Co4-1—Introduction

At the very Core of our Being, there is a simple, yet deep, truth about us that Jesus talked about over and over during his time on Earth. We see it stated most clearly in John 14:20—When I am raised to life again, you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

It is in this Core where we are meant to grow into who we have been created to be—who we really are. As we come to know and understand who we already are in Jesus—which grows from living right in the middle of the relationship Jesus has with Father in the Spirit—we will be able to share the life of that Core of Four (Co4) where we live, work and play—and we will find strangers becoming neighbors and neighbors becoming family.

The challenge is we often have the process backwards. We hear repeatedly that we are called to love God and one another, but we are just unable to truly do that until we have accepted and experienced the truth that God—Father, Son and Spirit—fully loves us. Already. Before we understand anything, we have already been adopted. Done deal.

Until we learn to live loved by God in our Co4, we will tend to see the words from Matthew 22:37-39—‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’—as an Old Covenant command to obey instead of a New Covenant reality being lived out each day. It is out of our Co4 life with the Triune God that the Living Water (John 7:37-39) flows and the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) grows.

These are not things that we can do from our own strength of will. When we try, and we all have, it is a burden too heavy to carry and leaves us exhausted, frustrated, and disappointed. We must learn to depend on God to produce this in and through and with us as we dwell with Them.

It’s the miracle of that Co4 relationship.

So, you’re invited to join me here, really investing deeply in your Co4. Let God use this time as a Romans 8:28 opportunity—invite Them to love and reparent you in new and healing ways.

We’re going to practice a number of Core Disciplines, starting with a series of affirmations. The first one is: Remember Who You Are!

With the next post, I’ll introduce seven simple affirmations that help combat the negative thoughts bombarding your mind and heart, making you think you are not worthy of love and that do not already belong.