limiting oneself

"Relationships are never about power, and one way to avoid the will to power is to choose to limit oneself - to serve." (The Shack)

I have recently been reading The Shack again as it really makes me think a lot, and it puts the description of the trinity in such an accessible way. I so often barely even distinguish between God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, but reading this book has allowed me to think of the roles of each while also in perfect unity as One. Of course, it still confuses me quite a bit, but I love to think about it especially the mystery of the Holy Spirit always with us.

Well, anyway this one quote (or actually entire passage on page 106) really stuck out to me about limiting oneself in relationships. The passage is concerning Mack, the main character, talking to God and the Holy Spirit about his family, but questioning why he needs to tell them, as he of course knows that God and the Holy Spirit are already all-knowing. The Holy Spirit responds, "Remember that choosing to stay on the ground is a choice to facilitate a relationship; to honor it. Mackenzie, you do this yourself. You don't play a game or color a picture with a child to show your superiority. Rather, you choose to limit yourself so as to facilitation and honor that relationship. You will even lose a competition to accomplish love. It is not about winning and losing, but about love and respect." I really do believe this is true about God, which is why I pray and know that He listens even if He already knows.

Also, this stuck out to me a lot based on my work. I work with children all day, everyday and often times try to see life in their shoes in order to better connect. Specifically I think about reading with my two teenage boys who are just learning how to read. When reading today, we all took turns reading and then I also asked comprehension questions and expounding on the story. They know that when I ask them questions that I already know the answers to it is not to make fun of them or to prove I'm better, but for them to learn and because I want to know what they are thinking. I am not sure that I am able to communicate this very well exactly, but I do know that I want to be able to limit myself, or put others' first, in all relationships. I think that to be a true servant and loving daughter of God, I need to step back and make sure that I am not trying to gain power through my actions but rather respecting and honoring my relationships through service. I definitely need to rely more on God for such actions to happen, but I pray that I can move more in this direction.

The Shack explains all of this a lot better than me, but it definitely got me thinking a bit. I'd recommend reading it or rereading it if you've got the time.

Dios les bendiga, amigos!

Love,

Taylor