WoW 140: On false empowerment

Josh Kalsbeek: 00:00:00

Words of Wisdom 140 on False Empowerment I've been reflecting

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on the subtle yet significant

difficulties of transformation.

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One of the dangers is that while seeking

growth, healing, and transformation,

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you become falsely empowered.

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Let's say you've experienced

pain, trauma, or rejection.

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It cuts very deep.

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And so you rise up to fight

back, to seek to change.

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False empowerment can occur when your

ego, your false self, drives that change.

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We are all addicted to control, to

believing the lie that it's only up to

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me, that I am the only one I can depend

on, and so, instead of surrendering a

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situation in our will to God, we take

control and become falsely empowered.

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we weaponize boundaries.

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We lash out and call it justice.

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We take action to prioritize security

and safety instead of sacrificial love.

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We sit around our own internal campfire

and tell ourselves victim based tales.

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We whine to ourselves and others

with resentment and indignation about

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how bad and shocking others are.

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Beware.

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False empowerment is

deadly and leads to ruin.

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Jesus teaches that the resentment

log eliminates the possibility

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for humble self awareness and

ultimately surrender and healthy

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dependence on God in Matthew 7, 3 14.

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This is a hard truth.

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We all innately long to have

power over our own existence.

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But every mature spiritual leader I

know of knows better: you are powerless

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and desperately need to depend on God.

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So take action, but do

it in dependence on God.

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Surrender, quote, the flesh,

that small ego of self.

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Let go and entrust your

will and your life to God.

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Only then will your boundaries be healthy.

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and your heart centered.

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Only then can you enter the narrow gate,

ask what you want of God, and receive it.

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Perhaps there is more freedom for you

to experience, not by setting more

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boundaries, but by breaking down internal

barriers you've built to wall off love.

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Quotes.

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Judge not, that you be not judged.

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For with the judgment you

pronounce, you will be judged.

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And with the measure you use,

it will be measured to you.

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Why do you seek the speck

that is in your brother's eye?

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But do not notice the log

that is in your own eye.

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Or how can you say to your brother,

Let me take the speck out of your eye.

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When there is the log in your own eye.

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You hypocrite.

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First take the log out of your own eye.

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And then you will see clearly to take

the speck out of your brother's eye.

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This is Jesus in the greatest

sermon in history in Matthew 7, 1 5.

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All mature spirituality, in

one sense or another, is about

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letting go and unlearning.

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By Richard Rohr, in his

book, Breathing Underwater,

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Spirituality in the Tall Steps.

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Questions.

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In what areas of my life might I

be experiencing false empowerment?

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Are there any specific boundaries in

my life that I need to re evaluate

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from a spiritual perspective?

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In what ways do I try to maintain

control instead of surrendering to God?

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Is there a victim based tale or

internal narrative of resentment

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that I need to let go of?

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Use these questions to guide your

prayers and as journal prompts this week.

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End note.

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Perhaps the strongest thing

you can do is to become weak

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and surrender control to God.

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Live wisely, Josh.