{"id":1816,"date":"2009-12-04T00:13:37","date_gmt":"2009-12-04T07:13:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/astrowin.org\/rffriends\/wpx\/?p=1816"},"modified":"2010-01-24T21:25:49","modified_gmt":"2010-01-25T04:25:49","slug":"why-dont-we-change-our-self-defeating-ideas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/astrowin.org\/rffriends\/wpx\/?p=1816","title":{"rendered":"Why Don’t We Change Our Self-Defeating Ideas?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear friends,<\/p>\n

“I have to know if I am a horrible person.”<\/p>\n

This week we continue to consider a question posed by a participant on the healing prayer list. Last week we compared her question with the belief expressed by the “prodigal son” that he had sinned against God.<\/p>\n

In the parable, Jesus makes it clear that the prodigal son has not sinned. His father does not even consider the idea that the son has sinned. He just welcomes him home.<\/p>\n

\"Return<\/a>

Return of the Prodigal - Murillo<\/p><\/div>\n

So it is with us. Like the prodigal son we voluntarily left heaven, and we can return by our own choice. If this is true, and Jesus assures us that it is, why are we unwilling to accept this truth?<\/p>\n

Last week we traced our inability to accept the truth about ourselves to our split minds. This week we consider the question: “Why don’t we change our self-defeating ideas that led to the split in our minds?”<\/p>\n

Pardon my quote from a crude bumper sticker, but it clearly states the reason we cling to our mistaken ideas. The colorful but offensive bumper sticker read:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u00a0\u00a0love my XXXXXXX attitude.\"heart\"<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

While we may not identify with the crudeness of the bumper sticker, it identifies exactly the reason we do not change self-defeating ideas. We continue to believe them because we made them. We believe we love them because we are infatuated with their cleverness, but the cleverness of the false mind is not even a shadow of God’s love.<\/p>\n

Like the prodigal son, we got the idea that we would have more fun if we were on our own. We decided to leave heaven. We entered a series of hundreds \u2013 possibly thousands of lives, and as we entered each life we strengthened the idea that we are bad or have sinned against God. The conviction that we are bad, “a horrible person,” prevents us from accepting the truth that God loves us and will accept us back AS SOON AS WE ACCEPT THE TRUTH ABOUT OURSELVES. The truth is that we were created as love to express only love. When we remember this truth we will be free.<\/p>\n

This is the meaning of the biblical passage:
\n“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”<\/em> John 8:32.<\/p>\n

Jesus showed us the way to accept this truth into our lives by serving others. Each time we express the love that Christ shares with others through us, we heal the split in our minds by extending Christ’s healing love to others.<\/p>\n

Thank you for your part in strengthening the idea that love is truth.
\nEach time we engage in healing prayer, we help ourselves and those for whom we pray. Not only that, the love that we express touches many people we have not even met. It literally extends to be used where it is most needed. Your part is essential in the healing work.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\"John<\/a>Peace,\u00a0\u00a0 John<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear friends, “I have to know if I am a horrible person.” This week we continue to consider a question posed by a participant on the healing prayer list. Last week we compared her question with the belief expressed by the “prodigal son” that he had sinned against God. In the parable, Jesus makes it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-healing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/astrowin.org\/rffriends\/wpx\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/astrowin.org\/rffriends\/wpx\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/astrowin.org\/rffriends\/wpx\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astrowin.org\/rffriends\/wpx\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astrowin.org\/rffriends\/wpx\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1816"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/astrowin.org\/rffriends\/wpx\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1816\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2447,"href":"https:\/\/astrowin.org\/rffriends\/wpx\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1816\/revisions\/2447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/astrowin.org\/rffriends\/wpx\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astrowin.org\/rffriends\/wpx\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astrowin.org\/rffriends\/wpx\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}