Unconditional

It's been over a month since I've posted, but I have not been idle. I've been in and out of a lot of media recently and there's one thing that I feel lead to write today, so I am.

Don't ever be discouraged, Ever. Understand that if you are seeking after Christ, which is not an easy task, you will be used by God. There have been great things done and said by God in the most humble of places. All you can do in this life is seek after God and trust in him. In doing so you will love others and be used and experience a joy that's not of this world, a peace that is alien to this "reality." I understand that it sounds strange, and supernatural to say something like that and I also know that it turns people off to what is being said when something of that nature is being discussed. I know that it makes me sound like a ghost hunter, or someone that is giving an account of the abduction that they experienced in Aunt Edna's guest room when they stayed for the weekend last summer. And surely you realize that I wouldn't say these things if I were seeking the approval of man, or if I were trying to put forth an image that I'm some form of super disciple of Christ or something. I'm telling you that God Heals people, that God causes events that surpass what would be considered natural in this world. God does miracles. He is all powerful and he loves us and he will do whatever it takes to bring as many people as he can to his love.

That being said, he uses subtle things as well. You and I both know that this life, though it may appear so on the outside, is not about a popularity ranking, or about showing everyone else that you have it all figured out, or about proving that you are perfect or great or sucessful. It's about being conformed to the image of Christ. The goal of God isn't to make us sucessful servants. We're to be conformed into his likeness, to live like him. The fact is you don't have to move a fraction of an inch to be loved by God. You don't have to be successful, powerful, funny, or pretty, or smart, or strong, or fast or anything else to be loved by God. Your joy shouldn't come from your performance. In a world in which you've experienced hurting, suffering, and abuse there is a source of unconditional love. UNCONDITIONAL LOVE. The sooner you understand that your worth is constant, and that you're not measured by the amount of "usefulness" you are to God the sooner you can truly experience that love.

I'm telling you that the greatest act of faith you could do is to look directly into the mirror, knowing exactly how terrible you are, knowing all those things that you can hide from everyone else but can't hide from yourself, and then choosing to accept that God loves you UNCONDITIONALLY. There is no aspect of you that brings you away from that love. You are loved. Accept it.

-Archer