The mind contains thoughts, which can be facts or perceptions. A fact is a physical event witnessed or heard. Perception is an inference we develop when experiencing an interaction. We use our perceptions to decipher relational situations.
Both perceptions and facts produce emotions. We feel fear in response to a physical threat, or a relational interaction we view as threatening.
We form our perceptions through early life experiences with our parents and others. Those perceptions eventually shape the attitudes with which we connect with others. In the same way, we put on glasses to read the news or social media, we put on our relational lenses ( RL ) to examine relational interactions. Through those lenses, we connect with and feel about God and others.
Through receiving ample love deposits from God and parents, we form sound relational lenses. They are four: the bonding, distinctness, integration, and levelness lens. In contrast, in the absence of love deposits, we accept perceptions unworth. As a result, we form deformed lenses like abandonment, devaluation, splitting, and disparity lenses.
Whether sound or deformed, we are constantly using our relational lenses ( RL) to interact with others and God. They are also our way of perceiving ourselves.
Our defective perceptions can be unnoticeable to us. Luckily, God and loved ones come to the rescue by speaking their truthful feedback about us being worthy and equal. We need patience and forbearance to receive truthfulness so that we can displace our distorted perceptions. This is how we kick-start our journey of emotional healing.
God is no magician. He is a spirit and we need His Holy spirit to discern His thoughts. 1 Corinthians 2:14 NIV “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.”
He imparts his perceptions to our minds, leaving for us to decide whether to receive them or not. God’s first declaration to us when we approach him is how much he loves us. God loved us first so that we could love. 1 John 4:19.
