VULNERABLE

#2 Son recently encouraged me to listen to a talk by this lady~


Upon further investigation, I discovered she is one of the gurus for the younger generations.  She is a highly effective communicator who has done her homework and knows her subject.  Perhaps she is a little too worldly for my taste, but I came away thinking.  The sure sign of a gifted communicator is the ability to make us think.

Brene Brown has spent years studying vulnerability.  Her contention is you have to be willing to experience failure and pain to grow.  She has MANY good points and I especially applaud her teaching on gratitude.


During the video I watched  "The Call to Courage,"  she addressed the armor we tend to wear in our day to day lives.  It is no secret that I am protecting my heart and there is definitely a wall around it.  Brene's contention is we need to take our armor off and allow ourselves to risk pain to fully experience life.  I thought of the book our small group studied and I have spent a lot of time writing about~


In this study of the 6th chapter of Ephesians, we are told God provides us with armor to fight the spiritual battles of this world.  We are not only given this suit of armor, but we are also told to not leave home without it. Brene would have you believe unless you are willing to strip off your armor, you will never experience life to the fullest. (In all fairness, I don't think she is talking about our spiritual armor)  God tells us, through Paul, that we are in a daily battle with evil and must be fully protected by the armor He has provided to live life fully in God's will.  A direct contradiction to each other.  

Without arguing the contradictory points, I did come away with one conclusion,

We should all be willing to be vulnerable when standing before God.

When searching for the meaning of vulnerable, my ears perked up when I read~

UNPROTECTED

Unprotected gives me a clear vision of open and willing to admit the truth of who we are.  God already knows the truth, but we need to be willing to admit that truth to Him.  Once we face the truth, then we are willing and able to change.  Perhaps there is a common theme in what Brene is saying and what I am thinking.   She desires for us to improve ourselves to live life to the fullest.  My desire is to change myself (reaching for santification) to live life in the fullness of God's grace.  

I came away from her video with this conclusion~
Much of what she says is Gospel based.  She is trying to instill in man the very things we are taught in God's Word about how He loves us.  Our roads diverge when she seems to promote "Me" to an equal status with God.  Our joy and eternal significance is found in God~all else is of this world and will fade away on the winds of time.

 God is sufficient. God is good. God loves you. And Jesus Christ will never leave you nor forsake you. No matter how weak or vulnerable we may be, we can look to Christ, whose grace is sufficient for us and made perfect in our weaknesses.

My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses,
so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 
For the sake of Christ, then I am content with weaknesses,
insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.
For when I am weak, then I am strong.
II Corinthians 12: 9-10

4 comments

  1. I have learned that putting on the armor also means protecting myself. It does no good at times to allow myself emotion. However, with that said, putting on the armor also means not allowing someone to hurt you and just turn around and hand that trash plate back and tell them, "Here, handle your own trash." Sometimes, you just got to let it go, period. smiles

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    1. Amen to that, Sister. We are never instructed to be s doormat.
      Blessings, My Friend!

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  2. Living life in the fullness of God's grace . . . that is, as Christians, our ultimate goal. Any "me" stuff has to go out the window. Great thoughts here, Lulu!
    Blessings!

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  3. I must confess I stumble over my own feet quite often trying to get “me” out of the way. But with God’s Grace, I keep trying.
    Blessings, My Friend!

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Your comments keep my writing and often cause me to think. A written form of a hug or a pat on the back and an occasional slap into reality---I treasure them all!