Does God ever make himself vulnerable?
How do we make ourselves vulnerable to others?
Well looking at the first questions the answer right there in the bible. Yes the Lord made himself vulnerable. God sent his son Jesus Christ down here to suffer through the world of sin to save each and every one of us. (John 3:16) Jesus made friends with everyone including those who were hated. He made himself just like everyone else here on earth and was not ashamed to be who he was. Obviously he is Jesus Christ and was without sin so he should not be ashamed of anything for he lives without sin but he still is using his lifestyle as a model for each and every one of us. God did make himself vulnerable by letting his son here and his vulnerability has given each and every one of us hope.
Now on to the next question: How do we make ourselves vulnerable to others? This question is different depending on the person but some things I have noticed have made a huge impact in my life with this subject. The main thing I noticed is to get others to be vulnerable with you, you need to be vulnerable yourself. I usually keep a lot of different things to myself but when doing this "if you really knew me" exercise (going around in a circle and telling one thing about yourself that others did not know) at a bible study I started things off with something very deep about myself and soon my group of six people were sharing some of the things they have struggled with in life for 20 years. This was great for me and my fellow leaders because now not only are we closer to each other but we know how we can help that person out when they are having a tough time. Now we know what to watch for with each one of them. Another example was the other night just watching the show on mtv with a few friends that I had just made a few weeks ago. We decided to go around and tell one thing about ourselves. Again I started it off because many people were nervous and my story was deep. This lead to the other people there telling us different things about them that were so deep. We left that night with such a stronger connection because of a few words. Vulnerability will give you those connections and help you show God's love to others.
Vulnerability is not easy but it is an awesome way to get into the lives of those around you. It takes a lot for people to show the true them and some people never will. But just like in Shrek when you peel back the layers of the onion you get to see something people have never seen before. Look at the real person inside and let them see the real person within you.
Being vulnerable and getting to know others all begins with each and every one of us. When people realize that you are just like them and you have your problems they have no problem letting you into their lives. I never thought telling someone something about myself would make me be so involved in others lives. I can truly say that making myself vulnerable to others has opened my eyes on so many things. There are so many people that are out there that are struggling and need to see the love of God. Are you going to be that person that shows them his love? Will you be there to let them know everything is going to be okay? How can you get to know others around you deeper? You have opportunities in this life to impact so many people so take those. Just remember this quote from the show on MTV "We do not get to choose if we affect each other, we only get to choose how we affect each other"
If you want to talk please contact me. God loves each and everyone of you.
God Bless
Great topic Zak. I think the biggest road block for a lot of people is the fear of being hurt if they open up to others. If we don't take the chance though, we may never show our true selves to others. And we may never really know truly who the person is we are talking to in exchange. That's my two cents.
ReplyDeleteChris Flemming