Are there ways in which I should allow myself to be vulnerable? - Vulnerability - TouchPoints

Genesis 2:25Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.

1 John 4:11-19Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. We love each other because he loved us first.

For those who are married, the next most vulnerable relationship (next to our relationship with God) should be with our spouse. There should be nothing hidden between two people who are married. The description of Adam and Eve’s original intimacy takes us back before the Fall, but their trust and vulnerability toward each other was complicated by their sin. Sin separates us from God and the people closest to us; it leads us to fear and distrust others. But John informs us that God’s Spirit and love move us away from fear (of judgment and rejection) toward transparency and responding with unselfish love.

Psalm 139:23-24Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

2 Timothy 3:16All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.

Hebrews 4:12-13The word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.

It is essential to open our hearts and lives fully to God and let him do his work in us to help us become all he created us to be. This includes being confronted, reproved, and corrected by God through his Word. If we pull away from God and don’t allow him to help us, we will never reach our God-given potential.

Matthew 5:11-12“God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.”

Hebrews 10:33Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things.

We are to allow ourselves to be vulnerable enough to experience humiliation and ridicule for believing in Jesus.

2 Corinthians 11:27I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.

We must make ourselves vulnerable enough to be willing to accept difficulty and danger in order to serve God.