#PreApproved Writer of the Week: Darlene Collazo
#PreApproved Sisterhood Series
Welcome to a new series, hosted here on the blog. Every Tuesday night, one of our PreApproved sisters will share her story on letting go of a love idol.
Together, we’re giving up our love idols, and we’re not taking them back.
We are already approved; we have nothing to prove. In Christ, we are #PreApproved.
Your Life {It Already Counts}
Darlene Collazo
It’s early morning. I look at my running sneakers. They mock me. What I do can hardly be considered running. Either way, I put them on, lace them up, and head out the door. I’m not forcing it. Surprisingly, I don’t have to convince myself why working out in the morning is the best option for me. It’s just happening, one foot in front of the other.
After about 40 minutes, I reach the dreaded hill. I huff and puff my way up, every step taking me closer to my destination point — home. That’s when I turn the corner. To the left of me is an old graveyard.
‘Help me make my life count…’ The thought hastily comes to the surface.
It comes from a place where fear of never measuring up takes up residence in my soul. It’s the place that spurs me on to do more and more that I might be accepted, loved, and recognized. It comes from that part of me that longs to be seen and yearns to be included while I simultaneously hide behind a veil, hoping I won’t be recognized.
‘Life is like a vapor. Lord, Help me to make mine count.’
Then as quickly as these thoughts surfaced, I felt the Holy Spirit saying, “Your life already counts. Because it counts, I gave my life for you. Because I gave my life for you, it already counts.”
See, there’s nothing I can do that will make God love me more than He already did when He thought me up in all His magnificent wisdom. There’s nothing I can accomplish that will make Him love me any more than He did when He walked his bloodied feet down Calvary.
It was His immense love that took Him to the cross for me and it was His great love that kept Him nailed there, paying the price for my condemnation. And isn’t this what really matters? That He should think the world of us?
If I take my last breath having done brilliant and remarkable things, would that not pale in comparison to waking up in Eternity to His magnificence?
The running sneakers have quieted their mocking. The gravestones silently bear witness. God’s glory is here, His Presence shaking loose the platform on which I’ve elevated my Love Idols.
Your value comes from Me.
Your worth comes from Me.
You’re accepted in Me.
Your life already counts because of Me.
And somehow, I arrived back home a different person. I used to think I had to do whatever it took to make my life count. Now, I’m learning that my life counts because He says so. Period.
My name is Darlene Collazo, and I am preapproved!
Darlene Collazo. Daughter of the King. Proud wife. Mama. Encourager. Avid Reader. Lover of words and all things creative. Find me writing on {In Pursuit} (about faith, family, and living {In Pursuit} of the abundant life God’s given us. Connect with me on Facebook | Twitter | or {In Pursuit} the blog.
THE LOVE IDOL MOVEMENT
Click here to find out more about the Love Idol movement.
Click here to purchase the book that inspired the movement.
Click here to join us on Facebook as we lay down our Love Idols and declare our #preapproved status in Christ.
THE PRINTABLES
Click here to print the black and white preapproved cutouts.
Place these where ever your Love Idols have lurked!
A pink PreApproved printable: to frame, to put on your refrigerator, to give to a friend.
Click here to print. My gift to you, brave soul!
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