Captured Heart
The Beauty and Battle of Being Beloved Daughters
As women, we have such beautiful hearts, given to us by God our Father to receive the special love He wants to give us as His daughters, and also to pour out the unique, compassionate, feminine genius that we all possess to a world that so desperately needs it.
John Paul II wrote so eloquently about the feminine genius in his letter Mulieris Dignitatem. He writes in the conclusion of this beautiful letter:
"If you knew the gift of God" (Jn 4:10), Jesus says to the Samaritan woman during one of those remarkable conversations which show his great esteem for the dignity of women and for the vocation which enables them to share in his messianic mission…. After all, was it not in and through (a woman) that the greatest event in human history - the incarnation of God himself - was accomplished?
Therefore the Church gives thanks for each and every woman: for mothers, for sisters, for wives; for women consecrated to God in virginity; for women dedicated to the many human beings who await the gratuitous love of another person; for women who watch over the human persons in the family, which is the fundamental sign of the human community; for women who work professionally, and who at times are burdened by a great social responsibility; for "perfect" women and for "weak" women - for all women as they have come forth from the heart of God in all the beauty and richness of their femininity.”
The Feminine Heart
Think how much the world needs these qualities now. We have such grace, such power and dignity in embracing these gifts that we have been endowed with by our loving Father.
The feminine heart is a work of art, a masterpiece that is the lifeblood of a community, a family, a society, and a home.
As women, we long for our creator to hold our hearts in his hands and to be drawn into the comfort, security and peace that abides in us when we recognize ourselves as Beloved daughters of the King.
There in his hands, we are whole and our burdens are lightened and our souls find supernatural peace. We are at peace because all is rightly ordered: daughters, at home with their Father, abiding in his tender and gentle love.
This is a sacred place, and a very powerful one. A woman who loves the Lord, and who knows that her identity is rooted and grounded in Him, exhibits a freedom, joy and strength that blesses this world in untold ways.
I bet you can think of at least one person in your life who has this freedom—she seems unfazed by the storms of life. Not because she doesn’t feel the acute pain, difficulty and hurt of this broken world, but because she cannot be shaken when she is standing firmly in her Father’s love.
Under Attack
It is no accident that femininity is under attack, the family is under attack, marriages are under attack. You see, we serve a good and loving God who created us perfectly in His image and gave us all we need in this life to shine His light to our families, friends and communities.
We are born with hearts perfectly suited for exhibiting the gifts of gentleness, strength, passion and purpose.
And that really makes the Enemy mad. Like, really, really mad. He hates God, and he hates us, especially when we are living in the authentic light of God’s love.
Remember, Satan experienced this light as an angel and was SO jealous of God that he refused to embrace and submit to him. And so he was cast into Hell, a place that is the utter absence of God.
The Enemy is jealous of us, my sisters, because we have this light in our lives. His singular goal is to steal, kill, and destroy our souls. And he seeks to do it by deceiving us about who God is, and by constantly attacking us with accusations, discouragement, and lies.
The Lies We Hear
He tells us lies about ourselves—we are not enough, not equipped, not strong, not worth it…
And lies about God—He is not good, you can’t trust him, he won’t help you, he has abandoned you, you have to earn his love.
The ultimate identity thief is Satan; the ultimate identity protector is Jesus.
The Enemy knows our name and calls us by our sin. But the Father knows our sin and calls us by name.
This wisdom was shared at a conference recently where I heard Mary Guilfoyle of Acts XXIX Ministry speak this truth. I wrote it down and I continue to revisit it often because it resonated so deeply in my soul.
She made the point that all the names we call ourselves, those are names the Enemy whispers to us…
Rejected, used, unseen, burden, addict, abandoned.
And the one who loves us calls us only one thing: His beloved daughters.
The stark contrast could not be more apparent:
the Father of Lies vs. the Father of Truth
the one who would seek to steal and rob and destroy us vs. the one who only ever protects us
the one who accuses, distorts, and challenges our dignity and worth vs. the one who says YOU ARE WORTH IT, my beloved one.
You are worth my Son dying on a horrific death on a cross because I love you and I would do anything to make sure you know that.
I have spoken this to you and over and over in Scripture:
Promises of God
Isaiah 43: 1-4
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.”
1 John 4:4
“Little children, you are of God, and have overcome them; for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”
Exodus 14:14
“The Lord will fight for you, you need only be still.”
1 John 3:8
“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”
Where Do We Go From Here?
So, where do we go from here, friends?
I submit to you, we go to the cross. We sit at the foot of the cross in prayer and thank Jesus for what he did and continues to do; pour grace into our hearts and lives.
We ask Mary to pray for us to live bold, beautiful authentic lives as His beloved daughters.
We resist the devil by turning our back on everything he whispers to us. Don’t give any of it oxygen, my friend, it is simply smoke and mirrors.
We turn our souls to our beloved Father and let Him capture our hearts, and trust Him when he says who he is, and who we are.
Because the stakes are high. We are in a battle for the hearts and minds of God’s precious souls.
And that should not scare or threaten or disturb us in the slightest if we have clear eyes on the fact that this is Jesus Christ’s battle, a battle that he won and will win over and over and over again.
He will never tire of fighting for us. He delights in us. We are his precious and beloved daughters.
He asks us simply to stay close to him. Invite him in, let him be our friend and advocate. Open our bibles. Read them. Pray. Pour out your heart to him.
Let his words drown out the stupid, uncreative, repetitive lies of the Enemy.
Because he will remind us, over and over, that while we may not feel worthy in the eyes of this world, to Him, we are worth everything.