How Vulnerable are You?

Looking at the quadrant below, how vulnerable are you? With God? With key relationships? In groups you belong to? Where were you in your home as a child or key groups as a young adult? In order to experience rewarding community with others, we need to be willing to be both committed and vulnerable.

THE BEST QUOTE I HEARD THIS YEAR helps frame this: We can't have deep community with EVERYONE. When speaking about relationships at the Joyce Meyer conference this year, author/speaker Beth Moore said we need to aim for:

Authenticity with all.

Transparency with most.

Intimacy with some.

This is just a tool to help you identify a trend in your relationships. Ask the Lord for wisdom about how and with whom you should move toward more vulnerable and committed community.

You will find that in different relationships and in different seasons of your life you find you move degrees in different quadrants.

Not Vulnerable Not Committed	Committed Not Vulnerable (author’s example of her friendships who she didn’t let “in” to know her truly)
Vulnerable Not Committed (author’s example of being a speaker sharing her past secrets with strangers in her audiences)	Committed Vulnerable

"…it boils down to a decision to love others and allow yourself to be loved. Surrender requires risk.” - Anne Marie Miller, Lean on Me. p 49

"The people who have a strong sense of love and belonging believe they’re worthy of love and belonging.” - Brené Brown

…the idea of surrendering or submitting to others in relationships is frightening and can be met with a tremendous amount of resistance. Do you find yourself hesitant when it comes to the idea of inviting another person into your life in such a vulnerable way?