Love is a choice – freedom from codependency
Love is a choice – freedom from codependency
We were created with this deep desire to be loved and to love.
Unfortunately, this desire has been abused throughout history and people have been led into captivity in the name of love.
Our society today is characterized by this “love” which is none.
Decisions are made in the firm belief that they were made in the name of love – only to be faced with a shambles a few years later.
We have heard so many stories of broken relationships, including our own in the past – that were simply painful, even though everything started in the “name of love” and ended so bitterly and incomprehensibly.
Understanding the difference between real love – agape love – divine love and co-dependency and making different choices based on this understanding have unlocked my personal life in a wonderful, powerful way and opened the doors for what life is really all about – walking in Divine Love – receiving this love and being able to pass it on.
This book has helped me (Jeanne) in a wonderful way to live in freedom. For a few years now I have been accompanying people with this book and the corresponding workbook and have experienced so many times how freedom came into the lives and courage for love was ignited… because all of a sudden it became tangible what love is not and how we can learn to walk in true love.
“I thought that this was love” – how to make the difference between love and codependency
As I wrote in the last article, I had to learn the difference between codependency and love the hard way. In fact, I didn’t even know that there was a difference between the two. I knew the word “codependency” but never made the parallel to my own life. Today, all...
In Love Is a Choice, best-selling doctors Robert Hemfelt, Frank Minirth, and Paul Meier walk you through their 10 proven stages to recovery from codependency that results from external circumstances. Humans are susceptible to codependency because of our sinful tendency to use defense mechanisms to fool ourselves. In codependent relationships, deceitful games are played, and important Christian principles are often taken out of context and abused. God wants us to have healthy relationships with a balance between being dependent and independent.
The doctors describe how the most effective means of overcoming codependent relationships is to establish or deepen a relationship with Christ himself. They describe the causes of codependency, pointing out the factors that perpetuate it, and lead listeners through their 10 stages of recovery.
Love Is a Choice Workbook provides a ten-stage plan to help you find healing from the pain that created your codependency and then guides you through the plan using interactive questions, self-tests, exercises, and journaling. This workbook helps you to step back and examine your life and then effectively deal with your codependency at your own pace. It can be used independently, or with Love Is a Choice, to help you break the cycle of codependency and be free to make new choices-free to choose love.
Do you long to walk, live and act in perfect love?
The Bible has a lot to say about the subject of love. There are many misunderstandings about this subject in the body of Christ. One of the reasons for this is that we do not understand the true, biblical meaning of love. I personally knew a man who died and went to heaven because of a ruptured artery.When he entered heaven, the first thing Jesus asked him was this question: “When you lived on earth, did you learn to love?” Three other people were asked the same question while he was there with Jesus. As they tried to find excuses for why they had not been able to learn to walk in love, it became very clear that Jesus did not accept any of these excuses. While this had nothing to do with their salvation, it had everything to do with their eternal reward.This man got supernaturally healed, came back to life, and lived for many more years. Those who knew him closely all said the same thing about him – that after this incident his greatest goal in life was to live a life of love. It is one of the deepest desires of my heart to truly walk in love. I am convinced that love is the way to a victorious Christian life. I dare not think that I have achieved this goal or have perfected it. I do what the apostle Paul said he did: “Press on toward the goal before me” (see Phil. 3:14). I believe there is no greater way to impact other people’s lives than through love. Often among Christians we focus on the gifts, anointings, and callings more than on the love displayed in people’s lives. It is my prayer that this book will help you grow in love toward Jesus and toward everybody else. After all, these three abide: faith, hope and love.But love is the greatest (see 1 Cor. 13:13)