Walk in Victory
Today I’m welcoming my friend Wendy Blight to share from her new Bible study on 1 John, I Am Loved: Walking in the Fullness of God’s Love. There’s lots of exciting information at the end of the post about how you can participate in a study of this wonderful book plus she’s giving away a copy to one of my readers below!
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My husband and I began our marriage in a difficult place. Eleven months before we walked down the aisle, I was the victim of a horrific crime. For years, I lived in a prison of fear. It consumed my every waking moment. I avoided being alone at all costs.
Monty became my safe place. Being home alone terrified me. So, I never wanted him to leave me. When he chose to play basketball, or go to dinner with friends, I pouted, whining and complaining that he wasn’t putting me first.
This fractured our marriage. Days were hard and nights were long. Soon I began to imagine Monty looking elsewhere for the companionship he lacked with me. I demanded to know when and where he was at all times. When I couldn’t get a hold of him, I panicked.
Jealousy infiltrated my heart.
I knew these feelings were wrong. Even destructive.
But I didn’t know how to overcome them.
As jealous thoughts took root, they became a mental obsession that fed me lies.
I felt my marriage, and my husband, slipping away. Completely at a loss to know what to do, I dropped to my knees and begged God to help me.
Thankfully, God made a way to release jealousy’s grip on me – and it was through loving Him. As I came to know God more intimately, my jealousy subsided.
God opened my eyes to see Christ in a new way … as my Savior and my “first love.” Until that time, I had found that love and security in my husband. I had confused love and need. I needed Monty so desperately that he became my savior. He was my defender and my protector from the evil in the world. I needed him more than anything else. If I was with him, I felt safe.
Monty sat on the throne of my heart; not God.
This, sister, is the perfect recipe for an unhealthy, destructive relationship. We should never “need” our husbands, our children, or anyone else more than Christ.
We should have only one Savior, and His name is Jesus.
We should have only one first love, and His name is Jesus.
This knowledge put my marriage in perspective. Jesus replaced Monty as my “first love.” Jesus is now my Defender, my Refuge and my Strong Tower. It was in Him and Him alone that I overcame all my fears.
And, Monty became the gift God had given me on this earth to reveal His perfect love to me. As God took His rightful place on the throne of my heart, Monty took his rightful place too.
God’s love left an indelible mark on my heart. His is a distinctive love that, when allowed to blossom and mature, becomes a driving force that nothing can contain.
Through it, God equips us to live distinctively different lives. First, by eradicating our old self through Jesus’ death on the cross. Second, by bestowing upon us a new self through His resurrection.
We express our appreciation for God’s abundant blessings most beautifully when we love others and live a life marked by love.
Some may be loveable people … those are the easy ones to love.
Some may be difficult people … those are the challenging ones to love.
Some may be invisible people … those are the uncomfortable ones to love. Who are the invisible? The disenfranchised. The voiceless. The forgotten. The rejected. The unpopular.
Friend, as you seek to live out the love God has implanted in you, remember these truths:
You have been born of God.
God loves you.
You love God.
You are a child of God.
In Christ, you have blood-bought brothers and sisters in Christ.
Knowing and believing these truths equips you to live loved and spill that love into this dark world.
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I Am Loved: Walking in the Fullness of God’s Love is for every woman who craves to truly understand, walk confidently in, and live out God’s unconditional, extravagant, lavish love because His love truly changes everything. Watch a sneak peek of the Bible study and download a sample week’s lesson for free here.
The Giveaway
Comment below and one reader will win a copy of Wendy’s I Am Loved Bible study book and teaching DVD. U.S. Addresses only please.
All comments left through Sunday, January 7th will be entered to win. The time is short, so make sure to enter today. We want the winner to receive her book before the Online Bible Study starts!
An invitation for you!
Join us for our Online Bible Study of #IAmLoved at Proverbs 31 Ministries. It kicks off January 22 and you can sign up here.
Wendy Blight is a wife, mother, author, Bible teacher, attorney, and writer for Proverbs 31 Ministry’s First 5 app. Her desire is to help every woman know with confidence she can tackle any problem life presents through God’s Word. Wendy is the author of I Am Loved, I Know His Name, and Living So That Bible studies, and Hidden Joy in a Dark Corner. She lives with her husband, Monty, in Charlotte, North Carolina and loves most when her two children, Lauren (24) and Bo (19), come home to visit and fill their home with lots of love and laughter!
Can’t wait to get started on this study! I just know by the title it’s one God is calling me to do! ♥️
Wow…. is all I can say…. I’ve been looking to my husband for the very same love. I would get so mad when he left me for fire department meetings, even to run a call. So afraid that he would find someone else in those places to replace me. Or even just flirt. How sad is that? I have gotten better but I’m still struggling. Thank you for this blog. I’ve talked to many of my friends and no one seems to understand this… they do not seem to be jealous. I’ve tried so hard to understand why I am this way… with no answers as of yet. I’ve not had any traumatic events to happen to me. I cannot wait, especially now that I have read this blog, to begin this study. Thank you so much for sharing so that I know that I am not alone and by putting God in his rightful place, everything will be just fine. God’s got this. It will be a struggle. Thank you and many prayers for you.
I would absolutely love to read this book! Wendy’s books have been very meaningful to me in the past, and I have no doubt this one will be as well.
Really looking forward to this study and what God has laid on Wendy’s heart to share and teach us from God’s love letter to us. I so need to remove the fortress I built around my heart to protect it in childhood from emotional trauma and really let God’s love move into my heart and not just know in my head.
Amy, thank you for sharing from my new book, “I Am Loved: Walking in the Fullness of God’s Love.” I’ve been so blessed by the comments today. Praying God will hand pick your winner.
Love you,
me
I am looking forward to a 48 week women’s bible study at my church on the fruits of the spirit which was delayed beginning due to inclement weather. We will begin, of course, with LOVE.. Your guest blog today on Amy Carroll’s site invigorated me to keep looking in this “extra time” to focus myself to joyfully love Jesus and thus increase the fruit.
I wish you success with your online bible study. I did want to mention that when I clicked on the “here” to see a sample week’s lesson, I was routed to an email format I did not recognize to you, addressed wendyblight.com/i-am-loved/. However, I am not very knowledgeable about electronic communication.
Hi Virginia,
Wow! I love the you are spending 48 weeks not the fruit of the Spirit!! So sweet that in the wait you are already seeking to go deeper in what you will be studying!
I am including a link to the fee sample of Chapter One below. I contacted Amy to let her know the link didn’t work. Thank you for letting us know!
http://wendyblight.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/WendyBlight-I-Am-Loved-Week-1-Sample.pdf
Blessings,
Wendy
Thank you for sharing. I am looking forward to the study.
So Beautiful ,I Am Loved!
I am loved❤ and looking fwd to this study and reading this book.
Thank you Amy and Wendy for sharing. All I know is His love is so huge and all encompassing, unlike anything I have ever experienced before.. He is the reason for everything good I have and am. I would love to be a part of the study!
Exactly what I have done with some of my loved ones and what has been done to me. So in need of this study and again…as always on time. <3
I am so excited to do this study! I was so excited to do this study and I accidentally bought to of the I Am Loved books. So I mailed one of the copies to my sister and she will be doing the study as well! 🙂
I have learned so much from Wendy’s Bible studies. It’s amazing how much Jesus loves us!! We just need to receive His Unconditional Love.
I am signed up to do this study. I try so hard to love as Jesus would have me love. I know He loves me so much but I struggle with feelings of being unlovable. I need Him everyday just so I can be a loving wife to my husband the way I should be. I would love to win a copy to give to my newly married daughter. I know she would benefit from it too.
Thank you for sharing your testimony Wendy!I’m struggling a lot to truly believe God loves me.I don’t love myself.
I am really looking forward to this Bible study. It’s something I need to get over my fears. Wendy’s studies and teachings are amazing and speak right to me.
I love participating in all of Wendy’s Bible studies. She is an amazing teacher.
I love her heart for Jesus.
I can’t wait to start a new study with Wendy. I need this one. Feeling alone and overwhelmed. But I know I am His daughter and I am loved.
I am so excited to participate in another of Wendy’s bible studies. I love her books. I would love to have this one.
I am excited about starting this study
So many of us can relate to Wendy’s testimony throughout the various seasons of our lives when we are tempted to place things or people above God to fill our void. I’m definitely that work in progress – to accept God’s unconditional love for me and pour this love out unto others. This book sounds like a great resource to help me grow in this area.
This sounds like an excellent study! Thanks for the opportunity to win a book!
Love Wendy’s testimony! Thank you s o much for sharing! I cannot wait to start this study!
I struggle so much with feeling loved!
Beautiful testimony from Wendy!! I’d love to win this book!
This is the journey I am on now. I have seen my reliance on people for various purposes, I am moving away on that dependence and seeking God more and more. It is freeing.
I would love to read “I Am Loved” by Wendy. Thanks for sharing Amy.
Beautiful! Putting God first has made such a difference in my life. ❤️
Wendy; I would love to win a copy of “I Am Loved!” I am gathering a small group of women to join me in these types of Bible studies, and I’m sure this one would be perfect for the group of women I want to minister to. Thanks for sharing!!!!
The book by Wendy Blight sounds very uplifting to inspire me to live focused on Jesus and let Him work in and through me. My husband is not a believer and has expressed his jealously of Jesus to me. He sees me reading the Bible, going to church and enjoying fellowship as a threat to our relationship. I continue to pray that the Lord would work deeply within my spirit that Christ would make His home in my heart and rule over all my thoughts, words and actions to enhance our relationship. Can’t wait to read the words from Wendy!
Thank you so very much for your encouraging words. I am in a very similar situation and I know the Lord led me to you today. Putting God in His rightful place in my life is one of my biggest goals this year.
Many blessings to you.
Bobbi
Amy and Wendy thank you for this. “We express our appreciation for God’s abundant blessings most beautifully when we love others and live a life marked by love.” Great truth. Great God!
Thank you for this. This is the study I need so every much. I know in my head that God loves me but I don’t feel loved by God.
Thanks for writing this.
I am so excited about Wendy Blight’s new study and book. I can’t think of a better way to start 2018 than to know that “I Am Loved”.
The Lord has graciously taught me through many difficult circumstances that He is the One who deserves my hearts devotion above everyone else. When I give Him his rightful place in my life, other relationships fall into plac. I have often held unfair expectations of my husband and God has reminded me through His Word that He alone is capable of my grand expectations.
Oh, Tammy, this is SOOO good. “I have often held unfair expectations of my husband and God has reminded me through His Word that He alone is capable of my grand expectations.” AMEN!! Thank you for sharing.
Blessings,
Wendy
Accepting, and believing God loves me unconditionally is a great struggle since conditional love is the norm. I’ve been praying to love people more. God revealed the impasse is I don’t fully trust that He loves me where I am; perfectionism stands in the way ( along with being critical). I’m seeking a breakthrough this year. My heart longs for freedom, to in turn, show others the way to the same freedom.
Oh, friend. I hear your heart. God’s Word is the best place to start this journey to freedom. 1 John is full of treasures to help you begin this transformation. Whether you win/buy the study, please open up 1 John and invite God to do a work in your heart as you read through it.
Blessings,
Wendy
I struggle with putting my hope in my husband and not loving him for who he is and wanting him to be someone else. Wanting him to be Jesus and knowing he can’t be and never will be. I want to love God and part of that is loving my husband. I want to learn how to really make God number one and to love others as an overflow of His love for me.
Yes, it is sooo hard to love our husbands for who God made them to be. We tend to see their faults and the things we want to make better. Plus, I also like to control the way things are done because I think my way is best. And Monty and I do things so differently. Learning to surrender my expectations to God and confessing my controlling nature has helped so much. I’m still not fully there, and may never be. But, just moving in the right direction is so good!! It has helped our marriage tremendously. God’s love, when we know it and live it, and His Word, when we believe it and pray it, are marriage-transforming.
Thank you for sharing.
Wendy
Wow! What an amazing teaching! I needed this today. I would love a copy of the book!.
So thankful the teaching the Lord laid on my heart ministers to yours! Thank you for stopping by and sharing.
Blessings,
Wendy
Thank you for sharing this. Sounds like a wonderful Bible study book. God bless.
I would love a copy of the book to join the study
This study will be helpful for me. I have difficulty receiving and expressing love because of a traumatic experience in my childhood. I have learned so much from OBS.
Denise, I have had a similar experience. Mostly because of hurt from a family member. I’m thankful you will join us for the study. My time in 1 John has truly helped heal my childhood hurt and rejection. It’s not been easy, but it’s been so freeing!!
Blessings,
Wendy
Thanks for sharing! It sounds like a great study and hope to do it with P31 OBS!
I hope so too, Miranda! We would love to have you take this journey through OBS with us!!
Wendy
Thank you for sharing Wendy’s teaching and experience. I need to learn better how to make Chris my first love so that I can stop looking to my husband for all that I need and be more able to love him the way God wants me too.
I am so looking forward to this study. I would love to share it with a family member who doesn’t use the internet, so winning the book and DVD’s would be a blessing to allow me to take it to her and share the love of God with her in a way that she will hopefully be able to receive it.
Linda, I lived for so long looking to my husband for my self-esteem and my needs. I needed him to feel safe and loved. The freedom that comes with making Jesus our first love is LIFE-CHANGING! I know that if you are seeking to make that happen, it will. God gives us the desires of hearts that align with His will. And this desire surely does that.
I’m excited you are joining us for this study!!
Blessings,
Wendy