a girl controls their every move, as if they are marionette puppets, attached to her by strings.  We laugh at the overture, but for too many, it’s reality. But why do they expose themselves to that kind of reality, where love is tied to a string that the puppeteer can yank at any time?  Most often, it’s because the recipient doesn’t think they are worthy of unconditional love.

But that’s not what God wants for His kids.  He sacrificed so much so that we could know and experience just how much He loves us.  When you come face to face with God’s loving-kindness and then compare it to the ball of intertwined yarn that’s been the reality of the love you’ve been shown, it’s a stark, harsh reality.  It’s heartbreakingly devastating.  But God says you are worthy of being loved.  He loves you with an unfailing, never-ending, no-strings-attached kind of love.  God chose you and said you are worthy.

If you’ve only ever known love tied on with strings, it’s time to break free and run into Father’s embrace.  He longs to open your eyes to a new kind of love, one that won’t go away and will never end, because it’s attached by Blood and not by strings.

 ©Heather Potts 2016

Just As I Am

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. ~ Ephesians 3:17-19 NIV

When we are filled with experiential wisdom—the knowing that surpasses knowledge—nothing can take that away from us. When what we experience is unconditional love, it sets us free. And not just free for the sake of freedom, but free to be ourselves—to be comfortable with our individual uniqueness, just as God designed.

I don't wear make-up.

I don't buy "trendy" clothes.

I don't own a closet-full of shoes.

I cannot take a selfie that’s not up my nose.

I do my hair to match my day or my mood.

I scream louder than the boys for my favorite football team.

I’m highly competitive and love to play card and board games.

If I can’t see it, I can’t write it.

I love to dance and sing and laugh in my Father’s house!

This is just me.

And that’s the way my husband says he loves me:

Just as I am.

When we experience the unconditional love of our Father, then we are free to share it with others, through marriage and through relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ. If you don’t feel free to be you, ask God to allow you to experience His unconditional love for you.

©Heather Potts 2016

I Hate Pantyhose

None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing…absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us. ~ Romans 8:38-39 MSG

I hate pantyhose—and tights too! 

Early in my pregnancy with Savannah, I wanted everything to be perfect, so I got pregnancy tights… And then I cried! I cried because I couldn’t get them on comfortably. Later I cried because once I did, I had to go to the bathroom, and then I cried because I had to start all over! I was so afraid that I’d failed my whole pregnancy because I couldn’t make the tights work. But then a dear friend reminded me that my husband would love me whether I wore the tights or not. She even told me that she hated tights and refused to wear them herself.  It’s so freeing when you know you are loved! When I realized that my husband would love me even if I didn’t do everything the pregnancy books suggested, it freed me from a lot of stress!

My husband’s love for me gave me freedom. It freed me from pain, frustrations and a lot of wasted of energy—energy needed for developing a baby. But my husband first had to experience this kind of love. He experienced it through Christ, through unconditional love. He learned that nothing—not his past or his present, nothing within or outside of his control—absolutely nothing would separate him from God’s love. And once he had that revelation, he was free to not only love God, but to love me, too.

If you’re still fighting with the pantyhose—the things that cause you undue stress—in your life, just remember things will go wrong, circumstances will go awry, plans will fail, but nothing will ever change how much God loves you!

©Heather Potts 2016