When you fill a sponge with water and squeeze it, what comes out? Water.
When you fill a sponge with apple juice and squeeze it, what do you get? Apple juice.
It’s just a simple law of nature. Whatever lives inside of something – or someone – is what comes out of it.
You Give Away What You Carry
If there’s something I want to be able to give to others, it is imperative that I first carry that thing! If I want to give away healing, I have to carry healing. If I want to give away love, I have to carry love. If I want to give away freedom, I have to have experienced freedom myself.
You may have heard the saying, “Hurt people hurt people.”
And while that may very well be true, we like to turn that around and say that…
Free people, free people.
Loved people, love people.
Forgiven people, forgive people.
Healed people, heal people.
Many people desire to help others find healing and freedom when they haven’t experienced healing and freedom themselves. That’s never going to work. You can’t give away something that you don’t carry. It’s not until I carry freedom and Jesus and wholeness that I will give that away to the people in my life.
You Are On A Healing Journey
Does this mean you must be completely free before you can help another person? Absolutely not. If that were the case, not a single one of us would be able to help others. We are all on a continued journey of growth and healing that won’t find its completion until we meet Jesus face-to-face.
It simply means I can only take others as far as I have gone.
Prioritize Growth
So, as you seek to love and help others, you must continue to grow in your own walk with Jesus and your own freedom journey! Continue to prioritize your own spiritual growth. Grow in your prayer life and your ability to hear and discern God’s voice. Continue to seek Him for areas in your life where you need His healing, where you need to forgive others, or where you need to stand in your authority as His son or daughter. Grow in community with others. Seek out professional counseling when appropriate. Stay in the Word, be committed to a local church, and stay in accountability.
These are a few of the primary ways you can not only guard the freedom and healing that you currently hold but can continue to grow into more. And as you increase in all you hold, your capacity to give and love and minister to others will grow a hundredfold.
Mercy Multiplied exists to provide opportunities for all to experience God’s unconditional love, forgiveness, and life-transforming power. We offer multiple programs and resources online and onsite designed to equip people to live free and stay free in Christ. For more information about the services we offer, click here.
Want more resources? Check out our MercyTalk podcast episode, “Choosing to Forgive”. For daily inspiration, follow us @MercyMultiplied on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!
