Divine Love Proceeds Divine Change

                         

Dear Reader,  

Have you ever asked yourself, "When will I be worthy of being loved for who I am?" 

 

I thought of this today while reading Alan Cohen’s words: “If you simply love yourself, just as you are, right where you are, you will become an unstoppable force for healing and transformation.” 

 

Cohen’s message overturns a self-defeating belief many of us carry. He suggests that healing begins when we honestly acknowledge where we are and say, "This is who I am today, and I am still worthy of love." 

 

Through recovery and by letting a loving God guide my life, I have learned that I am not alone in becoming the person God intends me to be. It begins with a willingness to change, continues with actions that support that change, and grows through accepting those changes as gifts from God—known in recovery as a "Higher Power." 

 

Ironically, acceptance loosens the hardened soil of self-condemnation and allows seeds of faith, hope, and healing to grow in spiritual sunlight. 

 

In recovery, this transformation may feel slow. Still, we should remember: "We are not saints. The point is that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines." Recovery does not begin with perfection. It begins with telling the truth about ourselves and discovering that we are still loved by God and by others. 

 

The Gospel declares: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." — Matthew 11:28   

Notice that Christ does not say, "Come when you have fixed yourself." 

He simply says, "Come." 

The woman caught in adultery, Zacchaeus, and Peter after denying Christ were all accepted before they were transformed. 

 

Divine love precedes divine change. 

 

Sadly, many alcoholics spend years fighting themselves. Real change often begins when they stop resisting and start accepting reality. As the Big Book says, "Acceptance is the answer." 

Acceptance is not surrendering to our defects; it is surrendering to the truth. 

 

Scripture reminds us that we are not meant to appear fully formed like a blossom. We begin as seedlings, then grow, bud, and slowly unfold into full bloom. 

God’s view of the garden is much the same. We begin by admitting our powerlessness and the unmanageability of our lives. We learn acceptance, practice spiritual principles, and gradually blossom into the people God created us to be. 

 

We are not seedlings because God loves us less than the blossom. We are seedlings because growth is part of His plan. 

The moment we stop insisting that we must be different before we are worthy of love, we discover the power that helps us change. 

Divine love precedes divine change. 

🙏🏻🧘‍♂️💕🤗☮️