To be loved and accepted runs deep. It's hardwired in us from the birth stories of orphanage, infants who do not thrive as they are denied physical touch and gentle, nurturing our heart ringing reality of this need our souls need nurturing and love. On today's podcast, I will be talking about love and truth and how they're related and necessary for our soul. The need to be loved and accepted follows us into adulthood and if this need isn't met or hasn't been met, we find that we began to make small compromises in order to get these needs met. The deep soul need to be loved and the need to be accepted as days and months. Melton two years. If our soul needs are not met, we find that we become someone we hardly recognize and perhaps don't like very much because the drive to be loved and accepted is so strong. This strong soul drive and we attempt to get this need met any way we can. Some of it, it ain't pretty. We do things we never thought we would do, and I'm not saying that this has to be heinous. Things of crime shows, but things that are in our nature we would never imagine doing. We do these things to get the need for love met or we do things to numb the feeling and the pain of abandonment and lack of love, so striving even harder to gain, love to be accepted. We think things we never thought we would think about because we tell ourselves a story about the why. Why don't we receive the love we desire? What is wrong with me? Can you hear the shame and this message here we ask ourselves, why are we not accepted? Why are we not loved? Why do I not belong anywhere? Where do I belong? And the feeling of abandonment overwhelms our heart. Fear overrides love. We have nothing to give, so creating the story to answer these questions of why we may be we may be calm, someone we never thought we would be perhaps becoming so negative that we find people avoiding us and that we don't keep friends or relationships very long This furthers the message of abandonment as it seems to follow us wherever we go. Building on the story we were, we created. Shame is quick to step in with this message. C, you are unlovable. No one can stand to be around you. You're annoying. That is why you are never included. It is because you're so weird that no one likes you or some such message. The cycle continues. The story builds. The message becomes more frequent and with such intensity that are dry for love and acceptance becomes frenetic. The story we tell ourselves becomes part of the fabric of our life, but it is an imposter, a liar. It is not our truth. It is a thread of a lie that has become woven into our life by rehearsing that lie and it's not something we've done on purpose. It's nearly a subconscious level. We may be come to realize that we have become someone we never expected to be and with shame in the mix. It keeps our tender soul in hiding, rehearsing the story that no one would understand, that we're too weird that no one's been through this. Our attempts at getting needs for love met in ways that we were never meant for us. They fall flat each time we fill our mouths in our stomachs with food that has nothing to do with fuel. We fill our minds with things that numb the pain and sorrow we feel we feel our airwaves with volume so loud in an attempt to block out the quiet ego of our souls crying for help, longing for love, and it all seems pretty hopeless. We pursue every avenue possible to receive love and acceptance, but the one and only way that truly fulfills so we pursue these, but ignore the truth that fulfills the wonderful fact is the unchanging truth is we are just one step away from change because there is hope and now for some of these truths, we cannot change the past, but we can start a new story. There is hope we cannot redo history or undo history, but we can turn and start a new way to live in truth and love. We cannot go back to yesterday or yesterday years. Nothing in the past can be changed, but the truth is we can make a change that will allow us to receive love, no acceptance, and not feel abandoned or not good enough any longer. We're just one step away from change to begin to live. Loved. It sounds simple and it is, but it's not easy to implement. There is no quick fix, but there is a lasting change. Truth. The definition of truth is a verified or indisputable fact or principle. It's agreement with a standard or original. Our culture doesn't often want truth, not real truth, but when I'm about to tell you requires an openness to hear truth and my hope is that you will embrace it. Why? Because I care about you. I don't want you stuck in the lies in the story that you've been told and continue to tell yourself. I want you to pull that thread of a lie from the fabric of your life and the change of which I speak of has four components. Now stay with me here. I'm telling you this because I care for you. That's why I'm doing this podcast. So the change of which I speak, the four components, surrender, forgiveness, truth, which then yields abounding, enduring love. The first word surrender. It sounds scary, doesn't it? The concept of surrender, but please stay with me. Surrender. It leads to thoughts of giving up without hope, without power, surrender to brainwashing, checking your brain at the door type of thinking, but the surrender of which I speak is life giving and life changing. A trade of are messed up. Life to a new life and a new beginning, a surrender of the old way of doing things for the new, as designed by as designed way of doing things. This surrender is the getting rid of the old and receiving the new sounds great, doesn't it? How often do we go bag up and surrender our old clothes? We no longer we no longer like and then take the money and buy new. That's the surrender of which I refer to, but it's much better. Another element of this surrender, and you can call it faith, is a bit like getting into our car every day. Every time we get into our car, we surrender unconsciously to the car maker skill, trusting that the car will perform as expected, surrendering to the functionality of the vehicle, and it's designed to get us to our destination safely. We do this type of surrender everyday without thinking, and we do it in different ways beyond just driving or getting new clothes, so the surrender of which I speak unburdens and unchains our souls. It allows us to walk in the freedom of what we were meant to be. It allows us to use our unique gifts to their fullest potential and these gifts you may not even have thought of for years having tucked away this surrender allows us to embrace our true identity. This surrender is to God and his way to surrender to the one who created us in his image to reflect his character in our gifts and talents, and with surrender comes forgiveness. We must all live in forgiveness, not forgetfulness, but active forgiveness, making that choice. We may say we have no wrongdoing to which we need forgiveness, but let me ask you these questions. Consider this. Are you speaking truth to your soul each day? Are Your words spoken or unspoken? True and loving, kind and encouraging. Always. Have you ever told a lie? Have you ever spoken harshly to someone? Have you ever taken a paper clip from the office or made copies without paying for them at the office? The truth is we all need forgiveness. We need to lighten our soul, a receiving forgiveness and then extending forgiveness to others, forgiving others as well as receiving forgiveness, and we are just one step away from forgiveness. There is no series of steps only a receiving of what has already been done for you then extending to others to forgiveness you received from the one who created you. The Bible also speaks of truth. I love it. That truth is unchanging. Our stories, our perceptions are everchanging. Contemporary Culture may call them our truths, but they're not truths. Truth is constant. It's static, it's unchanging, and that's really good news. Amidst life's chaos and mess, we can cling to unchanging truth, much like a shelter in the cleft of a rock. In the midst of a storm, we can find shelter and foundation in truth which allows us to embrace something better, to embrace and live a loved life which allows us to create a lovely life to live loved as author Lisa terkeurst says, to live loved is not awesome and we're just one step away from that, from change, from turning and coming to life as it was supposed to be. One step away from enjoying living life on purpose, living life out loud, using all our gifts and talents, living loved, love getting our soul filled with love. We have long for perhaps you have. Strive for this longer than you would care to admit. Trying everything and finding that nothing fills your soul. Need. Love a settling into just being and receiving love, a confidence and peace that you are loved because the creator of the universe declares his love for you and the evidence of that love is found in his son Jesus, Jesus, Yeshua, Messiah, Savior on the Cross for me and for you, he demonstrated surrender. The king of all creation demonstrated, demonstrated surrender with his arms wide open and surrender to God. The father, Jesus, his arms wide open to receive those who receive him and this life of love. It's not one about restrictions or regulations and rules, religion that mankind has created that has no life of love. This love life is all about relationship. A relationship with the one who loves perfectly his life in us is a grand awakening to all we were and are created to be his life in us is abounding joy and grand adventure and this life given us until until death do us part. We soon come to realize that his love has never let us go. That one step perhaps for you, it may just be turning back around to him or it may be stepping into the invitation he has given you by his life, for you. In his presence is where our soul is nourished, filled, loved. Take that step. You're not alone and you never have been. Truth tells us the issue. Truth gives us a solution. Surrender is the step for reconciliation to God where we can receive the love, our heart longs for surrender to God, receiving his forgiveness and in turn extending forgiveness to others. Then receiving what we have long for love, belonging, acceptance, and our best life is up ahead. Are you ready to step into it? God's word to us in his story of his plan for humanity and it doesn't include the striving and the shame. We have lived his words to tell us the truth, and I love this. He has a new name for us, a new name for a new beginning. He has a new life and an invitation to join him on this magnificent journey any eternity which starts now. I'm so thankful that you joined me today, Sandra Vernon, with the art of connection.