Why Is Vulnerability So Hard?ಮಾದರಿ

"I'm never going to allow that to happen ever again."

After vulnerability led to woundedness, you may have said those words to someone, perhaps to just yourself. But, I warn you that you may get what you want but have yet to work out the way you expected.

C.S. Lewis famously wrote the following words in his book, The Four Loves.

"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable."

A locked door keeps everything out. It keeps hurt and healing out, but it also keeps rejection and connection out.

Here's the good news. Whether you've locked yourself behind a castle or merely struggled with trusting people, Jesus didn't wait for you to lower the bridge to him or open up.

John 3 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son." God's love for you led Him to send His Son to make a way for your heart to be healed! Romans 5 says, "God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners." God didn't wait for you to change your ways before He sent Jesus to die for you to be made new.

The barrier between you and others also exists between you and God. But the barrier between you and God has been torn down because of what Jesus did. Jesus is someone you can trust. When you let down your guard with Jesus, you are letting someone in who can be trusted.

If your pattern has been "pull away from God - feel shame - fear pain - build bigger barriers," have you thought about what an amazing thing God did when He moved toward you? John 1:14 tells us that Jesus became flesh and came near us. Romans 8:1 tells us there is no condemnation for those in Christ. 1 John 4:18 tells us that God's "love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear." By dying on the cross in your place, Jesus tore down the barrier between you and God.

If you want to break your unhealthy pattern with people, it's time to begin a new pattern with God. Before we move on to the final day of this plan, I encourage you to pause. Read and reflect on the passages I've mentioned in today's reading. Close your eyes and open your hands. Thank Jesus for dying in your place, and invite God to remove every barrier between you and Him.

On the final day of this plan, I'll share how you can grow in vulnerability with people.