Season 3 is all about learning how to love ourselves and each other every day in practical ways. We’re not talking about five love languages or how each Enneagram type prefers to be loved. We’re talking about the God-given needs that we wake up with every day because we are human, not because we’re weak or wounded or wired in a way that's unique to our personality.  Our God-given needs are the places we can receive love, and experiencing love makes life deeply satisfying!   In this episode, we unpack all the ways love meets our God-given need for protection. Without protection, we’ll be left vulnerable to unresolved habits because we didn’t trust the love that was offered to keep us safe--or because we didn’t recognize the protection that was offered to us as love.   Many of us don’t want to be protected. Just like a new puppy who wants to explore, we’ll dig under the fence to experience a bigger world, and most of the time, we come home wounded or confused. Or we don’t come home at all.    Love offers us a way home. Protective love is a “jealous FOR me” love that offers to keep us safe from what we’re not meant to live with, in the ways of bondage and abuse. When we prioritize building trust in our relationships, we can experience the full and free life we were created to enjoy.   Join us on this episode and linger in these takeaways: 

1. Permission almost always happens in a conversation. It’s one reason the habit of mature conversations is a big deal.
2. Protection often happens in the way we create the environment we live in. Love creates an environment for growth.
3. We often don’t think of protection as love. But when we trust it and begin to experience freedom, instead of bondage, we will recognize that we have loved.

  We mention these resources in this episode:  Education by Design, Not Default - How Brave Love Creates Fearless Learning by Janet Newberry   A LOVE IS FEARLESS episode with John Lynch - Why Love Is The Only Weapon Against Self-Sabotage   A ministry we trust - John Lynch Speaks