Geri shared the following out of a Conversations Journal article by Henry Cloud entitled “Getting Saved” at a recent NLF Marriage Leadership Meeting. Her goal was to help us refocus on the central themes of our spiritual formation for the ministry in 2012-2013. God wants to heal (i.e. save) us and the people we lead so that we can do the following: 1. Connect Deeply with God and Others. Emotional connection is central to life. The Trinity lives in unbroken communion and union. God exists, three in one, in an ongoing, unbroken relationship; He created us for the same. How are your emotional connections with God and your family? 2. Establish Boundaries. God is free from the ones He loves. He stands up to the ones He is in relationship with, and set limits when He is violated. He is free from being controlled by those He loves. For relational or psychological problems to be resolved, this basic ability to be free must be “saved” or “healed.” Boundaries are taught in Scripture and God wants to restore that ability in us. How are you imaging God’s life and likeness in boundary setting? With whom do you have difficulty setting limits and boundaries? 3. Process the Difficult through Grieving and Forgiveness. So much suffering has to do with the fact that we were designed for a perfect world. As a result of our broken world, we have imperfections as do those around us. God deals with this reality through being able to grieve and forgive. If we can accept our own imperfections and grieve as God grieves, then we can become better at accepting others and forgiving them. The fruit of this is we get healthier, resolving the pain of past hurts and disappointments that have happened to us along the way. How are you dealing with the reality of pain and hurt around you? 4. Be an Adult. We are all born “little people in a big person’s world,” and we can stay stuck in a “one-down” or inferior position. God wants us to grow into adulthood where we feel equal with other adults, are capable of mutuality, and live out of our gifts without fear. We begin to produce fruit when we take responsibility for our lives. We speak out, expressing our opinions and beliefs. As we grow up from the child position we get well, saved, healed. With whom do you feel inferior? What is one action step you can courageously take to move towards the truth of mutuality? What might you add to this list?
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