Have you ever thought about this?
Deep down, all you want is to be beautiful, not just on the surface, but in every sense.
We long at our deepest level to be beautiful.
It's because on creation’s ground floor we were made to be a bride.
We are beings filled with longing, longing to be beautiful.
This longing guides us towards a life filled with goodness and light. It resides deep within us, woven into our very primary existence.
From the moment we are born, we have rudimentary desires for basic needs like breath, food, warmth, and touch.
As we grow, these desires intertwine with emotional needs for experiences such as nurture and connection.
We also have a strong desire to be free from perceived flaws and imperfections.
This desire is pure and unavoidable, but if we don't embrace it properly, it can lead us down a destructive path of vanity and superficiality.
However, if we embrace this desire and allow the One who desires us first to guide us, we will experience a joyful form of repentance.
We will invite examination and dismantle the negative influences that distort our true beauty.
Our desires shape our relationships and thoughts, defining our understanding of life and reality.
When our desires are driven by love and connected to the Love we receive, they become holy. They make us reject sin, imperfections, and anything that tries to control or define us.
Instead, we seek authentic transformative beauty, which is a cause for celebration.
This requires surrender rather than control.
If we find ourselves indifferent to sin, it likely means we are disconnected from reality and trapped in lifeless mere ritual.
We must connect with God on a deep level and let Him shape our desires. This connection is the source of true desire.
As we mature, our desires become more complex. We long for profound and trivial things, and our awareness is woven with intricate threads of longing.
Yet, the depths of our desires often remain mysterious and beyond our conscious understanding.
Through wise voices, we learn that our desires originate from and find fulfillment in God.
God desires oneness with us, not the loss of our individuality.
Paradoxically, as we draw closer to Him, our unique selves flourish.
In the Christian perspective, our desires align with our soul's rhythm.
When our desires are intertwined with the God, they reflect our true authenticity.
The Scriptures affirm this truth, as they contain many pleas for guidance, wisdom, and courage that resonate, direct and validate our own desires.
Our longings define us and are woven into our existence, even in the Lord's Prayer, which releases and permissions us to expresses our deepest need based desires.
The biblical framework reminds us that desire is inherent in us but can be shaped.
It is not a detached peripheral force, but a dynamic internal essence that needs nurturing and shaping, much like a garden.
Our practices, habits, and beliefs mould our desires.
The liturgies we engage in form the foundation of our understanding of ourselves, rooted in love and centred on desire.
Furthermore, we are beings of longing, intricately designed to love and desire.
Our behaviors are influenced more by embodied habits than rational thoughts.
That’s why it’s so productive to learn how to form and uproot habits.
Before we think, we desire. Our habits shape our essence. The shape of our essence direct our desire.
This doesn't undermine the importance of rational thinking but acknowledges the complexity of our nature—a symphony of desire, action, and reflection.
All of these aspects of solidly occupying the altar of our ‘first love’ and to participate in the ’bride making herself ready‘ are already waiting deep within us For us to take notice and attend.
The Holy Spirit’s basic task is to help us in guiding our desire to be a beautiful bride.
Unholy spirits conspire against all that bridal radiance. It exploits into power dominions of chaos and filthy disorder. To distract us with cheap desire. clawing at that base corruptions influence of lust, pride and vanity derived from all our superficial lazy, impatient and impulsive tendencies.
But if Love’s rule enters our realm, powerful strength is readily ours.
But we need to take a firm hold by connecting our own desires through faith in the majesty of this strength.
And celebrate the endless abundance freely given all the time.
And be determined to stay, rest and abide.