Life to the FULL!

This week I have had two separate conversations with two different friends about what it means to live life to the full. What does a full life look like? And what, exactly, did Jesus intend with that promise? These two friends have very different backgrounds and we are all in different places in our spiritual growth.

Can a celibate life be a full life? One friend isn’t sure about that. The other friend has been a practicing lesbian for nearly 20 years. But ever since she was baptized in June…she’s looking at relationships differently. She has not been coaxed by any friends or Pharisees to shift her thinking. Really. You can ask her and she will tell you that nobody has tried to convince her she should stop being a lesbian. And she’s still not totally sure she will never be with another woman. What she does know, is that God loves her more than any other being ever could. And she says she feels like she is falling in love when she talks about her faith. And because she is falling in love with God, she does not want to dishonor the intimacy she is feeling with Him by pursuing sexual intimacy with women (or men) at this point. And she totally gets that by making that choice, she is living an abundantly full life. She loves God and seeks emotional satisfaction from Him. And when she has doubts, she reads her bible.

After examining what “life to the full” looks like in these two passionate conversations, I then got the message below from a friend who moved away last summer. Before she left, she said she’d pray for my writing endeavors. She said:

“Hi Emily! So, I’m praying for you and your future as a writer. I am part of a prayer group where we pray for the women of our church. We pray a scripture and most nights I like to pray their names in the scripture. I have been praying your name now, too. This month we have been praying for spiritual wisdom and understanding. One of the verses for this month is Eph. 3: 16-19. After praying this verse over several days, it hit me how our knowledge of God's love for us is intricately tied in to us understanding him, tapping in to the life and power that he has for us and shaping our future. As these verses state, the knowledge of his love for us anchors us in the world. The very cool part about this whole interchange is that God desires for us to know him and wants to empower us. When God uses his power the conduit is always wisdom and understanding.

So, my friend, I pray for you today to have the love of God seep through your pores and invade your very being. I then pray for the knowledge of that love to unlock dreams and to nurture you forward.

I cannot wait to see the outcome! You and Jesus on a special love journey that explodes in your art!

Best wishes for a delightful ride!”

I am blessed beyond measure to have a friendship with the woman who wrote the encouraging note above. I don’t feel comfortable sharing the gritty details because it involves very personal pains involving my ex-husband. But I will say that our friendship is a shining example of what is possible when two people work through a difficult and heartbreaking situation in full surrender to the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. With that, please enjoy the truth and grace that prompted her note:

Ephesians 3:16-19 (The Message) 14-19My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.

By embracing the redemption available through the sacrifice of Jesus, a full life comes in the midst of: healing after a broken marriage ends; and in the midst of re-examining sexual habits; and in the midst of applying God’s creative inspiration to who we are and the work we’ve been given.